Kristen Hamilton’s 16 goals in a single season tied for the second-most in the program’s history and allowed Hamilton to earn the Sun Belt’s Player of the Year Award. Photo: DU Athletics
Jeff Hooker has compiled a 270–101–33 record as he enters his 21st season as DU’s head coach. The Pioneers have won at least 13 games in each of the past six seasons, and yet few of Hooker’s many talented teams have entered a season with as much firepower as the 2012 squad.
“I don’t want to say it’s the same team as last year, but it’s pretty close,” Hooker says. “But what we took away from last year is that we didn’t win anything. We didn’t win the Sun Belt regular season, which we had high hopes for, and we didn’t win the Sun Belt Tournament and missed the NCAA Tournament. We’re looking to do the little things to change that.”
DU returns its top seven scorers from 2011, a group that includes junior Kristen Hamilton, whose 16 goals in a single season tied for the second-most in the program’s history and allowed Hamilton to earn the Sun Belt’s Player of the Year Award.
Also returning to the pitch are junior midfielder Nicholette DiGiacomo and sophomore defender Sam Harder, both of whom earned first team All-Sun Belt honors last year.
Given the amount of talent on the field, the Pioneers are poised for a run at a conference crown in the team’s first season in the Western Athletic Conference.
“It’s going to be the most competitive that the WAC has ever been,” Hooker says. “It will be all new for the players and the coaches, and that part is cool. Different road trips, different teams. We’ll have more direct flights and less puddle-jumpers.”