The Capilano University soccer teams are hunting provincial glory this weekend in Squamish, but they’ve already added some major honours following regular season play in the PacWest league.
This week the conference announced its award winners, with Capilano claiming player of the year and coach of the year on the men’s side and rookie of the year on the women’s side.
Fourth-year forward and team captain Keith Jackson led the way for the men, earning player of the year honours after leading the league in scoring for the second straight season with 11 goals in 11 games. The Seycove Secondary grad is now in second place on the Capilano all-time scoring list with 38 goals in 54 career games, including playoffs.
Also on the men’s side the league might want to consider changing the name of the coach of the year award to the Paul Dailly Award after the Capilano bench boss won the honour for the third time in a row and seventh time in his career. The Blues, two-time defending PacWest champs, finished second in regular season action and are ranked No. 6 in the country heading into the playoffs despite fielding a roster that includes only five players with more than two years of college experience as well as 13 rookies.
Jackson was also named to the PacWest conference all-star team alongside fifth-year defender Nicolas Morello and fourth-year goalkeeper Hudson Nelles. Morello tied for second in the league with seven goals despite lining up at fullback for most of the year. Nelles, meanwhile, allowed just nine goals in 11 games, racking up five shutouts along the way.
On the women’s side Claire Ye, a first-year player from Coquitlam’s Charles Best Secondary, earned the rookie of the year award and was named to the conference all-star team. The defender/midfielder scored three goals and was a force on offense and defence throughout the season.
Ye was joined on the all-star team by fellow rookie Adrianna Babinski, who finished second in the conference with seven goals in 11 games.
The PacWest championships run Oct. 27-29 at Quest University in Squamish.
