Provost wins OUA East Player of the Year for historic third straight year
The Gee-Gees women's soccer team had seven members recognized by Ontario University Athletics on Thursday as the conference announced the All-Stars and Major Award winners for the 2024 season.
Ottawa will host the OUA Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday, November 2 at 12 p.m. The Nipissing Lakers will visit Matt Anthony Field as the Gee-Gees try for a third straight conference title.
Cassandra Provost was named the East Division Player of the Year and a First Team All-Star, Steve Johnson earned East Division Coach of the Year, and Maya Smith, Nibo Dlamini, Eva Bouity, Cassidy Joslin, and Jenna Matsukubo were named to the All-Star teams.
Provost led the entire OUA in goals scored with 13 in the 2024 regular season, and was first in OUA East and second overall with 15 total points. The Management student from Acton Vale, Que., has been the leading goal scorer across OUA for the past three seasons and is the first Gee-Gees soccer player to be named the conference Player of the Year three times.
The five-foot-eight striker was also named the OUA East Division Rookie of the Year in 2021, giving her a conference major award in each of her seasons with uOttawa. She was named the National Player of the Year in 2022.
Provost broke the Gee-Gees all-time regular season scoring record this season, surpassing the 58 goals recorded by two-time OUA East Player of the Year, Pilar Khoury. Provost now stands at 61 career goals in 44 regular season games played.
Steve Johnson led the Gee-Gees to an 11-1-0 record and the top overall position in the league standings in his 30th OUA season as head coach. Ottawa led the league in goals scored (45) and goals against (4) in regular season play. 2024 marked the fifteenth time the Gee-Gees finished at the top of the OUA East standings.
The 2024 Coach of the Year award is the eighth of Johnson's remarkable career. His career regular season record is 303-33-66 and his overall record including playoffs is 392-69-70.
Fourth-year defender Maya Smith was named an OUA East First Team All-Star, which marks her second conference selection. Smith recorded three goals in 2024, setting a career high, while playing lockdown defence at centre back, contributing to the Gee-Gees league-best goals against average of 0.36 per game.
The Gee-Gees midfield had two players named to the OUA East First All-Star Team; Nibo Dlamini and Eva Bouity were recognized for their dynamic contributions.
Dlamini, a fourth-year player and Human Kinetics student from Ottawa, repeats as a First Team All-Star and recorded five goals and six assists in regular season play. Bouity had a break-out third season in Garnet and Grey, starting eleven games and tallying three goals and two assists, both career highs for the Psychology and Linguistics student from Montreal.
Gee-Gees goaltender Cassidy Joslin and forward Jenna Matsukubo were named to the OUA East Second All-Star teams.
Joslin led the conference in both goals against average (0.35 per game) and save percentage (.912). The fifth-year from Saskatoon is an OUA All-Star for the first time in her fourth season at uOttawa. She started 10 matches in regular season play and allowed three goals on 34 shots faced.
Matsukubo is now a three-time OUA All-Star and finishes her U SPORTS career with 52 total points: 21 over two seasons at Ottawa and 31 over three seasons with Queen's. The medical student from Ottawa recorded two goals and four assists over eleven starts in the 2024 regular season. Her career points total includes 24 goals and 28 assists.