The head soccer coaches of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference have spoken, and University of Minnesota Duluth junior midfielder Clare Dahmen's play has earned the Hopkins, Minn., native one of the 11 spots on the NSIC Soccer All-Conference first team. The league offices released the four All-Conference teams this Thursday, Nov. 6.
Five other Bulldogs took home spots on the second, third and honorable mention squads. Sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Bengtson was the lone goalie selected to the second team, while three UMD defenders – seniors Stacey Prodaniuk and Meghan Roth, and sophomore Maria Leider – made the third team. Junior midfielder Kelly Duchene earned one of the 13 honorable mention spots.
Dahmen, one of three 2008 team captains, paced the Bulldogs in scoring with 10 points (four goals, two assists). She accounted for nearly half (three) of the seven of the squad's game-winning goals and was third on the team with 16 shots on net. All of this while missing two of the 20 games on UMD's schedule this year. The 2006 All-North Central Conference first teamer, as well as Daktronics All-Central Region second team member, has accumulated 33 points in her three years in a Bulldog uniform.
A newcomer to the UMD squad in 2008, she spent her first year of eligibility at NCAA I Central Michigan University, Bengtson finished third in the conference with six shutouts. Her 1.07 goals against average is the best mark put up by a UMD goalie since 2003 – when Mira Muikku put up a 0.64 GAA. The 1773:46 of work the native of Lino Lakes, Minn., accrued in net was tops among NSIC net minders. Bengtson represents the fifth UMD goalie to earn all-conference honors (and seventh selection overall, with Ginger Jeffrey and Michelle Filipczak both receiving conference nods twice in their careers).
One of two senior co-captains (with Danielle Scheuer representing the other), Prodaniuk caps her four years in a Bulldog uniform with her first all-conference selection. Hailing from Thunder Bay, ONT., the backliner was a catalyst for the Bulldogs to allow just 22 goals in each of the last three seasons (which comes out to a 1.17 goals against average in the 56 games over the previous three years). The 2006 Academic All-North Central Conference soccer team member appeared in 64 games overall for head coach Greg Cane, starting 52 of those contests.
Roth, a Farmington, Minn., native finishes her Bulldog playing days having appeared in 58 games overall, being a part of the starting lineup 32 times. Although her offensive output has been limited to two assists during her four years at UMD, she had been heavily relied on to stymie opposing defenses since her freshman season (she played in each of the team's 19 games in 2005).
For Leider, her sophomore season was an offensive coming out party of sorts, and the NSIC coaches took notice. The native Duluthian finished tied for first among 2008 Bulldogs with four goals, and was tied for second in terms of total points scored (9). Leider saw field time in all 20 of UMD's games this year, starting 16 of them, and was worked into the mix on set offensive plays often by Cane. For the season, Leider finished with an .889 shots on goal percentage, with eight of her nine total shots landing on net.
Another NCAA I transfer, she attended the University of Colorado during her first season, Duchene earns conference recognition for the second straight year. In 2007, her strong play garnered a selection to the All-NCC second team. This year, the Chanhassen, Minn., native exceeded her offensive total from last season, scoring two goals and adding two assists for six points (she scored five as a sophomore). Duchene was truly a rock on the 2008 UMD squad, and was the only Bulldog to start and play in each of the team's 20 matches.
Winona State was, not surprisingly, the big winner when it came to awards handed out by the league. Conference offensive player of the year awards went to Ameilia Kasten of WSU, with defensive player of the year awards also going to Warrior, Heidi Woerle. Ali Omar, the WSU head coach took home the conference coach of the year award.
