Hawken Hanna named Head Soccer Coach
The Blue Knights Athletic Department is excited to announce that Hawken Hanna has been named the new Head Coach for the Blue Knights Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams! Hanna brings a wealth of coaching experience to DCTC, and was most recently the Men’s Soccer Assistant Coach at the NCAA Division II level for Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He also worked as a sport performance coach with youth athletes.
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DCTC Blue Knights Host Golf Tournament Fundraiser
The DCTC Blue Knights hosted the annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser at Emerald Greens Golf Course on August 26th. The fundraiser helps support current and future Blue Knight student-athletes, and had a great turnout that included many Blue Knights athletes, staff, friends, family, partners, and supporters.
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Dakota County Technical College Men’s and Women’s Soccer Wraps of Season
The women’s and Men’s Soccer Teams finished their seasons over the weekend of October 22-23, 2022 with play-off games.
Front row – Left to Right, Jessy Declid, Molly Miller. Naydelin Villegas-Mendoza, Laurna Arends, January La. Dun Lwe Htoo, Sydnie Downs
Back Row – Left to Right, Sydney Swanson, Maria Rodriguez-Martinez, Preslie Annala, Nicole Logsdon, Evie Wegner, Molly Erickson – Not Pictured – Allison Boroz
The Women’s team traveled to Southeast Community College in Burlington, Iowa for the play-offs. The conditions for the game were hot and a strong wind that ran up and down the field. The Blue Knights had the wind at their back to start the game. Early in the game, Jessy Declid hit the crossbar with a shot, followed by another shot off the crossbar by Evie Wegner. Moments later Sydney Swanson just fired a shot over the goal. While the Blue Knights were creating chances to score, they could not find the net, until Sydnie Downs opened the scoring with an assist from Allison Boroz. Southeast, which had pressure on the Blue Knights eventually scored two goals to lead at the half.
The second half went scoreless. The Blue Knights, had several good scoring chances but were unable to tie the game. The game finished 2-1 in favor of Southeast Iowa. The Blue Knights played a good game and just came up short in the end.
The Women finished the season with a record of 4-10-1
DCTC 14 Anoka Ramsey 2
DCTC 0 Central Nebraska 10
DCTC 0 Rochester 1
DCTC 0 Southeast, Nebraska 7
DCTC 4 Aleandria 0
DCTC 1 Rochester 6
DCTC 2 UMD Club 3
DCTC 3 Anoka Ramsey 0
DCTC 3 Lake Superior 4
DCTC 3 Marshalltown 3
DCTC 3 Alexandria 1
DCTC 0 St. Scholastica JV 4
DCTC 0 UW-Stout JV 4
DCTC 1 Scott County 2
DCTC 1 Southeast, Iowa 2
The Women’s team end of season awards:
All-tournament Team for play-offs: Sydnie Downs: Freshman – Eastview High School
Team awards – voted on by the players
Offensive Player of the Year:
Sydnie Downs: Freshman – Eastview High School
Jessy Declid: Freshman – Park High School
Defensive Player of the Year:
Naydelin Villegas-Mendoza: Sopomore – Bloomington Kennedy High School
Rookie of the Year:
Maria Rodriguez – Martinez: Freshman – Apple Valley High School
Practice Player of the Year:
Sydney Swanson: Sophomore – Hastings High School
Blue Knight Award:
Naydelin Villegas-Mendoza: Sophomore – Bloomington Kennedy High School
Most Improved Player – start to finish of the year:
Preslie Annala: Freshman – Proctor High School
Most Valuable Player of the Year:
Evie Wegner: Freshman – Lakeville North High School
The Men’s team traveled to Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa for the play-offs. The Men’s team lost to Hawkeye 2-0 in a hard - fought game that saw the blue Knights create several good chances to score. With the score still tied at 0-0, 30 minutes through the first half, Helios Alvarado Garcia, a freshman from Apple Valley High School, hit a 40 - yard rocket of a shot off the bottom of the crossbar, but the ball failed to cross the goal line. The Redtails of Hawkeye scored with about five minutes left in the first half.
The second half brought scoring chances by both teams. Hawkeye was awarded a penalty kick for a hand ball in the box with 20 minutes left in the game. The penalty kick was converted and made it 2-0, which remained the score of the game. Charles Odell, a freshman from Rochester Century High School played in goal for DCTC and had an excellent game.
The Men’s team finished the season with a record of 8-9-0.
DCTC 0 Rock Valley College 5
DCTC 3 Lake Superior 1
DCTC 2 Anoka Ramsey 1
DCTC 2 Central Nebraska 8
DCTC 1 Vlora Club 0
DCTC 0 Southeast Nebraska 5
DCTC 2 Riverland 3
DCTC 6 Alexandria 4
DCTC 0 Bethel JV 1
DCTC 5 St. Olaf Club 2
DCTC 2 Anoka Ramsey 3 OT
DCTC 2 Lake Superior 0
DCTC 1 Riverland 3
DCTC 0 Alexandria 3
DCTC 6 St. Olaf Club 3
DCTC 0 University of MN 1
DCTC 3 Scott County 2
DCTC 0 Hawkeye 2
The Men’s team end of season awards:
All-Tournament Team for Play-offs:
Cole Ayres: Sophomore – Zumbrota – Mazeppa High School
Team awards – voted on by the players
Offensive Player of the Year:
David Ajayi: Freshman – Burnsville High School
Defensive Player of the Year:
Cristian Navarro: Freshman - Farmington High School
Rookie of the Year:
Cristian Navarro: Freshman – Farmington High School
Practice Player of the Year:
Aidan Upton: - Freshman – Chanhassen High School
Blue Knight Award:
Charles Odell: Freshman – Rochester Century High School
Hoang Vo: Freshman – Chanhassen High School
Cole Ayres:
Most Improved Player – start to finish of the year:
Helios Alvarado Garcia: Freshman – Apple Valley High School
Jarrod Van Horn: Sophomore – Farmington High School
Most Valuable Player of the Year:
Cristian Navarro: Freshman – Farmington High School
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Former Dakota County Technical College Men’s Soccer Player Makes Transition to Professional Soccer
Jakob Popkin, a former Dakota County Technical College Men’s Soccer player, has made the transition to playing at the professional level in the United States. Jakob is now playing for the AC Syracuse Pulse in Syracuse, New York. The Pulse is a member of the NISA Professional Soccer League. While playing for the Blue Knights during 2019/2020, Jakob scored 4 goals and had 7 assists. He led the team in scoring and had two game-winning goals. Coach Mark Obarski said, “Jakob was a leader of the team on the field and was able to control the midfield while playing at DCTC.” Obarski noted that “Jakob had tremendous ball skills and excellent field vision.”
Congratulations to Jakob!
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Blue Knights Spotlight
Griffin Spindler
Griffin Spindler
Sport: Baseball
Position: Pitcher
Major: Architecture
Year: Freshman
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