Feb. 10, 2011
PHILADELPHIA, PA - With the 2011 season on the horizon, the La Salle women's soccer program took a look back earlier this semester and held their annual postseason awards banquet on January 22nd in the Dunleavy Room on campus. The team gathered for brunch as coaches and staff members alike presented the team with awards and recapped the 2010 season.
"After graduating nine seniors in 2009, there was a lot of speculation that this would be a rebuilding year for our program," said head coach Paul Royal.
"However, due to the outstanding leadership of our upperclassmen and our incredibly talented freshman and sophomores, we managed to put together a very successful season in addition to winning our first Atlantic 10 postseason game."
La Salle posted an 11-9-2 record in 2010, tied for the second best record in the history of the program. The club also won their first A-10 Tournament game in program history, knocking off Duquesne 2-1 in the opening round of the tourney.
The club also had a breakout year on the offensive side of the pitch and finished the season ranked 84th nationally out of Division I programs in scoring.
Headlining the awards were the offensive and defensive MVP's Renee Washington (Ewing, NJ/Pennington Prep) and Jess Hopton (West Chester, PA/B. Reed Henderson).
Washington led the club with 12 goals and 27 points last season. The freshman was also awarded 2nd team All-Atlantic 10 honors in addition to being named to the All-Rookie and All-Tournament teams. Overall, Washington was ranked 34th out of all Division I players in scoring and averaged 0.57 goals/game and 1.28 points/game.
Hopton was the lone Explorer to be named to the 1st Team All-Atlantic 10. The junior started all 22 games on the back line for La Salle and tallied one goal and five assists.
Goalkeeper Gabby Pakhtigian (North Wales, PA/North Penn) was given the Academic Award for her outstanding performance in the classroom last season. The sophomore was also named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team last month in addition to being named to the All-Atlantic 10 academic team. Pakhtigian started all 22 games in net for the Explorers and allowed a 1.49 goals against average. She also set the all-time La Salle women's soccer record for most wins in a single season (11).
Kelly O' Steen (Dunkirk, MD/Northern), Melissa Sanger (Mullica Hill, NJ/Kingsway Regional) and Heather Steadman (Lanoka Harbor, NJ/Lacey Township) were honored with the coaches' senior award. The three standouts helped lead a senior class that posted a 41-34-7 record and the highest winning percentage for any four-year class in the history of the program.
Steadman also finished her collegiate career ranked sixth all-time at La Salle in assists. The former Lacey Township HS standout finished 2010 with five helpers and 19 total in her four-year career.
"We would like to take this time to thank our senior class for all their hard work, dedication and passion towards La Salle University and our Women's Soccer program," Royal added. "Their commitment, trust and loyalty towards our underclassmen were an invaluable asset to our success this past season."
Three players from that very talented freshman class were honored with the newcomer of the year award including Washington, Courtney Niemiec (Philadelphia, PA/Little Flower) and Anna Dolhansky (Blackwood, NJ/Triton Regional).
Niemiec appeared in all 22 games for the Explorers last season and started 17. The Philadelphia native tallied one goal with six assists and recorded five shots on target.
Dolhansky also appeared in all 22 games with 19 starts for La Salle and was the second-leading goal scorer behind Washington with eight markers last season. The New Jersey native also recorded three assists and 21 shots on target. Dolhansky was also named to the second team All-Atlantic 10 in addition to the All-Rookie team. The freshman was also the top-scoring central midfielder in the A-10.
Diana Allen (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial) earned the final honor of the banquet and was given the most improved player award. After appearing in just three matches in 2009, the sophomore made 16 appearances in 2010 with 15 starts and scored her first collegiate goal in the 3-2 victory over Vermont back on August 29th.
The coaches also added a special video tribute to the senior class and the 2010 season as a whole. The video has been posted on the La Salle Youtube Channel and can be viewed above.
