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League1 Ontario Women: 2016 Canadian College And University Tracker

By League1 Ontario staff, 11/10/16, 6:30PM EST

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With the Canadian provincial post-secondary soccer seasons (University and College) now concluded, the time is ripe to take a closer look at current and former League1 Ontario players that made a difference for their schools.

In the second of a series of stories illuminating the achievements of League1 Ontario players in post-secondary competition, Part II takes a look at the impact of players in women's Canadian competition.

And what an impact they had, in short...

  • Two League1 players broke the top ten in Canadian University competition in categories of most goals, most points, and most assists respectively; One of these players was the top scorer in the CIS;
  • One player was selected Canadian College All-Canadian, Ontario College Women's Player Of The Year, and took the scoring title in the Ontario College West Division; 
  • Five Ontario University first team All-Stars; Five Ontario University second team All-Stars; One Atlantic University Sport (AUS) second team All-Star;
  • Seven Ontario College All-Stars;
  • One Ontario College Women's West Division Rookie Of The Year; One Ontario College Women's East Division Coach Of The Year; One Ontario College Women's Central Division Defensive Player Of The Year;
  • One Ontario College Women's Championship MVP; One Ontario College Championship All-Star;

And the National Championship Finals - both University and College - are yet to come!

Ontario University Association (OUA) Championship:

Gold: UOIT Ridgebacks; Silver: Queen's University Gaels (1-0)

University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks won their first first OUA Championship in school history after defeating the defending national champions, Queen's University Gaels, 1-0. 

No less than 14 players with League1 Ontario appearances under their belts were in the squads for UOIT and Queen's:

UOIT: Rachel Matthews (Aurora United FC/ UOIT); Jessica Mithrush (Aurora/ UOIT); Shynice Williams (Aurora/ UOIT); Katherine Koehler-Grassau (Aurora/ UOIT); Helen Frampton (Aurora/ UOIT);

Queens: Brittany Almeida (Kingston Clippers/ Queens); Jenny Wolever (North Mississauga Panthers/ Queens); Rachel Radu (Kingston; Queens); Kyra Steer (Kingston/ Queens); Tara Bartram (Kingston; Queens); Matija Skoko (Sanjaxx/ Queens); Lidia Bradau (North Miss/ Queens); Sara Nixon (North Miss/ Queens); Savannah Meyer-Clement (Kingston/ Queens); 


CIS Women's Top Scorer: Nour Ghoneim (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

League1 Ontario players also made a mark in the University individual player rankings, with two players cracking the top ten in the country.

Nour Ghoneim (Vaughan Azzurri/ York Lions) finished the season with the most goals in the country (14 in 15 matches), and fifth overall in points (17), while Jenny Wolever (North Mississauga Panthers/ Queen's) finished the regular season 10th overall in assists (seven in 16 matches).

Five League1 Ontario players were selected to the respective OUA All-Star First Teams, between both the East and West divisions respectively:

Two players were selected to the East Div First Team:

Katherine Koehler-Grassau (Aurora United FC/ UOIT); Helen Frampton (Aurora/ UOIT).

Three players were selected to the West Div First Team:

Kiyani Johnson (Vaughan Azzurri/ York Lions); Nour Ghoneim (Vaughan/ York); Marilyn Grammenopoulos (Vaughan/ York Lions).

Five more players in total were selected to the OUA second teams between East and West divisions, including:

Three players in second team East:

Tori Edgar (North Mississauga Panthers/ University Of Toronto); Cooper Lee (Sanjaxx Lions/ Ottawa Gee Gees); Sarah Sanford (Kingston Clippers/ Laurentian Voyageurs).

Two players in second team West:

Peyton Lozzi (Vaughan/ York Lions); Tomika McIntosh (Vaughan/ York Lions).

Finally, one player was chosen to the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Conference Championship Second Team All-Star list:

Tamara Brown (Durham United FA/ Cape Breton Capers). 


2016 OCAA Player Of The Year: Jade Kovacevic (FC London/ Fanshawe)

Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Championship:

Gold: Algonquin Thunder 

Silver: Humber Hawks

Algonquin College Thunder won the OCAA title 3-1 over Humber Hawks and League1 players were instrumental in the match.

Melissa Harrison (Kingston Clippers/ Algonquin) was named OCAA Championship All-Star MVP, while Vanessa Fiore (North Miss/ Humber) was chosen as one of four OCAA Championship All-Stars.

It would not be a stretch to say that League1 Ontario players cleaned up in the 2016 OCAA Women's Individual Awards.

A name well-known to League1 Ontario and FC London followers, Jade Kovacevic (FC London/ Fanshawe), was once again among the best in the country at College level.

Kovacevic took home the 2016 OCAA Women's Player Of The Year award - her second in as many years - and led the OCAA West Division scoring charts with 23 goals. Kovacevic also led Fanshawe to a West division championship with 9-0-1 undefeated record, and finished the season as the third highest OCAA scorer All-Time (49 goals in two seasons).

Along with these honours, Kovacevic was named an OCAA All-Star and a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian.


OCAA Championship All-Star MVP: Melissa Harrison (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

The hits kept coming for League1 players, with Jamie Smith (Aurora/ Seneca) earning the 2016 OCAA Women's Central Division Defensive Player Of The Year award, and Amber Hodgins (FC London/ Fanshawe) chosen as 2016 OCAA Women's West Division Rookie Of The Year.

It wasn't just players from League1 that got in on the trophies, as 2014-2016 Kingston Clippers' technical director Chris Eveleigh was named 2016 OCAA Women's East Division Coach Of The Year for his work with St. Lawrence-Kingston College.

Finally, seven League1 players were among those listed as 2016 OCAA Women's All-Stars:

Mallory McQueen (Kingston Clippers/ St. Lawrence-Kingston); Vanessa Fiore (North Miss/ Humber); Sarah Donato (Aurora United FC/ Seneca); Jamie Smith (Aurora/ Seneca); Jade Kovacevic (FC London/ Fanshawe); Marisa Oliveira (FC London/ Fanshawe); Selena Roberts (FC London/ Fanshawe).