Men's Soccer | 6/21/2017 12:01:00 AM

MONTREAL – Each Wednesday for the next six weeks, we will profile one our half-dozen inductees for 2017 to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame. This week, meet Jason Forsyth, an all-Canadian goaltender who backstopped the soccer Redmen to a national championship in 1997.

The induction luncheon will kick-off the University's Homecoming Week celebrations on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017 and only about 250 tickets will be available for the ceremony, scheduled to be held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Tickets are $70 and can be reserved online in August or by contacting the McGill Alumni Association at 514-398-8288.

Forsyth was born May 2, 1977 in Montreal but was raised in Switzerland. He graduated from McGill with a mechanical engineering degree in 2001 and now resides in Geneva, Switzerland. A four-time Academic All-Canadian and member of the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll, he won the Uldis Auders Memorial Trophy in 1998 as the McGill sophomore who best combines athletic prowess and academic excellence.

A starter for four fall seasons from 1996 to 1999 with the soccer Redmen, Forsyth merited conference all-stars honours each year, making the first team in his final campaign. Injuries kept him from playing a fifth season. He earned CIAU second-team all-Canadian status in his senior year, when he was the first 'keeper in McGill soccer history to serve as co-captain. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder posted a 31-13-10 record in 54 career starts overall, with a stingy 1.20 goals-against average and a school record 22 shutouts. In regular-season play, he registered a 15-2-6 career record with nine whitewashes and a 0.91 GAA.

Nicknamed "Superman" by his teammates, Forsyth led McGill to three Quebec conference titles (1996, 1997, 1999) and the Sam Davidson Trophy as national champs in 1997, the team's first CIAU crown in 15 years. In the national final, he stole the show, backstopping the underdog Redmen -- who lost an all-conference defender to a red card in the opening minutes --  to a 1-0 upset in penalty-kicks over UBC. The heavily-favoured Thunderbirds held a lopsided 20-0 margin in attempted shots and Forsyth, who stopped two shots in the 5-4 PK victory, was voted as the game MVP. He was twice-named as the CIAU tournament's most outstanding 'keeper, earning the honour at both the 1997 and 1998 national tourney.

A member of the Golden Key International Honour Society which recognizes achievement in academics, leadership and service, Forsyth was also a recipient of McGill's 1938 Champions Award for combining leadership with academics and athletics. He also received a Quebec Foundation bursary for athletic excellence. The epitome of humbleness, he donated the ring certificate awarded for Game MVP at Nationals, so that a needy teammate could obtain a championship ring.

Other 2017 laureates for the McGill Sports Hall of Fame include football's Dr. Chris Rumball from Ancaster, Ont., swimmers Lisa Virgini of Pierrefonds, Que., and Ryan Tomicic of Montreal, as well as soccer defender Shari Fraser of Kirkland, Que. Inducted in the builder category will be Hubert T. Lacroix of Montreal, currently president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, who guided the McGill Martlets basketball team to a stellar 190-137 record from 1978 to 1987, including a Quebec conference title in 1985-86. .

Profiles of each new inductee will be posted online at www.mcgillathletics.ca each Wednesday from late June to mid-July. Biographies of all previous inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame are available online at http://www.mcgillathletics.ca/hof.aspx

Submissions for next year's induction can be made by completing an online nomination at the above website link and submitting it by March 1, 2018.