Women’s Soccer Ties School Record with Seven IIAC Selections
Nov 18, 2014
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque and the 2014 Iowa Conference Championship women’s soccer team earned seven All-Iowa Conference selections and matched a school record 16 wins from the 2013 team. The seven honors came as no surprise after the Spartans won both the IIAC regular season title and the IIAC tournament for the first time in school history. Five of the seven honorees were repeat winners.
Senior forward Megan Siepler garnered her second straight first team honor and third straight overall. The La Canada, Calif. native was one of the primary offensive threats for the Spartans after leading the team with 10 goals, five assists, and finishing second in shots at 67. Siepler also led the IIAC in game-winning goals with two in IIAC play and finished second with three assists.
Siepler's biggest game-winning scores came in non-conference play against North Central and UW-Platteville. Siepler netted the 12th career GW goal of her career in the 22nd minute against North Central which would prove to be the only score of the game. Siepler’s final game winning goal against UW-Platteville in the 63rd minute capped an exciting, 2-1 victory, and set the UD school record for game winning goals at 13. Siepler's performance against UW-Platteville on October 14th and her game-winning assist against Wartburg four days later helped her collect her first career IIAC Offensive Performer of the Week award.
The 2013 Academic All-Iowa Conference award winner leaves the Spartan program first in game winning goals (13), sixth in shots (183), seventh in career goals scored (27), and ninth in games played (75).
Also receiving her third All-IIAC honor was senior defender Lauren Waddell. Waddell is the third Spartan to win two first team All-IIAC awards and the only one to receive a second team honor as well. The Poplar Grove, Ill. native led a defensive effort which allowed the Spartans to outshoot, 382-214, and out corner kick opponents, 107-55 in 2014. The Spartans allowed a low six goals in seven conference match-ups.
On offense, the free-kick specialist lent a helping leg in three instances, many of them off arcing free kicks. Two of her assists were to fellow teammate and standout defender Kelsey Graefen on successful headers against Luther College on October 28th in a 2-1 victory and against Illinois Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA tournament on November 14th in a 4-2 defeat. Waddell received the IIAC Defensive Performer of the Week award after helping surrender just one goal during the Spartans two-game IIAC tournament run. The Spartans always counted on the two-time Academic All-IIAC award winner, after she finished third in career games played and second in games started with 80.
One of the best goalkeepers in UD’s history, senior keeper Tiffany Duncan, racked up her second straight second team IIAC award after finishing with an IIAC-leading 0.59 goals against average during IIAC action. The Hartford, Wis. native was a brick wall between the posts after accumulating nine shutouts and setting the school record with 21 in a career. Three of her shutouts would be in league play after surrendering six goals in seven conference games.
Duncan, the two-time IIAC Defensive Performer of the Week, earned her second award on August 31st after back-to-back shutouts to start the season against Marian University (Wis.), 2-0, and Lawrence University (Wis.), 4-0. Duncan stopped a combined seven shots, but may have been at her best in the IIAC tournament after she accumulated a season-high nine saves in the 2-1 overtime win vs. Wartburg in the first round. Duncan would follow with a shutout of Central in a 0-0, in a three overtime thriller when UD captured their second IIAC Tournament title after a 6-5 penalty kick shootout.
Duncan climbed the UD all-time record books to the tune of first in career shutouts (21), first in goals against average (.93), second in wins (40), second in minutes played (5283:10), fourth in career saves (252), first in season shutouts (9), and first in season minutes played (2007:06).
Despite her defensive role, senior defender Kelsey Graefen, became an offensive nightmare after tallying five goals and one assist during the season. The Plainfield, Ill. native repeated as second team All-IIAC for the second straight year and finished her career with two IIAC Defensive Performer of the Week awards. Graefen and Waddell anchored the Spartan defensive backline by allowing just six goals in the conference.
Graefen's offensive skill set was on full display against Loras on October 1st and Luther on November 5th. Graefen's header against Loras, off fellow defender Melissa Sawyer’s corner kick, gave UD the 2-1 lead, 59 minutes into the game. The Spartans beat Loras in overtime, 3-2 and handed them their first IIAC loss since 2009. Graefen's header in the 10th minute off a Waddell assist aided UD’s winning effort against Luther, 2-1, on October 28th. Graefen was also a reliable performer after playing in 75 career games (eighth all-time in UD history), starting 73 of them.
Repeating as second team All-IIAC was senior midfielder Melanie Prudhomme, who added three goals and three assists to her resume in 2014. The Lakemoor, Ill. native received her third IIAC honor overall after earning an Honorable Mention nod in 2012. She would set career-highs this season in goals, assists, points (9), shots (26), and shots on goal (12). The 2012 Academic All-IIAC award winner earned her first career multi-goal game with two scores against Lawrence University on August 30th in a 4-0 win. Prudhomme provided one of UD's biggest moments of the season after she netted the game-winning penalty kick against Central to win the IIAC tournament title. The Spartans advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history after 6-5 penalty kick win following scoreless regulation and two overtimes. Prudhomme ended her Spartan career by playing in 81 games and starting in 76 of them.
Freshman forward Kyleigh McLaughlin fought through some injuries to leave her mark on a team full of seasoned veterans after netting five goals, dishing out five assists, and attempting 57 shots in 22 games of her first collegiate season. The East Moline, Ill. native was one of five freshmen named All-IIAC after finishing fifth in shots (28), and seventh in goals (3). McLaughlin completed her first career multi-goal game on October 4th in a 5-0 victory over Coe. McLaughlin would also score the lone goal against Wartburg on the road, October 18th, in a 1-0 triumph.
Earning her first All-IIAC honor was junior forward Katie Lynn who led the Spartans in shots with 85 and finished second in goals with nine. The two-time IIAC Offensive Performer of the Week would end up 10th in shots (18) during IIAC play but came up big when the Spartans needed her. The Fox River Grove, Ill. native totaled two multi-goal games against North Park in 4-2 victory on September 3rd and against Wartburg during 2-1 win in the IIAC semifinals on November 5th. Her first goal against Wartburg gave the Spartans an early 1-0 lead. After a 66th minute Wartburg equalizer, Lynn put the game away three minutes later, off her own shot, which was deflected by the goalie to send UD to its third straight IIAC championship game. Lynn was awarded IIAC Offensive Performer of the Week for her efforts in both IIAC tournament games.
Lynn’s four game-winning goals this season leaves her in fourth place with nine total. Lynn is four away from tying Siepler’s record of 13. Lynn's career shot count of 177 currently leaves her in sixth place all-time in UD women's soccer history.
Official IIAC release
