Women's Soccer garners numerous OCAA league awards
Humber women's soccer wins overall rookie of the year, division scoring title, division co-coach of the year, and three all-star honourees for the 2021 OCAA regular season.
ETOBICOKE – After finishing with a 4-2-0 record and a second-place finish in the OCAA Central Division, No. 15 Humber women's soccer garnered numerous accolades as the league announced its yearly awards as determined by a polling of the conference's coaches.
For the sixth time in 25 seasons, head coach Mauro Ongaro has been recognized as the OCAA Central Division Coach of the Year. Coach Ongaro is the winningest head coach in OCAA women's soccer history and after a quarter-century owns a 166-19-29 (.843) career regular-season record.
It was a historic year for Kaitlynn Russell, who made an immediate impact with the Hawks during her first season. The Mississauga finished with 13 tallies in six matches, the second-most in the province. The divisional golden boot winner was named the OCAA Rookie of the Year, becoming the first player in program history to earn the award since its inception in 2010. Russell's 2.17 goals-per-game average is a new program record, surpassing Hall of Famer Joanna Vitale's record of 1.67 set in 1999.
Senior Giulia Zanardi was named to the All-Ontario team for the third time. The Tottenham native added another four tallies to her career total of 29 and finishes fourth on Humber's all-time scoring list.
Playing a major factor on Humber's backline that earned the top defensive team in 2017 and 2018, Remi Pelletier has often flown under the radar. This season the Brampton native smothered opponents' attacks, as Humber only gave up 27 shots on net in six matches.
Under Coach Ongaro, Humber soccer has received 60 All-Ontario selections.
The announcement of the league awards marks the beginning of the 2021 OCAA Final Four, hosted by Fanshawe College. No. 15 Humber will open the semifinal round against No. 9 Fanshawe on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.
