Men's Soccer | 11/4/2026 2:45:00 PM
Just like clockwork.
York University Lions fourth-year midfielder Christian Zeppieri had never not been named OUA West MVP over his previous three years in the red and white, a streak that continued Wednesday.
The Maple, Ont., native won an unprecedented fourth straight MVP award – and another first team all-star selection – further solidifying himself as one if not the best players in conference history. The commerce – accounting major already made history by winning the award last season when he became the first player ever to win the award in three times years, and now becomes only the second OUA league sport athlete to win an MVP award four times, joining Cassandra Carpenter of the Laurentian Voyageurs, who won it four times in her five-year career, as the only other. He is only the eighth OUA athlete to win their sport's top award four times.
Zeppieri, the three-time reigning York men's athlete of the year, led the OUA and U SPORTS in goals with 13, narrowly edging out Niklas Hallam of the Toronto Varsity Blues, who had 12, on both leaderboards. He also led both the conference and nation with 20 points, seven clear of the Guelph Gryphons Ambrose Tinmouth on the OUA scoring list, and five ahead of UBC's Max Comsia. Those numbers both blow away the midfielder's previous career highs, both of which came in 2024 when he scored nine goals and 17 points en route to the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy as national player of the year.
Zeppieri isn't the only Lion to be acclaimed a major award winner, however. Third-year forward Yigal Bruk was named the OUA West Community Service Award winner for a second consecutive year for his work with his non-profit, Generations Assisting Loved-Ones (GAL), a senior care foundation working to combat fraud against the elderly that, among other things, helps recover funds for those who have been victimized by fraud, he is also leading a research paper on how fraud effects the health of seniors. He is excelling in the classroom, maintaining a perfect GPA in his neuroscience program, and is on pace to complete a four-year, 120 credit program in three years with 141 credits. Today, GAL has more than 60 volunteers working in over 25 cities across BC, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta. They present in a variety of languages including, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, French, and Spanish. GAL has partnered with the City of Toronto to bring its seminars to 40 new locations across the GTA. Every week, volunteers run fraud-prevention seminars in community centres, libraries and retirement homes, and every month they run tech-literacy workshops. GAL's Senior Support Fund helps seniors who have already lost money to fraud. The charity estimates it has kept more than $4 million out of scammers' hands.
The Lions final major award winner is one from the sideline, as head coach Carmine Isacco takes home the OUA West Coach of the Year for the ninth time in his illustrious career. Capturing the award for the first time since 2022, Isacco led the Lions to a near-perfect regular season with a 10-1-1 record, their only loss coming to the McMaster Marauders and the lone draw coming in the final game of the regular season against the Laurier Golden Hawks in a match where most starters did not dress. In a year where the Lions honoured Isacco for his 20 years of service at York, the Lions got off to their best start in program history at 8-0. Overall, the Lions 10 regular season wins is tied for their most since 2019 when they won 11 games, with the other ten-win season coming in 2022, when the Isacco was last named the West's best bench boss.
York's top first team all-star is a second-year player who earns the distinction for the second time in as many seasons in forward Anthony Morano. One of two York members of the 2025 U SPORTS all-rookie team, the English major from Woodbridge, Ont., enjoyed another outstanding offensive season in 2026, scoring 11 goals to build off the nine he potted in 2025. He remained neck-and-neck with his teammate Zeppieri atop the OUA goal-scoring list throughout the season, and finished third overall in the conference. He scored in each of York's first four games, including a pair in the season opener at Windsor. He also scored twice in a 4-1 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 2, and was held off the scoresheet in just three of the 11 games he played.
Meanwhile, Lions goalkeeper Michael Williams was named a first team all-star for a second consecutive year after another superb season between the pipes for York. Coming off a solid season in his first season as a Lion in 2025, Williams outdid himself this season, starting all 12 games during the regular season and winning all 10 of the Lions games, with five shutouts and a league-leading 0.78 goals against average.
Defender James Fidalgo was included among the conference's top players in 2026 after starting the first 11 games of the season for the Lions, becoming one of the most important players on the Lions back line as a third-year player. Fidalgo, who shares a hometown with Zeppieri, played in all but the season finale at Laurier, and chipped in offensively with a goal and an assist, while developing himself into a reliable defender who will be leaned on heavily next season, and perhaps even in 2028, as he enters his upper years. He put together this 2026 season after being limited to just a pair of games in 2025 due to injuries, a year after being a mainstay in the Lions starting 11 as a rookie in 2024.
Lastly for the Lions first team all-star contingent, a year after being named OUA West and U SPORTS Rookie of the Year and first team all-star midfielder Marco Sciortino is once again a first team all-star for the second straight year. While his offensive numbers dropped slightly from a year ago, the commerce – finance major who, like Fidalgo and Zeppieri, hails from nearby Maple, Ont., posted three goals and an assist in starting 11 of the Lions 12 games while appearing in all 12 regular season games. He began the season with a goal and an assist in the Lions 4-1 season-opening victory on Aug. 28 in Windsor, while adding an insurance goal in a 3-0 win over Waterloo on Sept. 6 and another in York's 3-0 win over Laurier on Sept. 25.
York's final all-star nominee is second-teamer Ryan Robinson, who is selected to the second team for the second time in three years after being named a second team all-star in 2024. Robinson put up a solid bounce-back season after appearing in just six games last season due to injury. He netted five goals and two assists for seven points in 11 games and 10 starts. Robinson scored a pair of goals in the Lions dramtic come-from-behind home opener win over the Western Mustangs on Aug. 30, including the game-tying tally in the 69th minute. That started a stretch of three goals in two games for the third-year sport management student, including one in York's 4-0 win over McMaster on Sept. 3. His five goals were a new career high, surpassing his previous high of three as a rookie in 2024.
