SYDNEY, N.S. – Adding to what's already been an historic season for the UBC Thunderbirds, third-year forward
Sebastian Dzikowski has been named the 2023 Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy winner as U SPORTS Player of the Year.
It was a heavy blue and gold presence Wednesday night at the All-Canadian banquet in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the host city for the 2023 U SPORTS National Championship which gets underway Thursday morning.
Brennen Fuerst was also honoured on stage as the 2023 U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, the second straight Thunderbird to claim the Lou Bilek Award after
Eric Lajeunesse last season.
Dzikowski and Lajenuesse were also named First Team All-Canadians while goalkeeper
Bennett McKay landed a spot on the Second Team. Fuerst was also named to the 2023 All-Rookie squad.
"I'm thrilled for our two lads to be recognized for the seasons they've had, and they're really well deserved," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher. "Both have been integral parts of our team from game one right through to now. We haven't had a Player of the Year for a long time and we've had a lot of good players come through our program, so it's nice to see Sebastian and our program recognized."
Setting a program record with 15 goals in the Canada West regular season, Dzikowski broke through in a big way this year, also setting a new single season conference record with 43 shots on target while helping lead the T-Birds to a remarkable 13-1-2 record.
The Calgary native scored at least once in ten of UBC's 16 regular season games, finishing with 19 points. The third-year forward also found the back of the net three times in the T-Birds' two playoff victories over Calgary and Alberta, helping punch the T-Birds' ticket to the Canada West final and the U SPORTS National Championship.
Dzikowski is the first Thunderbird to win the Joe Johnson Award since Aaron Richer in 2002. He is the fourth UBC player all-time to claim the most prestigious national men's soccer award.
Earning a starting role in UBC's season opener on a very deep team, Fuerst proved his worth as an impact player right from the start of training camp. The midfielder out of the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy program earned his first Canada West assist in his first game and scored the game winner against the defending U SPORTS champion WolfPack the following weekend, one of two goals on the season.
Fuerst dressed in 15 of UBC's 16 regular season games, starting in 14 of those as well as the conference quarter-final and semifinal, helping UBC to an eighth straight national championship appearance.
The Calgary native is the second straight Thunderbird to win the Lou Bilek Award after teammate
Eric Lajeunesse earned the honour in 2022 while
Thomas Gardner was honoured in 2018 giving UBC three of the last five winners.
"It's terrific and I'm really thrilled for these guys but we keep saying to them, we start the season day one in pre-season and the goal is to try and win a national championship for this program every year," added Mosher. "Individual accomplishments are nice and it's nice for players to have good seasons and be recognized and obviously if they have then the team has done well."
That drive for a 14th U SPORTS title begins Thursday at 9:30 a.m. PT as the 'Birds face the AUS champion St. FX X-Men. The game will be streamed live on
CBC Gem and
CBC Sports' YouTube page.
2023 U SPORTS MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy (player of the year):
Sebastian Dzikowski, UBC
Lou Bilek Award (rookie of the year):
Brennen Fuerst, UBC
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Luke Berryman, Dalhousie
Fox40 Coach of the year: Pat Raimondo, Montréal
First Team All-Canadians
Pos |
Name |
School |
Yr |
Hometown |
Academic Program |
GK |
Kevon Grant |
Ontario Tech |
4 |
Oshawa, Ont. |
Criminology |
D |
Zé Cunha |
Cape Breton |
3 |
Cascais, Portugal |
Arts Community Studies |
D |
Eric Lajeunesse |
UBC |
2 |
Ottawa, Ont. |
Science |
D |
Caden Rogozinski |
Mount Royal |
3 |
Calgary, Alta. |
Business |
D |
Kareem Sow |
Montréal |
5 |
Sherbrooke, Que. |
Mechanical Engineering |
MF |
Gregory David |
UQAM |
3 |
Ste-Julie, Que. |
Psychology |
S |
Kyle Cordeiro |
StFX |
3 |
Oakville, Ont. |
Business |
S |
Sebastian Dzikowski |
UBC |
3 |
Calgary, Alta. |
Applied Science |
S |
Omar Marzouk |
Ontario Tech |
5 |
Cairo, Egypt |
Education |
S |
Owen Sheppard |
Cape Breton |
3 |
St. John's, N.L. |
Business |
S |
Christian Zeppieri |
York |
1 |
Maple, Ont. |
Liberal Arts & Prof. Studies |
Second Team All-Canadians
Pos |
Name |
School |
Yr |
Hometown |
Academic Program |
GK |
Bennett McKay |
UBC |
3 |
Delta, B.C. |
Arts |
D |
Cole Fernandez |
Guelph |
3 |
Hamilton, Ont. |
Sociology |
D |
Raphaël Garcia |
Carleton |
3 |
Ottawa, Ont. |
Law |
MF |
Mahdi Abbassi |
UQTR |
1 |
Montreal, Que. |
Nursing |
MF |
Quentin Paumier |
Montréal |
3 |
Marseille, France |
Economics |
MF |
Logan Rieck |
StFX |
3 |
Cambridge, Ont. |
Human Kinetics |
S |
Luke Rosettani |
UNB |
3 |
Ottawa, Ont. |
Recreation & Sports Studies |
S |
Timothé Makanzu-Tinadio |
UQAM |
3 |
Montreal, Que. |
Human Resources |
S |
Kevin Espiro |
Waterloo |
3 |
Mississauga, Ont. |
Pharmacy |
S |
Marcus Velado-Tsegaye |
Alberta |
2 |
Edmonton, Alta. |
Business |
MF |
Javier Sagaste |
Victoria |
4 |
Victoria, B.C. |
Humanities |
All-Rookie Team
Pos |
Name |
School |
Hometown |
Academic Program |
GK |
Matteo Blanc |
Moncton |
Flavin, France |
Physical Education |
D |
Matisse Chretien |
McGill |
Quebec City, Que. |
Physical & Health Education |
D |
Tarek Ghamraoui |
UQTR |
Brossard, Que. |
Physical Education |
D |
Ibrahim Saadi |
Western |
London, Ont. |
King's College |
MF |
Maxime Bourgeois |
Sherbrooke |
Granby, Que. |
Free Studies |
MF |
Jacob Cabral |
Guelph |
Mississauga, Ont. |
Arts |
MF |
Brennen Fuerst |
UBC |
Calgary, Alta. |
Arts |
MF |
Augustine Opouro |
Memorial |
St. John's, N.L. |
Unspecified |
MF |
Isaac VanWychen |
StFX |
Middle Musquodoboit, N.S. |
Human Kinetics |
S |
Michael Maslanka |
Toronto |
Mississauga. Ont. |
Political Science |
S |
Philip Masri |
MacEwan |
Edmonton, Alta. |
Open Studies |
S |
Kian Proctor |
UFV |
Delta, B.C. |
Qualifying Studies |