Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The University of Dayton highlights the 2010 Women’s Soccer All-Conference accolades as announced by the Atlantic 10 on Wednesday, November 3.
The Flyers claimed four of the five individual accolades on this year’s awards, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Colleen Williams was named Offensive Player of the Year, Kathleen Beljan was selected as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and Jerica DeWolfe claimed Midfielder of the Year, while Mike Tucker earned the nod as Coach of the Year.
UD led the way with five first and second team selections. Williams, Beljan, DeWolfe were also all selected to the A-10 first team, along with goalkeeper Lisa Rodgers. Sophomore defender Kelsey Miller was a second team pick for the Flyers.
Dayton also had two All-Rookie Team selections in forward Juliana Libertin and midfielder Sarah Senoyuit.
Williams, who finished the Atlantic 10 regular season leading the league in points (41), goals scored (16), assists (9) and game-winning goals (7), joins exclusive company becoming just the fourth player in conference history to earn both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year accolades. She is just the third player in the A-10 to win Offensive Player of the Year honors a year after being named Rookie of the Year (Missy Gregg, Dayton, 1999-2000 & Melanie Kasparek, Rhode Island, 2002-2003). The sophomore forward is the 10th Flyer to win either Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year accolades in the A-10.
Beljan, a junior defender, led the Flyer backline which yielded the fewest goals allowed (10) and the most shutouts (11) in the A-10, while posting the league’s lowest goals against average of 0.52. Beljan, UD’s first ever women’s soccer player named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List, becomes the second consecutive Dayton student-athlete and third in the last four years to be named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Boone won it last season
DeWolfe becomes the first Flyer to win Midfielder of the Year honors since the awards inception in 2007. The senior midfielder tied for eighth in the A-10 in assists (5) and tied for fourth with three game-winning goals. She finished the regular season with 15 points on five goals and five assists with 10 of those points coming against league opponents.
Tucker wins his second straight Coach of the Year Award and fourth of his career after leading the Dayton to a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title for the 10th time in 16 seasons.
His Flyers finished the regular season with a record of 16-3-0, 8-1-0 in the A-10, and will enter the upcoming Atlantic 10 Conference Championship at Rhode Island as the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Dayton was ranked in the Top 25 by Soccer America three times in 2010 reaching a high of No. 20 in week two.
Rodgers earned her first all-conference honors after having a breakout senior season in which her goals against average of .47 is ranked ninth in the country. She posted nine shutouts and a 12-1 record.
Miller repeats as a second team selection after helping the UD to 11 shutouts from her central defender position.
The Flyers tied for the most players on the All-Rookie Team with La Salle. Libertin had six assists during the regular season, tied for second most in the A-10. Senoyuit stepped up during the A-10 portion of the Flyers’ schedule, playing all nine games and starting the last three.
Dayton also led the way on the A-10 Academic All-Conference Team with three selections. Beljan, along with senior Kelly Blumenschein and junior Emily Kenyon all represented the Flyers.
The A-10 All-Conference accolades were announced on the eve of the 18th annual Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Soccer Championship, which gets under way Thursday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. at the URI Soccer Complex on the campus of the University of Rhode Island. The Flyers, who earned a first-round bye, play the highest remaining seed on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
