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Pioneers dominate conference honors
Forward Kaitlin Bast was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, midfielder Nicholette DiGiacomo was named SBC Co-Freshman of the Year and head coach Jeff Hooker was named SBC Head Coach of the Year, the Sun Belt Conference announced Tuesday.
Bast and DiGiacomo along with senior defender Jessie Rogers, sophomore defender Katy Van Lieshout and sophomore goalkeeper Lara Campbell were also named to the SBC All-Conference First Team.
Forward Kalie Vaughn and midfielder Bria Beardsley were named to the SBC All-Conference Second Team.
Bast, who also earned All-SBC First Team honors last season, ranks ninth in the nation in total goals (14) and goals per game (0.737). She leads the SBC in points (31), goals (14) and game-winning goals (5).
“This season has been a great team effort, and it is an absolute honor to receive this award as a direct effect of our success as a team,” Bast said. “This year has been a blast, and the level of competition early in the season made everyone better. We all work so hard for each other, and we have created a great family here which has led to our success.”
DiGiacomo ranks second in the nation in total assists (14) and third in assists per game (0.74). She is tied for first on Denver’s all-time list for assists in a single season. DiGiacomo leads the SBC in assists (14), shots (70) and shots on goal (33).
Hooker led the No. 15 Pioneers to a perfect Sun Belt Conference record of 11-0 and an overall season record of 17-2 with Denver’s only two losses to Loyola-Marymount and then-No. 10 UCLA.
“The coach of the year award usually either goes to a coach who has done a masterful job of coaching his or her team, and thus the team overachieves, or it goes to the coach whose team has had great results,” Hooker said. “In our case, the team played hard and we were fortunate enough to have great results. This one is truly a team award and I am very grateful.”
The Pioneers earned their fifth Sun Belt Conference regular season title this year. This award marks Hooker’s eighth coach of the year honor, including five in the Sun Belt Conference. In his 19 seasons as DU women’s soccer head coach, Hooker’s teams have a record of 252-96-32 (.705) overall and an 85-15-6 (.830) mark in 11 seasons in the Sun Belt.
Rogers, a team co-captain, started all 19 games for Denver this season, helping limit opponents to just three goals in 11 conference games and securing 10 total shutouts for the Pioneers this season. The senior defender scored a goal against then-No. 10 UCLA on Sept. 17.
Van Lieshout scored three game-winning goals this season, all in conference play. The sophomore defender scored the game-winners in back-to-back road games at South Alabama (Oct. 
and at Troy (Oct. 10). Van Lieshout tallied three assists and started 16 of 19 games this season.
Campbell allowed only three goals in 11 regular season conference games to lead the SBC in goals against average (0.28), save percentage (.925), shutouts (6) and shutouts per game (0.55) during conference games.
Vaughn is third in the SBC in points (25) and points per game (1.32), tied for fourth in goals (9) and goals per game (0.47), assists (7) and assists per game (0.37).
Beardsley, who has earned All-SBC Second Team honors in each of her three seasons, started 18 of 19 games for the Pioneers this year. She tallied two assists and scored the game-winner against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 15.
The Pioneers head to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 8 seed Louisiana-Lafayette in Bowling Green, Ky., on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Denver has won seven of the nine SBC Tournaments in which it has participated, including the past four.
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