Dawn Siergiej 2023-24 Women's Soccer Staff

Notre Dame Highlights (2003-present)

• 2004, 2010 NCAA Champions
• 19 NCAA Tournament Appearances
• 6 NCAA Women’s College Cup Appearances
• 8 NWSL College Draft Picks
• 2 players signed with PSG (Korbin Albert & Eva Gaetino)
• 2 players earning time with the USWNT (Korbin Albert & Eva Gaetino)
• 4 MAC Hermann Trophy Finalists
• A total of 28 All-America Honors
• 1 ACC Regular Season Title
• 4-time ACC Championship Semifinalist (2014, 2016, 2022, 2023)
• 24 All-ACC selections for a total of 36 honors (2013-23)
• 9 BIG EAST Regular Season Titles
• 4 BIG EAST Tournament Championships
• 71 All-BIG EAST Selections (2003-12)

Former Baylor All-American and veteran professional goalkeeper Dawn Siergiej (pronounced SIR-gay) has served on the Fighting Irish women’s soccer staff since 2003 and continues her work with Notre Dame’s goalkeeping corps. Additionally, she coordinates the team’s recruiting, equipment and travel needs and serves as one of the directors of the wildly popular Notre Dame girls’ soccer summer camps.

2023 – The Irish ended its season in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament with a 12-4-4 record, in a year in which they continued to be in the thick of the ACC race and top-15 nationally. Case in point: third straight year in which ND achieved 7 wins in ACC play and second consecutive year in which the Irish reached the semis of the ACC Tournament. It was also the third straight year in which Notre Dame earned a top-3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish went 2-2-1 against ranked foes, including wins against No. 8 Clemson and No. 16 Duke, plus a tie with No. 3 UNC. Coach Siergiej also helped freshman keeper Atlee Olofson come along and earn a starting role by the time ACC play started. Olofson produced a 7-3-2 record, with 5 shutouts and a 1.17 GAA.

2022 – a year the Irish returned to the national conversation. Producing its most wins since the 2010 national championship, Notre Dame went 17-3-3 in 2022. They reached a national ranking as high as No. 4, finishing at No. 5. The Irish earned a No. 1 national seed for the NCAA Tournament – the first time since 2008. Notre Dame was one win shy of an ACC Tournament regular-season title, tying Duke in the season finale. They beat both No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Florida State in the regular season to finish 7-2-1. They reached the semis of the ACC Tournament where they battled Florida State to a 3-3 overtime draw (lost in the PK shootout). The Irish then made a run to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight – reaching that round for the first time since 2012. The 2022 season saw Coach Siergiej mentor grad transfer MacKenzie Wood to her best season. Wood was a Third Team All-ACC selection and United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region honoree. Wood collected a career-high 10 shutouts and would have had two more, both in NCAA Tournament, if it weren’t for late-game substitutions. Her 10 shutouts ranked 13th in the country, 1st in the ACC. Wood’s 0.60 GAA ranked 16th in the nation, 1st in the ACC.

Coach Siergiej’s fingerprints were all over the 2021 season. First off, the Irish produced their most wins since 2015, going 14-6-2. They also went 7-3-0 in the No. 1 rated RPI league in the country in the ACC, finishing in fourth place. Notre Dame ended the year ranked 16th in the country with a RPI of No. 20. The Irish drew a national seed (No. 3) in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Round of 16 where they fell 3-2 in a tight battle with top-8 ranked Arkansas. The year started with Mattie Interian in net, but a leg injury in game four sidelined the senior for the remainder of the season. What came next was the emergence of sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Naylor. The California native started the final 16 games, where she posted a goals against average of 1.04 with four shutouts. Naylor earned 49 saves and posted a .742 save percentage. In addition, she was the hero against Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, when she saved back-to-back penalty kicks to help the Irish advance 4-3 in PKs.

In the 2020 season, Siergiej worked with the tandem of Mattie Interian and Jaina Eckert and the pair started all 13 games for the Irish. In the fall portion of the season, Interian started all nine games and helped the Irish gain a berth in the ACC Tournament. She posted three straight shutouts during that span and had 29 saves across the nine games. In the spring, Eckert earned her first career starts in net and started with two straight shutouts over Cincinnati and Missouri.

In 2019, Siergiej oversaw two talented goalkeepers in senior Brooke Littman and Mattie Interian. The pair split time through the first six games and helped the Irish get off to a fast start. Notre Dame won its first six games of the year and allowed just one goal in those six games.

The Irish totaled 10 shutouts in 2019, the most since 2019. Littman finished the year with a career-high six shutouts, including a 2OT tie to No. 16 Louisville on Oct. 13. Interian finished with a career-high four shutouts, including a 1-0 win in the first round of the NCAA Championship over Saint Louis.

Siergiej also has been instrumental in molding some of the top goalkeepers in program history, with her pupils registering seven of the top 10 single-season goals-against average (GAA) marks in the Notre Dame record book, including six seasons when Siergiej tutored Fighting Irish goalkeepers to a 0.49 GAA or better. In addition, Notre Dame recorded a school-record 19 clean sheets in 2006 (tied for seventh-most in one season in NCAA history).

The NCAA statistical rankings also remain littered with marks set by Fighting Irish goalkeepers who sharpened their craft under Siergiej’s watchful eye. In 2003, Notre Dame finished fifth in the nation with a 0.49 GAA, and was fourth with 15 shutouts, while compiling a 956-minute shutout streak that ranks fifth in NCAA history (longest since 1999). The 2004 national championship season then saw the Fighting Irish lead the nation with 18 shutouts while nearly reclaiming the GAA title (4th, 0.51). During that 25-1-1 season, the Fighting Irish played from behind for a total of just 108 minutes, limiting 24 of the 27 opponents to one goal or fewer (including just one in the final 23 outings).

Siergiej has provided valuable instruction and insight for some of the greatest goalkeepers in program history including 2006 graduate Erika Bohn, 2008 graduate Lauren Karas and 2017 graduate Kaela Little. Bohn earned NSCAA all-region honors in 2003 and then was an All-BIG EAST Conference selection in 2005. She ranks fourth in the Notre Dame record book with a 0.69 career goals-against average (GAA) and is third in Irish women’s soccer history with 6,788 career minutes played. While under the tutelage of Siergiej, Karas posted the second highest career winning-percentage among Irish goalkeepers (.902) and the third-best GAA (0.65). Little was a four-year Irish starter who finished her career with an .838 save percentage and the fourth-best GAA (0.66) in Irish history.

Following the 2004 NCAA title-match win over UCLA, Bohn quickly credited Siergiej when asked about her clutch performances in that pressure-packed contest. Bohn’s six saves that day included three in penalty-kick situations, one coming late in regulation to preserve the 1-1 tie while her final save in the shootout clinched the title.

Siergiej also tutored Kelsey Lysander (‘10) and Nikki Weiss (‘11) to a string of standout seasons from 2008-10. During the 2008 campaign, the Irish netminding duo combined for 18 shutouts (second-most in school history) with a 0.44 GAA (fourth-lowest in program annals). Individually, Lysander set or tied school records for wins (26), winning percentage (.963, 26-1-0) and total shutouts (18) while ranking sixth in the nation in GAA?(0.44) and being named to the NCAA?College Cup All-Tournament Team.

The following two seasons (2009-10), it was Weiss’ turn, as she stepped in as the starter midway through 2009 and wound up posting a 14-2-1 record and seven solo shutouts (part of the team’s 16 clean sheets), helping spark Notre Dame’s 19-match unbeaten streak during the final two months of the season. Weiss also set a BIG EAST record with a 0.15 GAA in regular-season league play, allowing just one goal in 597 minutes.

In 2010, Weiss backstopped the Irish to their third national title, starting all 25 matches (21-2-2 record) and logging a 0.49 GAA with 10 solo shutouts and an .876 save percentage (second-best in school history).

COLLEGIATE AND PROFESSIONAL CAREER

WUSA Highlights

• Washington Freedom (2001-02)
• San Jose CyberRays (2002-03)

Under her maiden name of Dawn Greathouse, Siergiej played with the Washington Freedom in the first two seasons of the Women’s United Soccer Association (2001 and 2002), also playing for the San Jose CyberRays in 2002 and 2003. She made eight career starts in the WUSA while backing up U.S. National Team players LeKeysia Beene (San Jose) and Siri Mullinix (Washington). During that 2002 WUSA season in San Jose, Siergiej and Romagnolo were teammates (the latter then playing under her maiden name of Theresa Wagner).

Baylor Highlights

• 1.20 Career GAA
• 0.802 Career Save Percentage
• 28 Career Shutouts
• 3-time All-Big 12 Conference
• 3-time Big 12 All-Academic Team
• 1998 NSCAA All-America Second Team
• 1998 Big 12 Title (first in Baylor history)
• 2011 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee

As a collegian, Siergiej logged 7,121 minutes (sixth in NCAA history at the time) in her four-year Baylor career while posting a 1.20 GAA, an .802 save percentage and 28 shutouts. The three-time All-Big 12 Conference and three-time Big 12 All-Academic Team honoree turned in her best season as a sophomore in 1998, earning National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) second team All-America honors after ranking 12th in the nation with a 0.69 GAA. She helped the 1998 team win Baylor’s first Big 12 title in any sport – before a knee injury sidelined her from Baylor’s second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship.

Siergiej’s remarkable college career has not gone unnoticed by her alma mater. In 2011, she was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame, becoming the first soccer player in school history to earn that prestigious honor.

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Siergiej graduated from Baylor in 2001 with her bachelor’s degree in health fitness. She also currently holds a premier coaching diploma from the NSCAA. She and her husband, Nick (Notre Dame’s director of hockey operations), were married in May 2014 and make their home in South Bend.