NCAA & CIS Archive

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SFU coach Alan Koch to coach Canada at Maccabi Games

Alan Koch, the architect of Simon Fraser University’s soccer program, is taking on a new challenge. He will coach the Canadian team at the 2013 Maccabi Games.

The Maccabi Games are a world athletic competition open to Jewish athletes, and Canada will be sending men’s and women’s teams in a variety of age groups. Koch will helm the Canadian men’s open team, which is expected to have a few notable native sons in the lineup.

Koch led SFU to an 18-0-1 record in the school’s provisional NCAA Div. II season, and the Clan finished the year as the No. 1 ranked Div. II school in, ahem, the United States.
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Whitecaps beat CIS champs, but more links are needed

Craig Gorman

The Vancouver Whitecaps certainly scored well in the PR department Sunday, as it beat the reigning CIS champion University of Victoria Vikes Sunday, in front of 2,831 fans in the B.C capital.

The Whitecaps left most of the star power at home, as the likes of Eric Hassli, Sebastien Le Toux and Camilo still left the field. But, a team of what you’d predict to be mainly the depth players had enough to beat UVic by a 2-1 count.

Davide Chiumiento scored on a penalty, while former Carolina RailHawk Matt Watson raced onto a ball that had bounced around in the box, then slammed one in off the keeper.
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Canadians McNamara, Northey excel at USL Combine

Josh Northey

There is no news yet of any Canadian-player signings or training-camp invites out of this past weekend’s USL Combine held in Bradenton, Fla. — but word is that two of the Canucks there set themselves apart.

University of Saskatchewan midfielder Josh Northey and Oakland University defender (and Toronto Lynx alumnus) Julian Konner McNamara reportedly made the strongest showings of the 12 Canadians who participated in the combine. USL general managers — as well as executives from other leagues, including MLS — were on hand to see more than 100 undrafted and unsigned prospects go through their paces.

Of the 12 Canadians there, seven came from universities from our side of the border. The University of Saskatchewan led the way, with three prospects heading to Florida from that school.The Huskies also produced striker Paul Craig, who scored the goal that guaranteed FC Edmonton a playoff berth during his rookie NASL season.
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Avila helps good friend Silva get used to life at TFC

Luis Silva

Toronto FC surprised many with its first pick in MLS SuperDraft earlier this month, including the man chosen – Luis Silva. Not because of the team that selected him, but the fact he was taken fourth overall.

Expected to be taken later in the draft, it not only caught him off guard, but was a welcome surprise to the 23 year-old University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) product. Within moments of wrapping a TFC scarf around his neck, he received a text message from friend and new teammate Eric Avila.

“I was drafted and he texted me ‘Hey, see you soon. Congratulations.’ He’s been telling me great things and the style they like to play,” said Silva.
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Impact snatches two Canadians in Supplemental Draft

Carl Haworth, selected by the Impact

The MLS supplemental draft is the day when general managers roll the dice. The wide majority of these prospects will show up at the camps of the various MLS teams who selected them, and then be cut.

With the elimination of the third and fourth rounds of the MLS SuperDraft, the Supplemental Draft, in the interim, takes on a little more meaning — until academies are producing prospects full-bore.

Of the Canadian teams, Montreal made the biggest splash Tuesday, selecting two Canadians out of the four picks it made.

The biggest buzz came when the Impact selected Mississauga native Evan James with the first pick of the Supplemental Draft. James played at UNC Charlotte last season, scoring five times and adding seven assists. Read the rest of this entry »

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Confident Gigolaj wants to be a starter for FC Edmonton

Elvir Gigolaj

On a day that MLS teams made their supplemental picks, a player who should have been on the radar of all three Canadian first-division clubs was on the pitch, training with FC Edmonton.

Of all of the Canadian pro team executives in Canada, only FCE’s director of soccer operations, Joe Petrone, met with Elvir Gigolaj during the CIS championships in Victoria, B.C. The London, Ont.-raised striker was a major part of St. Mary’s stunning run to the Canadian final. He scored six times in three conference playoff games. He scored in the quarter-final against McGill; he scored twice in extra time as SMU beat the University of Alberta in the semifinal; and then he scored in the final, though SMU fell to the host University of Victoria.

Gigolaj was at FC Edmonton’s training session Tuesday, wearing flashy pink shoes, hammering shot after shot into the goal. He’s an imposing presence in the box, an out and out goal poacher — and it’s clear the FCE believes he can be the next great CIS-to-NASL success story, following in the footsteps of Eddies’ teammates Paul Hamilton and Paul Craig.
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SuperDraft: Impact chooses defence over offence, Whitecaps get Mattocks, TFC adds to midfield logjam

Andrew Wenger

The Montreal Impact chose a complete player over high scoring potential.

With the first pick of the 2012 SuperDraft, MLS commissioner announced — in French — that the Impact had selected Duke University defender Andrew Wenger with its first pick, leaving high-scoring University of Akron star Darren Mattocks to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who had the second pick.

Mattocks scored 39 times over the course of two NCAA season with the Zips. And, he scored more collegiate goals in his time with Akron than other former Zip stars Steve Zakuani and Teal Bunbury.

But Wenger, listed as a defender in the draft, can be used all over the pitch. He won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy as the top played in the NCAA this past season — and scored 17 times after Duke’s coaching staff took him off the back line and made him a forward.
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NAIT’s Paulus gets FC Edmonton assistant coach job

Jeff Paulus

FC Edmonton shopped locally when it embarked on a search for a new assistant coach.

The team announced that Jeff Paulus, who led Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) side to a national collegiate championship in 2011, will be an assistant to coach Harry Sinkgraven for the 2012 season.

Paulus has taken leave from NAIT so he can fill the FC Edmonton job, and join Hans Schrijver on the assistants’ team. Paulus was at Victoria Soccer Centre last week working with players, even before the contract was finalized.
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NCAA commitments keeps Fury stars off Canadian women’s team roster

Christina Julien was the only member of the Fury to make the national squad.

The Ottawa Fury had an undefeated W-League regular season. The team swept the major W-League awards, and top scorer Mallory Outerbridge smashed the team scoring record and was named league MVP.

But, because so many of the Fury’s players, including Outerbridge, have NCAA commitments, only one member of the Ottawa team that lost the W-League championship game to Atlanta is part of the roster that new Canadian women’s coach John Herdman will utilize in friendlies Sept. 17 and 22 against the United States.

Outerbridge, who has six goals and two assists in just seven starts at Western Kentucky University, wasn’t going to be made available for Herdman, even though the new coach is going to have the chance to look at some new faces.
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FC Edmonton beats UNM, signs former U.S. U-20 Shawn Chin

Shawn Chin

FC Edmonton won its first match of the preseason Saturday, 4-1 over the Univesity of New Mexico in Arizona.

In Thursday’s 1-1 draw with UNM, coach Harry Sinkgraven started a group of players that included proejcted back-ups. On Saturday, he played what, depending on some signings to come in the next couple of weeks, will be close to the starting XI fans will see April 9 when FCE opens its inaugural NASL campaign against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

That group included brand-new signing Shawn Chin, the former University of South Florida standout midfielder, who has also made appearances for the U.S. U-20 team. He came in as a second half sub.
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