HAMILTON, Ont. - St. Clair College's Brian Santos is the 2012 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men's soccer player of the year. He received the award in a ceremony held in Hamilton, Ont. on Thursday evening.

Santos (Leamington) scored eight goals in eight games for the OCAA West champion Saints. The fourth-year forward was the difference offensively in two matches in particular, including a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Mohawk in late September. He also scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 win over Fanshawe in early October.

Santos is also an OCAA all-star and a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) all-Canadian.

Santos isn't the only Saint to be recognized for their accomplishments. Head coach Mike Baraslievski is the OCAA West coach of the year and a nominee for the CCAA coach of the year. In his 21st season, Baraslievski led the Saints to the top record in the OCAA at 6-1-1. Along the way the Saints defeated defending OCAA champion Humber 1-0 and silver medalist Sheridan 2-1, with both victories coming on the road. All three teams have advanced to this year's OCAA championship tournament.

Under Baraslievski's tutelage, forward Gabriel Poulino (Windsor) was the divisional and league scoring champion in his first season, scoring seven goals in six games. St. Clair defender Bogdan Ionita (Windsor) is also an OCAA all-star.

Humber first-year defender Kingsley Boasiako is the OCAA West and overall rookie of the year. Boasiako (Brampton) was a member of a Humber unit that was the top defensive team in its division, allowing an OCAA-low four goals in eight games.

Julian Carr of Centennial is the OCAA East coach of the year. In his sixth season, Carr led the Colts to their first post-season berth since 2004. Having won just three games in the past three seasons, Centennial went 5-2-1 against the OCAA East, its best regular season record in eight years.

Carr guided a trio of players who earned recognition at the OCAA awards banquet. Forward Mark Tarazhi (Detroit, Mich.) is the East rookie of the year, finishing in a tie for second in team scoring with three goals behind East scoring champion E.J. Powell (Scarborough). The second-year athlete scored five times in eight games. Third-year player Thomas Critelli (Burlington) of the Colts is the East defensive player of the year. Centennial allowed just six goals in eight games. Critelli is an OCAA all-star, along with fellow second-year defender Ahmed Ali (Toronto).

Fanshawe first-year player Corbin Franklin (London) is the West defensive player of the year. The Falcons gave up seven goals during the regular season, good for second best in the division.

Conestoga second-year player Jeff Martins (Simcoe) is the West goalkeeper of the year. As a team the Condors gave up just eight goals on the season. Second-year player Marco Brundia (Reggio Calabria, Italy) of East champion Algonquin is the East goalkeeper of the year. The Thunder were the top defensive club in the division, allowing just five goals, good for second-best across the league.

Each OCAA team nominates two all-stars. The OCAA all-stars from the East include Brundia and Isaac Johnson (Ottawa) of Algonquin; Cambrian's Marco Armiento (Sudbury) and Stephane Legrand (Sudbury); Fufana Mohamed (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) and Alex Robittaille (Gatineau, Que.) of La Cite; Durham's Duncan Mitchell (Pickering) and Marco Trotta (Oshawa); Oshane Hylton (Ajax) and Stefan Martinez (Pickering) of Fleming; George Brown's Massimilliano D'Arcangelo (Toronto) and Kyle Taitt (Toronto); Joseph Amato (Markham) and Xavier Wright (Brampton) of Seneca; and St. Lawrence-Kingston's Jadran Kani (Kingston) and Matt Scrutton (Kingston).

The OCAA West all-stars include Josh Gross (Waterloo) and Nikola Repar (Milton) of Conestoga; Fanshawe's David Harriman-Duke (London) and Cedric N'Guessan (North Bergen, N.J.); Marcelo Capozzolo (Toronto) and Matthew Rios (Toronto) of Humber; Lambton's Andre Fluegel (Ottawa) and Josh Mindorff (London); Patryk Korbut (Barrie) and Momo Veljko (Hamilton) of Mohawk; Niagara's Kyle Brooks (Milton) and Joe D'Eramo (St. Catharines); Dirk Van Soelen (Georgetown) and Joel Zondervan (Newmarket) of Redeemer; and Sheridan's Manny Morgado (Mississauga) and David Velastegui (Oakville).

The 2012 OCAA Men's Soccer Championship takes place Friday and Saturday at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ont.

2012 OCAA MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS

OCAA Men's Soccer Player of the Year/CCAA All-Canadian
Brian Santos, St. Clair

CCAA Men's Coach of the Year Nominee
Mike Baraslievski, St. Clair

OCAA Men's Soccer League Scoring Champion
Gabriel Poulino, St. Clair

OCAA Men's Soccer Overall Rookie of the Year
Kingsley Boasiako, Humber

OCAA Men's Soccer Regular Season Champions
East - Algonquin Thunder
West - St. Clair Saints

OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Coach of the Year
Julian Carr, Centennial

OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Coach of the Year
Mike Baraslievski, St. Clair

OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Rookie of the Year
Mark Tarazhi, Centennial

OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Rookie of the Year
Kingsley Boasiako, Humber

OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Defensive Player of the Year
Thomas Critelli, Centennial

OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Defensive Player of the Year
Corbin Franklin, Fanshawe

OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Scoring Champion
E.J. Powell, Centennial

OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Scoring Champion
Gabriel Poulino, St. Clair

OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Best Defensive Team
Algonquin Thunder

OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Best Defensive Team
Humber Hawks

OCAA Men's Soccer East Division Top Goalkeeper
Marco Brundia, Algonquin

OCAA Men's Soccer West Division Top Goalkeeper
Jeff Martins, Conestoga

OCAA League All-Stars
Marco Brundia, Algonquin
Isaac Johnson, Algonquin
Marco Armiento, Cambrian
Stephane Legrand, Cambrian
Ahmed Ali, Centennial
Thomas Critelli, Centennial
Fufana Mohamed, La Cite
Alex Robittaille, La Cite
Duncan Mitchell, Durham
Marco Trotta, Durham
Oshane Hylton, Fleming
Stefan Martinez, Fleming
Massimilliano D'Arcangelo, George Brown
Kyle Taitt, George Brown
Joseph Amato, Seneca
Xavier Wright, Seneca
Jadran Kani, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Matt Scrutton, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Josh Gross, Conestoga
Nikola Repar, Conestoga
David Harriman-Duke, Fanshawe
Cedric N'Guessan, Fanshawe
Marcelo Capozzolo, Humber
Matthew Rios, Humber
Andre Fluegel, Lambton
Josh Mindorff, Lambton
Patryk Korbut, Mohawk
Momo Veljko, Mohawk
Kyle Brooks, Niagara
Joe D'Eramo, Niagara
Dirk Van Soelen, Redeemer
Joel Zondervan, Redeemer
Bogdan Ionita, St. Clair
Brian Santos, St. Clair
Manny Morgado, Sheridan
David Velastegui, Sheridan

- OCAA -

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The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is a recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 30 members sponsoring 16 league and tournament championships.

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Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
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E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com