Field Hockey | 10/23/2025 3:00:00 PM
York University Lions field hockey head coach Zeeshan Minhas has been named the OUA coach of the year for the second time in his career, while Kathryn Carlow and Jewel Lew have each been named all-stars, the conference announced Thursday.
Minhas, who has made his home in Toronto since moving to Canada in 2005, earns the OUA's top coaching award after leading his team to a first-place finish in the OUA East and the second overall seed in the conference heading into the OUA Final Four this weekend in Waterloo. Minhas, who is in his 13th year (12th season) as head coach, guided his team to a 7-1-2 record this season, with all seven wins coming by shutout, and saw his side give up just three goals all season.
Minhas joins the legendary Maria van der Merwe as the only other head coach to win the award multiple times, having previously won it in 2016.
Carlow, a third-year midfielder, earns her first OUA all-star selection after a career season that saw her lead the province in goals with nine, obliterating her previous career-high of nine set last season. The kinesiology and health science major from the small township of Douro-Dummer, Ont., equalled that total in the first three games of the season, and posted a hat trick on Oct. 12 against Queen's to lead York to a 5-0 win.
Lew, a fifth-year midfielder, also takes home her first career all-star nomination in her final season as a Lion. While only scoring six goals over her career, the Coquitlam, B.C., native has been a steady presence in the York lineup not just this season but over her entire career in red and white. As fate would have it, Lew scored the insurance goal in a 2-0 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues in her final game at Alumni Field, after scoring in a 4-0 win over the McGill Martlets on Oct. 5.
Minhas, Carlow, Lew and the rest of the Lions will take on the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA semi-finals Saturday at 3:00 pm from Warrior Field in Waterloo, site of this year's OUA Final Four, with the winner going to the OUA championship and the loser playing for bronze on Sunday. You can stream both games on OUA TV.
