Nicolas Lesage

Nicolas Lesage
Personal information
Full name Nicolas Lesage Moussavou-Nzamba
Date of birth (1980-01-03) January 3, 1980
Place of birth Trois-Rivières, Quebec
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1999–2004 UQTR Patriotes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004 Toledo Slayers 14 (8)
2005 Montreal Impact 0 (0)
2005 Laval Dynamites 6 (5)
2007-2008 Trois-Rivières Attak 40 (26)
2008 Montreal Impact 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 08, 2014.

† Appearances (goals)

Nicolas Lesage (born January 3, 1980) is a retired Canadian soccer player who played as a striker. Lesage played the majority of the career in the Canadian providence of Quebec with stints in USL Premier Development League, USL First Division, and the Canadian Soccer League. His biggest success was with the Trois-Rivières Attak where he is the all-time leading scorer with 31 goals in all competitions, and assisted the club be claiming their first Open Canada Cup and National Division title. He was awarded the Canadian Soccer League MVP Award, and the CSL Golden Boot becoming the first person in CSL history to win two individual awards in a season.

Playing career

Lesage played college soccer with the UQTR Patriotes for five years. During his university career his achievements were being a member of the CIS all-star team for three years. While still playing for the patriotes he played one season with the Toledo Slayers of the USL Premier Development League in 2004. On April 23, 2005 he signed a contract with the Montreal Impact of the USL First Division.[1] He featured, and played in most per-season matches, but as the season progressed he failed to make a single appearance in an Impact shirt. This led him to go on season loan to the Laval Dynamites and helped the club reach the postseason.

After finishing the season in the Quebec amateur leagues, Lesage was signed by newly expansion franchise Trois-Rivières Attak for the 2007 CSL season. His signing was announced in a press conference on May 2, 2007. He made his Attak debut in 0–0 tie at Toronto Croatia on May 12. He scored his first goal against the Canadian Lions which ended out being the winning goal in 2–1 victory. He soon became an instant impact, forming a strong attacking partnership with Darko Kolic.

He played an influential role for the Attak in the Open Canada Cup final against the Columbus Clan F.C., coming in as a substitute for Ibrahim Baldeh in 51 minutes, and scoring the first goal of the match in the ninth minute.[2] The Attak would end up winning the match 3–0, claiming their first trophy in their debut Open Canada Cup tournament. Lesage concluded the season as the Attak and CSL leading scorer with 20 goals combined in all competitions. As the Attak entered the playoffs, Lesage scored the first goal in 3–0 victory eliminating defending CSL champions the Italia Shooters in the quarterfinal round. But their playoff run ended on October 21 against the Serbian White Eagles with two first half goals coincided, Lesage scored in the 84 minute to bring life to the Attak, but Serbia hung on and advanced to the finals.[3] On November 4 at the CSL Awards Banquet he was awarded the CSL MVP Award, and the CSL Golden Boot.[4] To add to his silverware Lesage was also awarded the Trois-Rivières Golden Boot award at the Trois-Rivières annual awards banquet on November 6, 2007.

Lesage extended his contract with the Attak on February 12, 2008.[5] During the 2008 CSL season for the second year in a row he led his team in goals, scoring 8 goals in all competitions. Lesage also helped the Attak claim the National Division title, the club's first Division title. On October 11, he scored the winning goal against St. Catharines Wolves in 2–0 victory in the playoff quarterfinals. In the semi-final match, Lesage contributed a goal in the 75' minute in a 7–0 victory over Portugal FC, and for the first time the Attak advanced into the CSL Cup final where they would face the White Eagles once again. In the final match Lesage came off the bench to score in the 70' minute and tie the game 1–1, after both teams equalized in extra time the game went into penalties, where the White Eagles won the match 2–1. At the 2008 Trois-Rivières Attak annual awards banquet, Lesage was awarded for the second consecutive time the Trois-Rivières Attak Golden Boot award with whom he shared with Pierre-Rudolph Mayard for having scored the most goals over the course of the regular season. In the same season Lesage was loaned out to his former club the Montreal Impact, where he appeared in one match.[6]

Honours

Club

Trois-Rivières Attak

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Impact signs forwards Kevin Wilsonand Nicolas Lesage
  2. ↑ Result of the Monday September 3, 2007 CSL Open Canada Cup Final between Columbus Clan and Trois-Rivieres Attak played at Cove Road in London at 4:00pm.
  3. ↑ Result of the Sunday October 21, 2007 CSL game between Serbian White Eagles and Trois-Rivieres Attak played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 5:00pm. This was the second semi-final of the CSL Championship playoffs.
  4. ↑ TORONTO CROATIA TAKES TOP HONOURS AT CSL AWARDS
  5. ↑ Contract extension for Lesage
  6. ↑ Stats - Season 2008
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