2022-23 ACAC Women's Soccer Rookies of the Year
Edmonton, AB (October 27, 2022) –
North Rookie of the Year:
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is pleased to announce Mika Thompson of the King's University Eagles has been selected as the 2022-23 ACAC Female Soccer Rookie of the Year.
Mika Thompson comes to The King’s University soccer team with great passion and skill for the game. As a key player both offensively and defensively, Mika’s knowledge of the game allowed her to be in the right position at all times. Mika faced a lot of adversity throughout the season, including missing the first few games of the season due to a concussion. As a credit to Mika’s hard work, she was able to come back better than ever to become an essential player for her team. Mika came to the team willing to listen and learn from her coaches, she used this as an asset to then develop into becoming a vocal leader on the team. She seems to have an innate ability in knowing the best time to distribute the ball, enabling her teammates to have the best chance at success.
Mika is also a player who leads by example and continually pushes herself and others to be the best version of themselves on and off the field. Mika’s coaches are proud of her tenacity to always come out with 100% effort and to have a positive attitude. You can find Mika either in the gym or doing extra training sessions before practice and her dedication is recognized and is a direct representation of why Mika deserves this award.
Mika is a first-year athlete from Edmonton, Alberta and is studying to obtain a Bachelor of Arts from The King’s University
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2022 ACAC Women’s Soccer Championship hosted by Lethbridge College in Raymond, AB.
South Rookie of the Year:
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is pleased to announce Sein Furuyama of the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens has been selected as the 2022-23 ACAC Female Soccer Rookie of the Year.
Furuyama made a name for herself in her debut with the Queens in ACAC regular season competition. She scored two goals against the always tough SAIT Trojans. After she went silent on the goal sheet against the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings, she made up for it by scoring six goals in back-to-back games. This set her up nicely and gave her the chance to break the ACAC Single Season Scoring Record. She would have one more six goal game when the Queens battled with the Ambrose University Lions. Furuyama scored an impressive 12 goals against the Lions in their two matches against each other. This put her two back of the 26-goal record held by Kayla Michaels of the NAIT Ooks. Nine days later, Furuyama would make history scoring two goals against the Rattlers to give her 27 on the year. She would add two more goals to her total against the Olds College Broncos in the season finale to extend her record to 29 goals. The rookie striker also was a huge reason why the Queens team was able to break the ACAC Most Goals in a Season Record by scoring 89 over a 12-game season.
Head Coach Mazhiar Peyrow says he was quite impressed with how she performed on the field but also off the field as well.
“Having a player like Sein is unbelievable. It was a big moment for the Queens to have an international player like her. She had to work extremely hard on and off the pitch as she was set back because of her language barrier. I’m so proud of her for all of her accomplishments in both the ACAC season as well as academically.”
Furuyama was born in Kobe, Japan and currently in her first year of Academic Upgrading at the Red Deer Polytechnic. She will be looking forward to continuing her scoring ways at the ACAC Championships this weekend in Lethbridge in the first semi-final matchup on Saturday, October 29. Furuyama and the Queens will await the winner of the first quarterfinal on October 28.
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2022 ACAC Women’s Soccer Championship hosted by Lethbridge College in Raymond, AB.
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About the ACAC: The ACAC is the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in Alberta. Its mission is to provide competitive collegiate sport experiences, promote academic achievement and be a leader of sport development in Canada.
For more information on the ACAC, please visit our website: www.acac.ab.ca
For additional information, contact:
Mark Kosak, ACAC
Chief Executive Officer
403-875-7329
markk@acac.ab.ca
Grace Scott, The King's University
Athletic Director
780-465-3500
grace.scott@kingsu.ca
Randy Stewart, RDP Athletics
Manager, Athletics & Student Life
403-342-3449
randy.stewart@rdpolytech.ca
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