KAMLOOPS – Esi Lufo of the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team made program history Wednesday night as she was named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian, becoming the first member of the 'Pack to receive that honour.

Joining Lufo in receiving national recognition was goalkeeper Floor Ursem who earned a spot on the U SPORTS All-Rookie team.

A third-year forward from Tirane, Albania, Lufo had without a doubt one of the greatest seasons ever by any member of the 'Pack at the U SPORTS level. 

Starting all 14 games for the WolfPack, the clinical striker finished tied for the conference lead - and fifth in the nation - with nine goals. Showing off the ability to score in a variety of ways, Lufo was an aerial threat on set pieces, a menace from long-range and just as dangerous from everywhere in between.

"When it comes to strikers there are types of strikers," said WolfPack head coach Mark Pennington. "A player could be better at holding the ball up or playing off a defender's shoulder and getting in behind the defence. I actually think with Esi she offers a bit of everything and that's what makes her really hard to play against. The other thing that's really overlooked is her work defending set pieces too which is a massive bonus for us as well, she's been really instrumental at both ends of the field for us. It's the result of lots of hard work from her off the field, in the gym and buying into what we want to do and she's done that really well."

Also adding two assists along the way, Lufo finished the season as the program's new record holder in: career goals (12), season goals (9), career points (21) and season points (11).

"Those individual achievements are absolutely 100 per cent deserved," said Pennington. "I don't think there are any more fitting athletes to be our leader in all those categories. She's broken all those records in a really short span and that's credit to her and the work she's done. It really took her two years to get going, so we're hoping the ceiling is higher for her next year and to see even more growth, that's the goal."  

A rookie goalkeeper from Uitgeest, Netherlands, Ursem started 13 games in her first year with the 'Pack. One of just two goalkeepers in the country to make the U SPORTS All-Rookie team, Ursem made 46 saves and tallied four shutouts this season.

Those four shutouts set a new program record and were the second-most by any rookie in the conference. A rock at the back all year long for the 'Pack, Ursem made an immediate impact for the squad.

"It's really hard in your first year, especially for goalkeepers because unfortunately in that position your mistakes are highlighted," said Pennington. "Floor came in, had an air of confidence as well as a presence and stature in the goal that we really like. Out of all our players I think we are really just scratching the surface with her because she can grow from strength to strength when she gets more time, confidence and understanding with our back four, so I'm really excited to see where she can go."

This marks the first time that the program has ever had two honourees at the U SPORTS level in a single year. After not receiving a U SPORTS award for the first nine years that the program has competed at the U SPORTS level, Lufo and Ursem's accomplishments now make it three in the last two seasons.

"My goal since I got here was to put the program on the map and make it more of a destination program," said Pennington. "Having players perform and get these individual accolades is helping make our program a bit more well-known."

Earlier this year Lufo was named a Canada West Pacific Division All-Star while both Ursem and Sara Kuusimaki were on the Canada West All-Rookie team.

"I thought we could have had a couple more players recognized at the conference level," said Pennington. "But we will take three awards at the Canada West level and two at the U SPORTS level right now and the goal for next year is to have a few more."