TORONTO - Fanshawe College's Brandon Mendes (London) is the 2015 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men's soccer player of the year. He received the award in a ceremony held in Toronto on Wednesday evening.
The third-year midfielder was the nucleus of a Fanshawe Falcons team that won the OCAA west regional title with a 7-1-2 record. Fanshawe allowed a league-fewest six goals all season, and Mendes was a key part of that defensive effort. Mendes played in all 10 regular season matches, scoring once.
Along with his player of the year award, Mendes is also an OCAA all-star and a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) all-Canadian.
Jaineil Hoilett (Brampton) of Humber College is also a CCAA all-Canadian and OCAA all-star. The first-year striker scored five goals in 10 matches, leading the Hawks to a central regional crown.
The CCAA coach of the year nominee from Ontario is Rob Pereira of Fanshawe. In his first season at the helm of the Falcons, Pereira led his team to a dramatic improvement of their 3-5-0 record one season ago. Along with Pereira representing the west, other OCAA coaches of the year are Dave Ashfield of Durham College of the east region, and Michael Aquino of Humber from the central.
Marco Natoli (Ottawa) of Algonquin is the OCAA overall rookie of the year. The striker led the east region in goals, scoring nine times in 10 matches. Along with Natoli representing the east, other OCAA rookies of the year include Sheridan College defender Nikal Clarke-Smith (Brampton) of the central, and Fanshawe forward Chad Gopaul (Mt. Brydges) of the west.
The OCAA defensive players of the year include player of the year Mendes of the west, Algonquin fifth-year defender Saverio Panuccio (Italy) of the east; and Humber third-year defender Kingsley Boasiako (Brampton) of the central.
The OCAA scoring champions were also honoured. Overall scoring champions Jordan Lidia (Leamington), a fifth-year forward from St. Clair College and Fanshawe second-year forward Mike Marcoccia (London) both scored 13 goals in nine west region matches. Natoli scored nine times in 10 east region matches, while Humber first-year forward Sonan Askndar (Mississauga) and Sheridan first-year forward Jonathan Jabbison (Milton) both scored five goals in eight central region matches.
The OCAA's top goalkeepers for 2015 are Cambrian College's Evan Phillips (Toronto) representing the east; Humber's trio of Eugenio Garro (Woodbridge), Alexander Pothemont (Mississauga) and Karman Singh (Etobicoke) representing the central; and Fanshawe's Luke Siroen (London) representing the west.
The three regional regular season champions are also the top defensive teams in their respective divisions. The Algonquin Thunder allowed just six goals in 10 east region matches; the Humber Hawks allowed seven goals in 10 central region matches; and the Fanshawe Falcons allowed six goals in 10 west region matches.
Each OCAA team nominates two all-stars. The OCAA all-stars from the east region include third-year midfielder Alex Asmis (Dunrobin) and Panuccio of Algonquin; Phillips and first-year forward Marcello Tantalo (Sudbury) of Cambrian; first-year defender Ostap Hamarynk (Ukraine) and second-year forward Ikenna Nkwocha (Nigeria) of Centennial College; third-year defender Nicholas Axhorn (Pickering) and third-year striker Austin MacDonell (Greenwood) of Durham; first-year midfielder Joyal Gurung (England) and first-year midfielder Josh Pinello (Fraserville) of Fleming College; and fifth-year midfielder Jeff Borges (Kingston) and third-year defender Brad Savory (Kingston) of St. Lawrence College.
Representing the central region as OCAA all-stars are second-year goalkeeper Aris Efstathiadis (Toronto) and third-year defender Jesse Oliver (Trinidad and Tobago) of George Brown College; Hoilett and fifth-year player Joshua Paredes-Procter (Toronto) of Humber; third-year forward Andy Hein (Omemee) and fourth-year forward Keith Makubuya (St. Catharines) of Niagara College; second-year defender Emmanuel Adjei (Toronto) and first-year defender Justin O'Garro (Scarborough) of Seneca College; first-year forward Jonathan Jabbison (Milton) and third-year defender Manuel Morgado (Mississauga) of Sheridan; and first-year defender Nolan Anderson (Mississauga) and first-year midfielder Andrew Kim (Mississauga) of the University of Toronto Mississauga.
The west region OCAA all-stars include second-year forward Danilo Richards (Kitchener) and third-year player Brad Townsend (Guelph) of Conestoga College; Marcoccia and Mendes of Fanshawe; first-year defender Matt Cinjau (Sarnia) and second-year striker Richael O'Neill (Sarnia) of Lambton College; third-year player Ephraim Cirillo (Hamilton) and fourth-year midfielder Patryk Korbut (Barrie) of Mohawk College; fifth-year midfielder Josh Elgeti (Peterborough) and fourth-year striker Lewis Tuininga (Orillia) of Redeemer University College; and second-year defender Mitch Hunter (Woodslee) and Lidia of St. Clair.
2015 OCAA MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS
OCAA Men's Soccer Player of the Year
Brandon Mendes, Fanshawe
CCAA Men's Soccer All-Canadians
Jaineil Hoilett, Humber
Brandon Mendes, Fanshawe
CCAA Coach of the Year Nominee
Rob Pereira, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer League Scoring Champions
Jordan Lidia St. Clair
Mike Marcoccia, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer Overall Rookie of the Year
Marco Natoli, Algonquin
Regular Season Champions
East - Algonquin Thunder
Central - Humber Hawks
West - Fanshawe Falcons
OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Coach of the Year
Dave Ashfield, Durham
OCAA Men's Soccer Central Division Coach of the Year
Michael Aquino, Humber
OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Coach of the Year
Rob Pereira, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Rookie of the Year
Marco Natoli, Algonquin
OCAA Men's Soccer Central Division Rookie of the Year
Nikal Clarke-Smith, Sheridan
OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Rookie of the Year
Chad Gopaul, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Defensive Player of the Year
Saverio Panuccio, Algonquin
OCAA Men's Soccer Central Division Defensive Player of the Year
Kingsley Boasiako, Humber
OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Defensive Player of the Year
Brandon Mendes, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Scoring Champion
Marco Natoli, Algonquin
OCAA Men's Soccer Central Division Scoring Champions
Sonan Askndar, Humber
Jonathan Jabbison, Sheridan
OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Scoring Champions
Jordan Lidia, St. Clair
Mike Marcoccia, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Best Defensive Team
Algonquin College
OCAA Men's Soccer Central Division Best Defensive Team
Humber College
OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Best Defensive Team
Fanshawe College
OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Top Goalkeeper
Evan Phillips, Cambrian
OCAA Men's Soccer Central Division Top Goalkeeper
Eugenio Garro, Alexander Pothemont and Karman Singh, Humber
OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Top Goalkeeper
Luke Siroen, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Soccer All-Stars
Alex Asmis, Algonquin
Saverio Panuccio, Algonquin
Evan Phillips, Cambrian
Marcello Tantalo, Cambrian
Ostap Hamarynk, Centennial
Ikenna Nkwocha, Centennial
Danilo Richards, Conestoga
Brad Townsend, Conestoga
Nicholas Axhorn, Durham
Austin MacDonell, Durham
Mike Marcoccia, Fanshawe
Brandon Mendes, Fanshawe
Joyal Gurung, Fleming
Josh Pinello, Fleming
Aris Efstathiadis, George Brown
Jesse Oliver, George Brown
Jaineil Hoilett, Humber
Joshua Paredes-Procter, Humber
Matt Cinjau, Lambton
Richael O'Neill, Lambton
Ephraim Cirillo, Mohawk
Patryk Korbut, Mohawk
Andy Hein, Niagara
Keith Makubuya, Niagara
Josh Elgeti, Redeemer
Lewis Tuininga, Redeemer
Emmanuel Adjei, Seneca
Justin O'Garro, Seneca
Jonathan Jabbison, Sheridan
Manuel Morgado, Sheridan
Jeff Borges, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Brad Savory, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Mitch Hunter, St. Clair
Jordan Lidia, St. Clair
Nolan Anderson, UTM
Andrew Kim, UTM
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