Stephanie Verdoia

Classroom

Verdoia received both Capital One Academic All-America Third Team and All-District First Team honors in 2013, as well as Academic All-District Second Team in 2012, also named to the NSCAA Women’s Scholar All-America Third Team, University Division (2013). Annually earns spot on Dean’s List and President’s List at Seattle U. She was named to the WAC All-Academic Team in both 2012 and 2013 and to the SU Athletics Director’s Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Verdoia’s excellence in the classroom also helped her team earn the NSCAA Team Academic Award the past three seasons (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13), as they are on target again for 2013-14. A political science major, she was inducted into the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society in 2013.

Character

According to head coach Julie Woodward, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, “Stephanie is one of the most special and unique young women I have had the privilege of working with in my 17 years as a head coach. The character, consistency, and commitment she displays each and every day on the soccer field, whether it is practice or a game, is extremely impressive. She has really changed the face of the program and put us on a different level. She is a pretty amazing person and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her.”

According to Seattle U Senior Women’s Administrator Roxanne Levenson, “Stephanie’s impact on the women’s soccer program was evident at the start; she was determined to lead her team to new heights by modeling excellence […] and commanding respect through an exuberance for hard work and success that was bound to be fruitful. As a sophomore, her team became the first Seattle U women’s team to qualify for a conference postseason tournament, but that was not enough for Stephanie. As a junior in 2013-14, she was determined for women’s soccer to become Seattle U’s first ever women’s team to compete in an NCAA Division I championship. Through Stephanie’s strong leadership and unwavering dedication on and off the field, the team fulfilled its dream in a resounding manner – an unblemished conference record, the most wins in conference history, and that elusive spot in the NCAA Championships.”

Community

Verdoia is committed to both the Redhawk community and Seattle community, as well as community service on a larger scale, as she took a spring break trip in April 2013 to Belize with her coach and another teammate with Professionals Without Borders (PWOB). While there, the group helped those in need at Liberty Children’s Home, an orphanage housing 28 children from four to 14 years old. At Seattle U, she is also a student-athlete representative for the Gender Equity committee and works with the Peer Mentorship program. Verdoia has also been heavily involved with both Seattle U Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), with whom she was recently voted Vice President for her senior year, as well as the Western Athletic Conference SAAC. Took a major role in student-athlete welcome activities, participating on a Q&A panel for incoming student-athletes at Seattle U.

Competition

-Scored 5 goals in first 4 matches of season, four-game goal streak
-WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
-Preseason All-WAC Team
-College Sports Madness Preseason WAC Offensive Player of the Year
-College Sports Madness Preseason First Team All-Conference
-Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Women’s National Top 100 (#93)
-WAC Offensive Player of the Week (Aug. 18-24)
-College Sports Madness WAC Player of the Week (Aug. 18-24)
-OHANA Hotels and Resorts No Ka Oi All-Tournament Team (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Verdoia was the best offensive player in the Western Athletic Conference from beginning to end, named the Preseason and Postseason WAC Offensive Player of the Year as one of just 10 DI women’s soccer players to record double digits in both goals and assists during the 2013 regular season. The team’s leading scorer with 63 points over the past two seasons, the 2013 co-captain was named First Team All-Conference (2012, 2013), WAC All-Tournament Team (2012, 2013), NSCAA/Continental Tire All-West Region Second Team (2013), and NSCAA All-Pacific Region Third Team (2012). She also received the 2013-14 Joe Kearney Award, awarded to the best male and female athletes in the conference. At Seattle U, she received back-to-back accolades as both the 2012-13 Student-Athlete of the Year and the 2013-14 Bill Fenton Female Athlete of the Year. In 2013, she ranked in the top 10 in Division I in total assists (T9th) and top 20 in total points (T11th), points per game (18th), and assists per game (T19th) at the end of the Redhawks’ season. She also led the conference in nearly every recorded offensive category in 2013 including shots (85), points (42), assists (12), and goals (15) and ranked second in game-winning goals (5). She led the team to the program’s first ever NCAA DI Tournament appearance and to an undefeated conference record (12 wins), which ranked as the highest conference win total in WAC history. On Oct. 7, 2012, she recorded just the program’s third DI hat trick.