« DI Women’s Soccer 2012

Colleen Williams

School
Dayton
Position
Forward
Major
Sport Management
G
17
A
14
PTS
48

Classroom

Williams became the first Flyer women’s soccer player to be named to the NSCAA Women’s College Scholar All-America Team (first team) and NSCAA /Continental Tire NCAA Women’s Division I All-America Team (second team) in the same year when she earned both accolades after the 2011 season. She is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, earning first team honors in 2011 and 2012 and second team honors in 2010. She was one of 3 players named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic team in 2011 and 2012. Williams is a two-time First Team Academic All-Ohio selection. Williams carries a 3.374 GPA in sport management. She was named to the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll three times. This summer she procured an internship at Princeton Partners, an advertising company based out of Princeton, New Jersey. She hopes to run her own multimedia business following a professional soccer career.

Character

Williams is a fiery and competitive leader who was voted a team captain this year by her teammates. Dayton Coach Mike Tucker said of Williams that all the players look up to her on and off the field. He also shared a story about Williams from her freshman year during preseason training. The upperclassmen were all talking about goals for the season: to win the conference title and make it into the NCAA Tournament. Williams, just a freshman at the time, stood up and said “If we aren’t playing to win the entire NCAA Championship, we aren’t setting our goals high enough.”  Williams also serves as a mentor for incoming freshmen women’s soccer players. Her junior year Williams had several family hardships: her brother has been an active-duty Marine for the last seven years, with three overseas tours. During his last tour his truck hit two IEDs on two separate occasions. Fortunately, he was okay but every day was harrowing for the Williams family worrying about him. This spring Williams left school early to visit her grandfather for a week before he died of lung cancer.  During this same period her grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer. Her other grandmother had open heart surgery during the summer. She said she believed her Catholic faith and prayer helped her to stay strong during those difficult times.

Community

As part of a sport management school project her sophomore year, Colleen “Willy” Williams created Willy’s Wish – Dollars for Dayton. Over two seasons she has raised more than $2,000 for local families in need during the holidays. The UD women’s soccer team will promote the cause once again this season. “A dollar may not seem like much to most of us, but combined with so many other people caring, it makes a big difference that changes a family’s life,” said Williams. During the holiday season, Williams and the Flyers present a family from the Dayton area with food and gifts. This season Williams and the Flyers decided the donations should go to Krystal Byrne, a 2012 UD grad who has been battling cancer since 2004 when she enrolled at Dayton and walked on to the soccer team. During the fall, for the past three years, Williams has volunteered once a week at inner-city Dayton, free soccer clinics for youths.  She also serves as a volunteer coach for a Special Olympics basketball team. Along with the several UD women’s soccer players, Williams visits local hospitals to spread cheer to the young patients. Last year, for Willy’s Wish, she gave gifts to a patient at a local hospital. Williams also takes part in UD’s Christmas on Campus, which involves “adopting” a child to give them a better holiday.

Competition

Williams is the most decorated soccer player in UD women’s soccer history. This spring she was invited to the U.S. U-23 National Team training camp, and did so well was also invited to the U.S. training camp this January 2013. She is a two-time NSCAA /Continental Tire NCAA Women’s Division I All-America honoree, earning second team honors in 2011 and third team distinction in 2010. She has twice been named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List (2011 & 2012). She owns the Dayton career record for shots (398), assists (50), goals (58) and points (166). Williams became the 20th player in NCAA women’s soccer history to score 50 goals and have 50 assists in her career with an assist in the first minute vs. VCU in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 championship.The two-time A-10 Offensive Player of the Year currently leads the nation in ppg. The last player to reach 50-50 in her career was Kerri Hanks, Notre Dame from 2005-08. Williams also broke the single-season assist record with 15 in 2011. She has led the Flyers in scoring the past three seasons, and also led the Atlantic 10 in goals, points and assists for three consecutive seasons. She has led the Flyers to three consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances. Williams and the other Flyer seniors have a career record of 54-8-7, an .833 winning percentage, which is second-best in the nation. Williams is a three-time First Team Atlantic 10 selection (2010, 2011 and 2012). She was named the 2010 and 2012 A-10 Offensive Player of the Year and also earned 2009 A-10 Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team honors. She was the 2011 A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player after scoring a conference-record three goals in a championship final and 11 total points for the tournament. She has been named to three A-10 All-Championship Teams. She is a seven-time A-10 Player of the Week. Williams is a three-time NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection, including first team in 2010 and 2011. Her 48 points in 2010 were second in the nation and her 18 goals were fourth-best in the NCAA. This season she leads the NCAA in points per game (2.56) and assists (14). She is fifth in the nation in goals scored (17). She was named to the 2010 Penn Invitational All-Tournament Team and was also on the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week (Oct. 4). Going into her junior year she was coming off a summer in which she was named to the 2011 Women’s Premier Soccer League All-East Conference First Team. Williams earned the Offensive MVP in the 2011 Boilermaker Challenge Cup. She was a three-time TopDrawerSoccer national player of the week during her junior season.