Nicholas Pavao: September's Zueike Male Athlete of the Month
Pavao patrols the middle of the pitch during their home opener against the Bobcats
Congratulations to Nicholas Pavao of Blazers Men's Soccer on being selected the CMU Zueike Male Athlete of the Month for September. The rookie midfielder was a standout scorer and distributor during the entire month, and a key contributor to the Blazers' hot 6-1 start.
A major late-summer signing, Pavao is new to the collegiate soccer scene, but not at all to top-level competition in Manitoba and across North America. Pavao was a part of Major League Soccer's FC Dallas Academy, but the Winnipeg native is back in Manitoba in hopes of challenging the best of the CCAA. Pavao has joined an incredible class of incoming recruits and a solid returning core on the Blazers men's soccer squad that is already turning heads across the conference and and country. He joins a number of teammates in the MCAC's top offensive categories through a month of play, and sits tied in second with teammate Romaine Francis for the league lead in goals with six, third in shots, and tied for third in points with teammates Tristen Holfeld and Mahamat Khamis with 12.
Pavao took home his first MCAC Player of the Match award earlier in the month after his game-winning goal in the team's tight 1-0 defeat of the Pilots, and also notched his first hat trick of the campaign in the Blazers' 8-0 drubbing of the Cougars back on September 20. In a lineup riddled with talent, Pavao has demonstrated the poise and game sense to be a difference-maker, whether scoring goals himself, or pushing the ball up the field to setup his teammates. Talent up and down the roster made the selection of September's male athlete of the month incredibly tough, but clearly CMU's team-first approach has paid dividends as the Blazers cracked the CCAA top-15 rankings for the first time in program history this week.
"Nick has been the pivot of our team's success this season," states head coach Gode Katembo. "He's the kind of player every coach dreams of having: humble, hardworking, and committed. His creativity shines through both in scoring and in setting up his teammates, making him an invaluable leader on the field."
The Blazers have a pivotal stretch of games ahead with two away matches this weekend against the two sides next in the MCAC standings in the Brandon Bobcats and St Boniface Rouges, both of whom have been nationally-ranked at times during the season. The MCAC Championship weekend takes place the October 25/26 weekend with a new format granting the regular season champion the right to host, putting even more significance on regular season standings to gain home field advantage for the playoff run with the winner earning their ticket to the CCAA National Championships, held this year in Montreal.
