Championships Women’s Rugby

UBC goaltender Rowan Harris was honoured as the U SPORTS women’s field hockey Player of the Year Thursday night, as the national award winners were celebrated at the annual All-Canadian gala. 

York forward Jaslan Stirling captured the Joyce Slipp Award as Rookie of the Year, while Victoria midfielder Linsday Cole, earned the Gail Wilson Award for her outstanding contribution both on and off the playing field and Queen’s bench boss Rachelle Séguin received the Marina van der Merwe Award as Coach of the Year. OUA referee Denise Pelletier is the Umpire of the Year.

LIZ HOFFMAN AWARD (Player of the Year): Rowan Harris, UBC

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Fourth-year goalkeeper Rowan Harris was the difference-maker this season helping the UBC Thunderbirds earn their 10th Canada West banner in 11 seasons. Harris had three shutouts in five games played and allowed the six-time defending national champions to have an undefeated regular season. 

Rowan has been amazing for us this season.

Robin D'Abreo - UBC head coach

A member of Canada’s senior national women’s team, she allowed just two goals all season and has been the cog to the T-Birds’ wheels as they roll to what could be the program’s seventh-straight and Harris’ third-straight U SPORTS championship banner.

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“Rowan has been amazing for us this season,” said UBC head coach Robin D’Abreo. "She has made multiple saves under pressure and at key times in all our games to hold the result and maintain or regain momentum for the team.  She is also a great communicator keeping our defence organized and in sync.”

Nominees 

  • OUA: Rebecca Plouffe, Guelph and Jaslan Stirling, York (Co-Players of the Year)

 

JOYCE SLIPP AWARD (Rookie of the Year): Jaslan Stirling, York

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Jaslan Stirling had a tremendous debut season with the Lions and becomes York’s first national Rookie of the Year recipient since Effie Petrou earned the award in 2006. 

In her first action on the university scene, the first-year forward from Mississauga, Ont., quickly made a name for herself as an offensive threat. The disaster and emergency management student led the nation in goals with an impressive 19 on the campaign – five clear of any other player – and tallied five multi-goal efforts. To put an emphatic stamp on her rookie campaign, she put forth a five-goal effort in the Lions’ regular season finale against Waterloo.

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Stirling helped the Lions to a conference-best 11-1 record, was a key spark in the team’s ability to nearly double their goal total from the previous campaign (26 to 51), and was able to perform consistently in the clutch with an OUA-leading four game-winning goals on her resume, all of which has set the foundation for what should be a standout university career. She capped her season by scoring four goals in three playoff games, including the championship winner, to lead the Lions to their first OUA title since 1996.

She has a natural ability to find the pass in the circle and finish, and that’s why she is so successful at scoring. I can’t wait to see what else she can do for the rest of her career.

Zeeshan Minhas - entraîneuse de York

“What Jaslan has accomplished in just one year is remarkable,” said York head coach Zeeshan Minhas. “She has been absolutely crucial to our success and has completely changed the way our team plays. We didn’t find out that she was coming to York until the summer, and when she committed I was thrilled because I know how good she is. She has a natural ability to find the pass in the circle and finish, and that’s why she is so successful at scoring. I can’t wait to see what else she can do for the rest of her career.”

Nominees 

  • CW: Anna Mollenhauer, Victoria

GAIL WILSON AWARD (Student-Athlete Community Service Award): Lindsay Cole, Victoria

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Fourth-year midfielder Lindsay Cole wore multiple hats this year as her duties on and off the field have kept her busy as a student-athlete. On the field Cole is one of three co-captains, a regular starter and is one of the most lethal offensive midfielders on the team. The Victoria native is a member of the Canadian national development squad and has been key in sparking the Vikes' attack, while also playing an important role on both offensive and defensive penalty corners. Cole's creativity on the field likely stems from her very talented skills as an artist. Cole does paintings by request in what little spare time she has.

I’m very, very proud of Lindsay. I think it’s the most impressive award that we offer because you really have to do everything to win it. She is a Canada West All-Star, straight A-plus student, volunteers a lot of her time and I also think she has had some really good mentors along the way including former Vikes Kathleen Leahy and Annie Walters-Shumka.

Lynne Beecroft - Victoria head coach

In 2017, Cole was a co-recipient of UVic's Provost Award to the student-athlete across all Vikes teams with the highest GPA. The Mount Douglas Secondary grad earned an 8.8 (out of 9) GPA in sciences and when she isn't busy studying, training or painting, Cole finds time to give back to the community. Cole is a regular coach in the Victoria junior field hockey league, annually taking on at least two teams and helping develop the next generation of young field hockey players and coaches. She also helps coach in the Victoria high performance regional program, often taking Under-13 teams to club and regional tournaments in Vancouver, while she also manages to juggle helping coach her former high school team in the fall and two middle school teams in the spring. Cole also umpires field hockey games, coaches pole vault and is a volunteer at Aberdeen Hospital as a patient escort.

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“I’m very, very proud of Lindsay. I think it’s the most impressive award that we offer because you really have to do everything to win it,” said Victoria head coach Lynne Beecroft. “She is a Canada West All-Star, straight A-plus student, volunteers a lot of her time and I also think she has had some really good mentors along the way including former Vikes Kathleen Leahy and Annie Walters-Shumka, who won this award the previous two years. To be considered to be the most outstanding contributor across the country is outstanding. This year there was another level to her maturity through her captaincy as she worked with the coaches and the team and she was nominated by her team mates for this award so it says a lot about her character.”

Nominees

  • OUA: Erin Janna, McGill

MARINA VAN DER MERWE AWARD (Coach of the Year): Rachelle Séguin, Queen’s

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Séguin becomes the second Queen’s coach to be honoured with the Marina van der Merwe Award as U SPORTS Coach of the Year.

She helped Queen's play their way to a fourth-place regular season finish this year (4-6-2 record), seeing an improvement not only in the standings but bridging the gap between the top-seeded teams. Her impact can be seen beyond the field as she constantly seeks opportunities to develop as a coach and find resources to bring in to support and improve the program.

Through Rachelle’s leadership, guidance and commitment to the team our student-athletes and field hockey program continues to improve.  Her efforts are truly appreciated and I know that she will be especially honoured to be recognized by her peers for this award.

Leslie Dal Cin - Executive Director of Athletics & Recreation at Queen's

Séguin is a passionate advocate for the development of field hockey not only at Queen's but also in the greater Kingston community. In her fifth year with the program, she and the team celebrated the team’s 50th anniversary season connecting alumni with the current Gaels.

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"We are delighted that Coach Séguin is being honoured as the OUA and U SPORTS Coach of the Year," said Leslie Dal Cin, Executive Director of Athletics & Recreation at Queen's. “Through Rachelle’s leadership, guidance and commitment to the team our student-athletes and field hockey program continues to improve.  Her efforts are truly appreciated and I know that she will be especially honoured to be recognized by her peers for this award.”

Nominees

  • CW: Peter Taylor, Calgary

UMPIRE OF THE YEAR: Denise Pelletier, OUA

Pelletier started umpiring with the Waterloo Women’s Field Hockey Club 12 years ago. For two seasons, she officiated at the high school level and was selected to umpire at the OFSAA championships. She then made the jump to umpiring in the OUA and, over the past 10 campaigns, has become one of the top umpires in the league.  

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In just her second season umpiring at the university level, in 2009, Pelletier was selected to work at the OUA championships and has since been chosen numerous times to umpire at the OUA and U SPORTS tournaments. She is a Canadian-rated umpire and is quickly rising to be one of the top game officials in Canada. Pelletier also won the award in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 

Nominees 

  • CW: Tyler Klenk

2017 U SPORTS WOMEN’S FIELD HOCKEY ALL-CANADIANS

Position First Name Last Name School Eligibility Hometown Program
GK Rowan Harris UBC 4 Ottawa, Ont. Science
M Sarah Keglowitsch UBC 5 Shawnigan Lake, B.C. Kinesiology
F Abbey MacLellan UBC 2 Pownal, P.E.I. Science
M Ciara Morrison Queen's 3 Toronto, Ont. Life Sciences
M Michelle Patterson Calgary 4 Calgary, Alta. Graduate Studies
F Margaret Pham UBC 2 Mississauga, Ont. Kinesiology
D Rebecca Plouffe Guelph 4 Oakville, Ont. Biological Sciences
M Rachel Spouge Toronto 2 West Vancouver, B.C. Management
F Jaslan Stirling York 1 Mississauga, Ont. Disaster & Eemergency
Management
D Sabrina Wong Calgary 3 West Vancouver, B.C. Medicine
M/D Emily Ziraldo Toronto 2 Etobicoke, Ont. Nutritional Sciences /
Physiology