MONTREAL, Que. – Fadi Salback (Bowmanville, Ont.) continued to be recognized for his successful rookie season on Tuesday by being named to the U SPORTS all-rookie team at the men's soccer championship banquet in Montreal.
 
Salback becomes the first male athlete from the Ontario Tech soccer program to be recognized by U SPORTS and fourth from either soccer program.
 
He earns this honour after being the first Ridgeback men's soccer player to be named OUA rookie of the year, on top of being named a first team all-star. The first-year forward paced all players across Canada in goals scored with 16, which also set the Ridgebacks' single-season record. He finished three goals ahead of Brock's Jared Agyemang in the scoring race and of his 16 goals, six of them were game winners.
 
"I'm really happy to be here (at championship), it's a bittersweet feeling however because I know that even though I am here all because of my teammates and coaching staff, I'm disappointed I couldn't do that little bit more to land us in a final four spot and that we aren't on our way to nationals as a team," said Salback. "I just want to keep helping the team because when I help the team I of course help myself as well which allows me to be here in this position today. I want to keep thriving for success and winning more awards with my team as well as individually."
 
This season's individual success by Salback also saw an improvement to the team's success as they qualified for the OUA postseason and advanced to their third quarter-final in program history. It also marked the largest number of conference all-star awards won by the team since it began OUA play in 2010.
 
"It's been an amazing journey with this team," said associate head coach Ramin Mohammadi. "It was a great effort from everyone this season and we're truly happy for our players who were selected for all-star awards, especially Fadi being named OUA rookie of the year and to the U SPORTS all-rookie team. They're fantastic achievements for the program and individuals."