Simon named soccer coach of the year; Four Redmen earn all-star status

MONTREAL - David Simon of the McGill University men's soccer team has won coach-of-the-year honours and four of his players have earned a berth on the league all-star squad in voting conducted by the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec.

McGill defenders Alexis Pradié, a native of Marseille, France, and Thomas Lucas of Kirkland, Que., were first team selections while teammates George Banks of Baltimore, Md., and Yohann Capolungo of the Auxerre-Vallan region in France, each merited a second-team berth.

Simon guided the Redmen to a 7-3-2 second-place finish in the eight-team RSEQ conference, finishing with the second-best offensive and defensive records. A native of Paris, France, Simon played three years at Tufts University, then transferred to McGill, where he was an all-star midfielder, playing from 1998 to 1999, while earning a law degree. He put that education to good use and when he is not coaching the Redmen, serves as a crown prosecutor for the city of Montreal.

Pradié, a six-foot, 175-pound defender, finished tied for sixth among Quebec league goal-scoring leaders with four and was 10th in points with five in 11 games. The 24-year-old MBA student is in his first year with the Redmen after transferring from the NAIA's Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Lucas, the team captain, is a 5-foot-6, 155-pound fullback who collected two assists and played a major role in McGill registering the second-best defensive record in the league with only 11 goals against in 12 contests. The fifth-year physical therapy senior is a four-time all-star with the Redmen.

Capolungo, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound striker, tied for sixth among Quebec league goal-scoring leaders with four. The 23-year-old finance senior, he has merited all-conference status in each of his four seasons and was a second-team all-Canadian in 2009.

Eleven of the 22 all-stars hail from France.

Other major award winners announced include Laval midfielder Samuel Georget, who was named player of the year, Montreal Carabins defender Alexandre Haddad, who earned rookie-of-the-year honours and goaltender Vincent Cournoyer of the Laval Rouge et Or, who received the conference nomination for combining academics with athletics and citizenship.

2011 RSEQ WOMEN'S SOCCER ALL-STARS

FIRST TEAM

POSITION, NAME, UNIVERSITY, ACADEMIC PROGRAM, HOMETOWN

GOALKEEPER: Gabard Fénelon, UQAM, Kinesiology, Port-de-Paix, Haïti.

DEFENDER: Alexis Pradié, McGill, Management, Marseille, France.

DEFENDER: Alexandre Haddad, Montréal, Economics & Political Science, Montréal, Que.

DEFENDER: Thomas Lucas, McGill, Physical Therapy, Kirkland, Que.

DEFENDER: Jean-François Fournier, UQTR, Leisure Studies, Repentigny, Que.

MIDFIELDER: Samuel Georget, Laval, Psychology (Master's), Segré, France.

MIDFIELDER: Julien Priol, Laval, Public Relations (Master's), Quimper, France.

MIDFIELDER: Maxime Laurey, Montréal, Arts & Science, St-Germain-en-Laye, France.

MIDFIELDER: Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin, Montréal, Kinesiology, Montréal, Que.

FORWARD: Sylvain Willot, Montréal, Arts & Science, Sainte-Catherine les Arras, France

FORWARD: Louis-Charles Laliberté, Laval, Leisure Studies, Otterburn Park, Que.

SECOND TEAM

POSITION, NAME, UNIVERSITY, ACADEMIC PROGRAM, HOMETOWN

GOALKEEPER: Nizar Houhou, Montréal, Arts & Science, Melun, France.

DEFENDER: Serge Dinkota, Laval, Teaching, Kinshasa, Congo.

DEFENDER: Nafi Dicko-Raynaud, Laval, Engineering, Gatineau.

DEFENDER: Mouhamadou Sall, Montréal, Communications, Montpellier, France.

DEFENDER: Cédric Leès-Mélou, Sherbrooke, Physical Education, Langon, France.

MIDFIELDER: Yohann Capolungo, McGill, Finance, Auxere, France.

MIDFIELDER: Mathieu Begue, UQTR, Electrical Engineering, Saint-André, France.

MIDFIELDER: Jawad Guizaoui, UQAM, Administration, Casablanca, Morocco.

MIDFIELDER: Karim Haroun, Concordia, Civil Engineering, Damas, Syria.

FORWARD: George Banks, McGill, Chemistry, Baltimore, Maryland (USA).

FORWARD: Guillaume Surot, UQTR, MBA, Cholet, France.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Samuel Georget, Laval, Psychology (Master's), Segré, France.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Alexandre Haddad, Montréal, Economics & Political Science, Montréal, Que.

ACADEMICS & CITIZENSHIP AWARD:

Vincent Cournoyer, Laval, Physical & Health Education, St.Hyacinthe, Que.

COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD:

David Simon, McGill, Paris, France

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Communications

514-398-7012