2025 AUS men's soccer major award winners and all-stars announced
Cape Breton’s Max Piepgrass named AUS MVP
(HALIFAX, N.S.) Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2025 men's soccer all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's 10 head coaches following regular season play.
Fourth-year Cape Breton midfielder Max Piepgrass has been named the AUS most valuable player, while Moncton forward Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI is the 2025 AUS rookie of the year.
This year's recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award is Saint Mary's midfielder Jake Wilcox of Halifax, N.S.
And in his fifth season at the helm of the Dalhousie Tigers program, Alan Jazic has been selected by his peers as the AUS coach of the year for the first time in his career.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Max Piepgrass, Cape Breton CAPERS
Cape Breton CAPERS midfielder Max Piepgrass has been named the Atlantic University Sport men's soccer most valuable player.
A fourth-year arts student from Calgary, Alta., Piepgrass led Cape Breton to a 9-1-2 record this season, a first-place finish in the conference standings, and a first-round bye through to the semifinal round of this weekend's championship.
He led the CAPERS in scoring this season with eight points (five goals and three assists).
Before returning to Cape Breton this fall, Piepgrass spent the summer competing professionally with his hometown Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League.
Along with being named AUS MVP, Piepgrass was named an AUS first team all-star today marking his third consecutive season as a conference all-star. He was named an AUS second team all-star last season and an AUS first team all-star in 2023.
He will now represent the Atlantic conference as the league's nominee for the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy as the U SPORTS player of the year. Atlantic conference nominees have taken home the honour in 2017, 2014, 2005, 2003, 2001, 1998 and 1996, with former STFX standout Dan Hayfield winning it most recently in 2017.
(VERSION FRANÇAISE CI-DESSOUS)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI, Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus
Université de Moncton forward Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI has been chosen by the coaches as the 2025 Atlantic University Sport rookie of the year.
This marks the first time in team history a Moncton player has been named the conference's top rookie.
A psychology student from Ottawa, Ont., ANDJI-YAPI started in all 12 games for the Aigles Bleus this season, leading the team and tying for first in the conference in goals with eight.
He helped lead Moncton to a 7-4-1 record and fourth-place finish in the conference standings—earning a place in this week's AUS championship after narrowly missing the playoffs the last two seasons.
In addition to rookie of the year honours, ANDJI-YAPI was also named an AUS first team all-star today, and also earned a place on the AUS all-rookie team.
He will now represent the AUS as the conference's nominee for the Lou Bilek Award for U SPORTS rookie of the year. The only Atlantic conference players to be honoured as the national rookie of the year are UNB's John Fish in 2004 and Dalhousie's Simon Richardson in 2001.
RECRUE DE L'ANNÉE : Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI, Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus
L'attaquant de l'Université de Moncton, Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI, a été choisi par les entraîneurs comme la recrue de l'année 2025 de la conférence Sport universitaire de l'Atlantique (SUA).
C'est la première fois dans l'histoire des Aigles Bleus qu'un joueur de l'équipe remporte ce titre de recrue de l'année de la conférence.
Originaire d'Ottawa (Ont.), étudiant en psychologie, ANDJI-YAPI a été titulaire dans les 12 matchs de saison régulière des Aigles Bleus cette saison, menant l'équipe et se classant à égalité au sommet de la conférence avec huit buts.
Il a contribué à mener Moncton à un dossier de 7-4-1 et à une quatrième place au classement de la conférence — ce qui lui a valu une place au championnat de SUA cette semaine, après avoir manqué les séries par un cheveu au cours des deux dernières saisons.
En plus de son titre de recrue de l'année, ANDJI-YAPI a également été nommé aujourd'hui membre de la première équipe d'étoiles de SUA, et a obtenu une place au sein de l'équipe des recrues de la SUA.
Il représentera maintenant la conférence de SUA comme candidat au prix Lou Bilek pour la recrue de l'année d'U SPORTS. Les seuls joueurs de la conférence de l'Atlantique à avoir remporté ce titre national sont John Fish (UNB, 2004) et Simon Richardson (Dalhousie, 2001).
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Jake Wilcox, Saint Mary's Huskies
Jake Wilcox, a second-year midfielder with the Saint Mary's Huskies, is the student-athlete community service award recipient for 2025.
An engineering student from Halifax, N.S., Wilcox has excelled both academically and athletically. He maintains a 3.75 GPA and was recognized as a 2024-25 U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian.
Despite breaking his wrist this past summer, he was a steady presence in the Huskies' midfield, starting in all 12 regular-season games. Wilcox contributed significantly to Saint Mary's transition game and was instrumental in creating offensive opportunities through his strong distribution and positional play.
Off the field, Wilcox has made a strong impact in the soccer community. He has coached with Halifax City Soccer for the past three years, where he serves as Mini Program Coordinator, overseeing and coaching players aged four to nine, leading youth camps, and assisting with Saint Mary's Jr. Huskies soccer camps.
He also volunteers as a coach at Sacred Heart School of Halifax, running indoor soccer sessions during the winter, and joined his U21 HFX Wanderers teammates this summer in delivering a youth training camp in Mahone Bay.
Wilcox also participated in the Motionball Marathon of Sport, helping to raise over $27,000 for Special Olympics Nova Scotia.
He will now represent the Atlantic conference as the nominee for the national student-athlete community service award. Since the inception of the national award in 2005, AUS student-athletes have claimed the honour 12 times (in 2023, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2006). Dalhousie's Luke Berryman was the most recent Atlantic recipient in 2023.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Alan Jazic, Dalhousie Tigers
In his fifth season at the helm of the Dalhousie Tigers program, head coach Alan Jazic has been selected by his peers as the AUS men's soccer coach of the year for the first time in his career.
Coach Jazic led the Tigers to an 8-2-2 record this season, a second-place finish in the conference standings, and a first-round bye through to the semifinal round of this week's championship.
Dalhousie finished the regular season with the best shooting percentage (.281) and a conference-best shots-on-goal percentage of 80.2%.
The Tigers also tied for the most shutouts in the conference, recording four on the season.
They averaged 2.25 goals per game while allowing an average of just 1.00 goal against per game.
Jazic now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS coach of the year award. Cape Breton Capers head coach Deano Morley is the most recent coach from the Atlantic conference to earn the national honour, winning in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018.
2025 AUS MEN'S SOCCER ALL-STARS
The AUS first and second team all-stars were also announced today. They are as follows:
First Team All-Stars:
Keeper – Sinclair Astridge, Dalhousie (3rd year—Victoria, B.C.)
Defender – Jack Ellis, Dalhousie (5th year—Liverpool, England)
Defender – Luke Green, STFX (5th year—Fall River, N.S.)
Defender – Christopher Schmit, UNB (5th year—Vancouver, B.C.)
Defender – Jabu Deng, Acadia (5th year—Halifax, N.S.)
Midfielder – Mohammed Tolba, Dalhousie (2nd year – Stellarton, N.S.)
Midfielder – Max Piepgrass, Cape Breton (4th year—Calgary, Alta.)
Midfielder – Logan Rieck, STFX (5th year—Cambridge, Ont.)
Midfielder – Jamie Nicholson, Cape Breton (3rd year—North Petherton, England)
Striker – Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI, Moncton
Striker – Jahmal Boursiquot, UPEI (2nd year—Orleans, Ont.)
Second Team All-Stars:
Keeper – Samuel Diltz, STFX (5th year—Newmarket, Ont.)
Defender – Max Bodurtha, STFX (5th year—Halifax, N.S.)
Defender – Luke Peddle, Memorial (2nd year—St. John's, N.L.)
Defender – Harvey Hughes, Cape Breton (2nd year—Southampton, England)
Midfielder – Isaac VanWychen, STFX (3rd year—Middle Musquodoboit, N.S.)
Midfielder – Hashem Khalifa, Memorial (4th year—St. John's, N.L.)
Midfielder – Yohann Hebert, Cape Breton (1st year—Gatineau, Que.)
Midfielder – Joe Mac, Cape Breton (5th year—Toronto, Ont.)
Striker – Hunter Delahunt, UNB (3rd year—Boundary Creek, N.B.)
Striker – Soumaila Mohamed Dagnoko, Moncton (2nd year—Gatineau, Que.)
Striker – Benjamin Hashimoto, Dalhousie (3rd year—Charlottetown, P.E.I.)
All-Rookie Team:
Kautchy ANDJI-YAPI, Moncton (Ottawa, Ont.)
Yohann Hebert, Cape Breton (Gatineau, Que.)
Eliia Abu Al-Shamlat, Dalhousie (Odessa, Ukraine)
Isaac Sommerville, UPEI (Memramcook, N.B.)
Diego Carreno, UNB (Ottawa, Ont.)
The 2025 Bell AUS Men's Soccer Championship will be hosted Oct. 23-26 by St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.
The championship schedule is available here.
Final 2025 AUS men's soccer standings are available here.
All games will be livestreamed on AUStv.
Both the AUS champion and runner-up will advance to the 2025 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championship being hosted Nov. 6-9 by the University of Toronto. More information on the national championship is available here.