Colin Seigfreid’s time at AU has not been short of accomplishments. The AU men’s soccer midfielder was named “Men’s Player of the Year” in July after dominating the Twitter polls with 202 votes in just 36 hours, according to AUEagles.com.
He is also currently a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, a NCAA Division I national award created to honor senior-athletes’ achievements in community, classroom, character and competition. Award winners are determined by NCAA Division I soccer coaches, national media and fans’ voting.
However, the senior midfielder’s accomplishments with the Eagles extend beyond the field. Seigfreid was named the 2012 Patriot League scholar-athlete of the year and invited to join the academic All-Patriot League team. He managed to keep a 3.64 GPA while attending practice five days a week and playing two games every week.
Seigfreid attributes his success to time management and help from AU’s Academic Support Center.
“You have to want to put in the effort,” he said. “You have to maintain the same level of commitment to both.”
The Pittsburgh native points to his hometown as the source of his hard work ethic.
“[Pittsburgh is] such a blue collar town,” he said. “People still think it’s just a steelworkers’ town, but that mindset still holds true. Being from a town that works hard to get what they have is very important to me.”
He used channeled this diligence while attending Central Catholic High School, recording 64 goals and 42 assists during his four years.
“Even as a freshman, he had tremendous talent and a great work ethic,” Seigfreid’s high school soccer coach Claudio Morini said. “His constant desire to improve as an individual, both on the soccer field and in the classroom, set an excellent example for his teammates.”
Seigfreid consistently returns to his high school to participate in summer training workout sessions, as well as assist in the high school players’ development and training.
But his commitment to community service does not stop there. Seigfreid also serves as a volunteer assistant coach for the Beadling under 17 and under 18 soccer club team in Pittsburgh while volunteering on the Special Olympics soccer team.
“Being a coach has helped me a lot with my patience and work ethic,” he said.
This season Seigfreid has continued his success on the soccer field. He started eight of 10 games so far, collecting two goals and two assists. Both goals have helped the Eagles win those matches.
Seigfreid can also be a game changer on the field. His veteran presence helps younger players, especially freshman.
“We are good about completing each other,” he said about the relationship with his teammates. “Things that I might have missing, others don’t. As a team in general we have learned from each other.”
Despite accomplishments on and off the field, a Patriot League championship has eluded Seigfreid and his team.
The 2012 soccer season marked the fourth year in a row in which AU reached the Patriot League championship game, but lost.
“It’s obviously tough to go through that, but at the same time we’re not trying to shy away from it,” Seigfreid said of losing the championship game. “We understand that it did happen. You could sit there and think about it and say what could have been, or work to put it together.”
However, the Eagles and Seigfreid enjoyed plenty of regular season success in 2012 as the team remained undefeated in Patriot League play as well as leading the league in points and assists. However, the conference title remained just out of reach.
“I think it’s just a mental thing. The past two years we’ve won the regular season. It’s just putting it together for the last two games. It’s definitely mental,” he added.
This year the Eagles were selected again as the pre-season favorite to win the Patriot League. Seigfreid said he is adamant about what he wants to accomplish.
“We want to be the team that turns it around,” he said. “We don’t want to be the team that couldn’t get it done. Although we’ve had some pretty good years and we’ve won personal awards, its really about winning as a team.”
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