Ottawa Fury Press Release - www.ottawafury.com
Thursday, April 24
OTTAWA, ON – The Ottawa Fury have announced the return of three players from the 2007 Premier Development League (PDL) squad, as well as one new addition.
Will Beauge, Kofi Ilboudo and Janson Blake, all Ottawa natives, will be back in Fury colors for the upcoming summer. New addition Louis Legakis, also from Ottawa, will bring his winning history to the Fury as he joins the squad for the 2008 season – his first as a player in the PDL.
Beauge, the 2007 Fury PDL top scorer, is optimistic about working with Fury coach Stephen O’Kane. It will be a re-unification of player with coach albeit in a different setting, as Beauge played under O’Kane for the Algonquin Thunder during the past two college seasons. Beauge says his goal for 2008 is to reach double digits in goals and to go deep into the PDL playoffs with the team, a task made easier by working with a familiar face on the bench.
“I have a really good history with Stephen, that is a main reason why I decided to come to the Fury,” said Beauge. “From what I can see this year the team looks well structured, there’s a lot of skilful players so I’m extremely excited…I think it’s going to be a really good season.”
Beauge led the 2007 Fury squad in scoring with six goals. During his stellar 2007 season Beauge grabbed various awards including CCAA and OCAA tournament all-star honors and Algonquin College season MVP. He is a clinical striker with great finishing ability, exhibited by his prolific goal-scoring tally of 15 goals in 12 games for Algonquin last year which in large part helped him to be named a 2007 Ontario OCAA all-star.
Kofi Ilboudo, originally from Ghana, is an Ottawa Fury PDL original. Having played with the team since its inception four years ago, he has etched his name forever in the record books as the first ever goal scorer for the Ottawa Fury PDL team. Ilboudo has had a very illustrious youth highlighted by leading the St. Anthony team that won the U21 Ontario cup in 2002. He has been a member of Carleton University soccer for the past three seasons, contributing heavily to them being ranked #1 in the country for large stretches of time. This past year, Ilboudo played forward and led the CIS in scoring with 11 goals, his performances duly rewarding him with an all-Canadian selection.
Janson Blake, from Nepean, Ontario has been involved with the Ottawa Fury for many years, playing at the U16, U17, and U19 youth levels. In addition, Blake was a member of the inaugural 2005 Fury PDL team and returned again for the 2007 PDL season. Blake, who plays collegiate soccer at Loyola College, has been a regular member of the Greyhounds’ defence, starting 56 games over the past four years, and having a stellar senior year (2007) with two goals and three assists. Prior to college, Blake was a high school Student Athlete of the Year, and received a youth trial with English side Sheffield United in 2001.
Louis Legakis, is a highly decorated player hailing from Ottawa. Legakis captained the powerhouse Algonquin Thunder team during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, leading them to a 2006 CCAA championship, collecting an Algonquin College MVP award, 2006 OCAA soccer all-star selection, 2006 men’s soccer All-Canadian award, CCAA and OCAA tournament MVP honours, and 2006 OCAA athlete of the year honours along the way. Legakis has also found success outside of the college soccer scene playing on the St. Anthony’s team which won the 2006 Men’s National Championship, and also has experience gained while playing in Greece.
The Fury open their 2008 PDL-League campaign with an away game on Saturday, May 31st when they meet the Brooklyn Knights at Aviator Field, kick-off 8:30 p.m. The Fury’s first home game is on June 15th when they host the New Hampshire Phantoms at the University of Ottawa Athletic Complex, kick-off at 3:00 PM For season ticket information visit the Fury web site at www.ottawafury.com.
