Hall of Fame
Noted for sacrificing personal statistics for the betterment of the team, Audrey Dawson-Anderson becomes the second women’s soccer player to be inducted into the Cal U Athletic Hall of Fame.
She joins teammate Sherry Valera-Veneziale, who received the university’s highest athletic honor last fall.
“This is awesome,” Dawson-Anderson said. “I believe Sherry was truly the first player that deserved to go in and that was great when it finally happened. I’m speechless. My family and I were vacationing in Florida when I found out. There was a hurricane going on but I was jumping up and down because I was so excited.”
Dawson-Anderson came to Cal U as a midfielder in 1994 and produced a 21-point season with six goals and nine assists. Her immediate impact helped the Vulcans compile a 12-5-1 overall record, which tied the 1992 team for the best single-season record in school history.
She then moved to defender after her freshman year to give that area needed depth. Despite playing defense for the first time ever, Dawson-Anderson scored four goals with 11 assists. Her 11 assists in 1995 still ranks 11th in the Cal record books 13 years later and Dawson-Anderson received PSAC Women’s Soccer Player of the Year honors.
Continuing her consistent play, Dawson-Anderson added six points in 1996 and 13 more points her senior season while shutting down the opposition’s top scoring threats.
The four-year starter finished her remarkable career by being selected to the first-team, all-conference unit four consecutive years. She was also a four-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) all-region selection and twice received All-American honors.
Dawson-Anderson still ranks sixth in school history for career points with 59 and second in career assists with 28.
She played under 2007 Mid-Mon Valley All-Sports Hall of Fame inductee Dennis Laskey, the dean of Vulcan head coaches, who coached the women’s program from 1991 through 2001 and is in his 25th season with the men’s team this fall. Cal’s assistant coaches during the Dawson-Anderson years were John Martins and Darrin Lupori.
"He’s just a tremendous coach,” Dawson-Anderson said of Laskey. “I was never a defensive type of player until Dennis moved me but he and the other coaches took the time after practice to help me become the player I guess I became. I will always remember their willingness to do that. He taught me so much about the sport.” Dawson-Anderson was studying elementary/early childhood education before she returned to the East. Several of Audrey’s teammates along with Valera-Veneziale included potential future Hall of Fame women’s soccer player Kim Kottmeier, Dawn Valera and Kim Roadarmel.
“Soccer and studying really took up a great deal of our time,” said Dawson-Anderson. “But the girls on the team always hung out together and we were our own sorority or fraternity. We did everything together.”
That bond exists today according to Dawson-Anderson.
“Good, bad or whatever we keep in touch through email, picking up a phone or sending pictures,” she said. “It is so cool to keep up with everyone and their growing families. We get together when we can for alumni games and things like that but it’s good to know my college teammates are always there for me. That has not changed.”
Originally from Hatfield, PA, and a 1993 graduate of Pennridge High School, Dawson was a four-year starter for the Pennridge Rams.
After her collegiate playing days, Dawson-Anderson played the popular Kick-it 3 v. 3 soccer with Valera-Veneziale and Kottmeier. The trio journeyed across the country playing this fast-paced game contested on 40-yard fields with no goalkeepers. She also played for the Hill Top Women’s Soccer Club and served as a guest soccer trainer for several area high schools.
Dawson-Anderson lives in Hatfield, PA, with her husband, Rob. The couple has two daughters: Gillian and Madison, who are eight and six respectively.
She is in her third season an assistant girl’s soccer coach at Pennridge under head coach Jorge Rodriguez. The coaching she received from Laskey plays an important role in her own coaching now.
“Right before the games he would tell us to give everything we had because you never know when your last game is going to be and that’s what I tell my players now,” she said. “His pre-game motivational talks always stuck with me because he’s right. You can’t leave anything on the field because anything can happen. I use many techniques and philosophies with my coaching today that Dennis and his assistants taught me. They were very good coaches but always kept a proper perspective and were great people as well.”
Before stopping work this fall because both of her children attend elementary school, Dawson-Anderson previously worked at the Berks County District Attorney’s DUI Center and as a site director for YMCA. She praised current Cal U faculty member Dr. Diane Nettles for motivating her as a student and looks forward to returning to Cal U for her Hall of Fame induction.
“I have been on the campus recently and it’s just beautiful. I wish it looked like this back when we played,” said Dawson-Anderson. “Whenever I come back for am alumni game or something it always feels like home. I always said I wanted to coach at my old high school but maybe someday when my kids are older I would love to come back and coach at Cal someday because it always feels good to come back.”
Adding to the good times is a prestigious Hall of Fame induction and Dawson-Anderson is quite aware of the honor’s significance.
“Its just incredible and tough to put into words,” she said. ”It’s really amazing that you will have a place where your name will be remembered forever. This is overwhelming.”
