FULL CLASS OF 2022 | HALL OF FAME HOMEPAGE
What started as a positive first impression for Lauren Sesselmann turned into an All-Big Ten career and three NCAA Tournament appearances with the Purdue Soccer program, an Olympic bronze medal and World Cup appearance with the Canadian National Team and now, a spot in the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Sesselmann is a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and didn't know a lot about Purdue before the recruiting process began. Once she met then-head coach Robert Klatte and stepped on campus, she knew it was the place to call home.
"When I came on my official visit, I said, 'this is the most beautiful campus I have ever seen,'" Sesselmann said. "Everybody was so kind, I liked the facilities. I knew this was the place for me. It felt like home when I was there."
Those feelings were only solidified when Sesselmann arrived on campus for preseason training as a freshman in the summer of 2001.
Sesselmann's career started with a bang, with a two-goal performance in her first career game, a 3-1 win over Georgetown on August 31, 2001. She led the team with nine goals that season, just the fourth in the program's young history. Sesselmann became the first player in team history to be recognized as an All-American, with freshman team accolades, and added all-region honors. Six goals and 16 points followed in 2002 as Sesselmann helped lead Purdue to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and a third-place finish in the Big Ten. She earned all-region honors from a pair of national outlets.
The Boilermakers, and Sesselmann, continued their ascent in 2003 when the team reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Sesselmann became the first Boilermaker to score 10 goals in a season and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and two all-region teams.
After missing the 2004 season, Sesselmann came back in 2005 to again lead Purdue to the NCAA Tournament and a runner-up finish in the Big Ten. She once more paced the team with nine goals and 23 points and collected First Team All-Big Ten accolades and all-region second team honors.
A highlight-reel Purdue career featured the first three NCAA Tournament appearances in team history, six school records, including goals (34), assists (22) and points (90). It's easy to see that Sesselmann left her mark in five years calling Purdue home.
As Sesselmann gets ready to be forever immortalized in the Hall of Fame this weekend, it's the people and family environment that made her Purdue experience so special and what she remembers most fondly.
"The team camaraderie, Coach Klatte and (assistant coach) Sue Moynihan and the staff did such a great job of making it feel like a family," Sesselmann recalls. "That's so important for any type of player that's going into an environment like that. Right away when I came to Purdue, I felt like I was part of the Boilermaker family. Everyone got along, our team was just so amazing. Learning from the older players that were there was incredible, but our team was just good. We just had so much fun.
"We also went to a Sweet 16, which is any player's dream. Those are some of the memories, but definitely the team, the coaching staff, down to the people who worked in the office, our strength coaches, people like that. It felt like one team unit that was trying to be special. We had such a successful five years that I was there, so just to be a part of a legacy like that is really special."
While Sesselmann's statistics live on in the record book, that team-first, family culture is one that lives on to this day within the locker room at Folk Field.
Sesselmann graduated from Purdue and went on to play professionally in several leagues in the United States for more than 10 years, including in the early days of the National Women's Soccer League.
She also played internationally for the Canadian Women's National Team from 2011-15. Her time with Canada began with a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, and she won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Sesselmann started all six games in London to help Canada win its first Olympic medal. Her international career concluded at the 2015 World Cup, hosted by Canada, where Sesselmann helped her country reach the quarterfinals.
As Sesselmann reflects on her playing career, she's impressed with how far women's soccer has come since she was recruited to come to Purdue. From state-of-the-art Folk Field and the resources the current Boilermakers have to the growth of the NWSL and the high prominence of the U.S. Women's National Team, Sesselmann is proud of being part of that growth of women's soccer in the United States and globally.
"To see the game elevated, more people wanting to play, more females and young girls getting into the game, there being more role models, more mentoring, there's still a long way to go, but the strides that we've made are pretty phenomenal and special," Sesselmann said. "For me to be able to be a part of that is something I'll never forget. Right now, with what I'm doing to help grow the game is special to me. Seeing all the messages from young, up-and-coming athletes, saying, 'Hey, I look up to you, I watched you in college.' You have no idea the impact you can have on people."
Now living in Los Angeles, Sesselmann sees women's soccer games regularly selling out and boys looking up to, and wearing jerseys of, women's soccer players. That, along with the excitement leading into this summer's World Cup, shows how much the game has grown.
With all that Sesselmann has accomplished in her career, it all has tied back to Purdue. She's heavily involved in sports in her post-playing career, and still maintains strong relationships with Boilermaker teammates and fellow student-athletes from other sports during her time in West Lafayette. Her Purdue degree, and the network that degree helps foster, has helped Sesselmann with her endeavors in media, investments and more off the field.
Sesselmann has been inducted into her high school hall of fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame as part of the 2012 team, and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame honor is the perfect bow on a memorable playing career.
"Purdue took a chance on me, Coach Klatte took a chance on me, and that really elevated my career and made me who I am as a person on and off the field," Sesselmann said. "It's special. This honor means a lot to me for how hard I've worked in my career, it means more to me than anybody knows. I'm so excited to be a part of this weekend."
The record book shows that Sesselmann is one of the greatest players in Purdue's storied athletics history. Now, this weekend's Hall of Fame induction will make it ever more official.
Sesselmann joins Shauna Stapleton (inducted 2016) as Boilermakers that represented Purdue Soccer to be inducted into the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Honorees or their representatives will be publicly honored at Mackey Arena during the Purdue Men's Basketball game against Ohio State on Sunday, February 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
By Charlie Healy, Assistant Strategic Communications Director - Purdue Athletics
What started as a positive first impression for Lauren Sesselmann turned into an All-Big Ten career and three NCAA Tournament appearances with the Purdue Soccer program, an Olympic bronze medal and World Cup appearance with the Canadian National Team and now, a spot in the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Sesselmann is a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and didn't know a lot about Purdue before the recruiting process began. Once she met then-head coach Robert Klatte and stepped on campus, she knew it was the place to call home.
"When I came on my official visit, I said, 'this is the most beautiful campus I have ever seen,'" Sesselmann said. "Everybody was so kind, I liked the facilities. I knew this was the place for me. It felt like home when I was there."
Those feelings were only solidified when Sesselmann arrived on campus for preseason training as a freshman in the summer of 2001.
Sesselmann's career started with a bang, with a two-goal performance in her first career game, a 3-1 win over Georgetown on August 31, 2001. She led the team with nine goals that season, just the fourth in the program's young history. Sesselmann became the first player in team history to be recognized as an All-American, with freshman team accolades, and added all-region honors. Six goals and 16 points followed in 2002 as Sesselmann helped lead Purdue to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and a third-place finish in the Big Ten. She earned all-region honors from a pair of national outlets.
The Boilermakers, and Sesselmann, continued their ascent in 2003 when the team reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Sesselmann became the first Boilermaker to score 10 goals in a season and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and two all-region teams.
After missing the 2004 season, Sesselmann came back in 2005 to again lead Purdue to the NCAA Tournament and a runner-up finish in the Big Ten. She once more paced the team with nine goals and 23 points and collected First Team All-Big Ten accolades and all-region second team honors.
A highlight-reel Purdue career featured the first three NCAA Tournament appearances in team history, six school records, including goals (34), assists (22) and points (90). It's easy to see that Sesselmann left her mark in five years calling Purdue home.
As Sesselmann gets ready to be forever immortalized in the Hall of Fame this weekend, it's the people and family environment that made her Purdue experience so special and what she remembers most fondly.
"The team camaraderie, Coach Klatte and (assistant coach) Sue Moynihan and the staff did such a great job of making it feel like a family," Sesselmann recalls. "That's so important for any type of player that's going into an environment like that. Right away when I came to Purdue, I felt like I was part of the Boilermaker family. Everyone got along, our team was just so amazing. Learning from the older players that were there was incredible, but our team was just good. We just had so much fun.
"We also went to a Sweet 16, which is any player's dream. Those are some of the memories, but definitely the team, the coaching staff, down to the people who worked in the office, our strength coaches, people like that. It felt like one team unit that was trying to be special. We had such a successful five years that I was there, so just to be a part of a legacy like that is really special."
While Sesselmann's statistics live on in the record book, that team-first, family culture is one that lives on to this day within the locker room at Folk Field.
Sesselmann graduated from Purdue and went on to play professionally in several leagues in the United States for more than 10 years, including in the early days of the National Women's Soccer League.
She also played internationally for the Canadian Women's National Team from 2011-15. Her time with Canada began with a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, and she won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Sesselmann started all six games in London to help Canada win its first Olympic medal. Her international career concluded at the 2015 World Cup, hosted by Canada, where Sesselmann helped her country reach the quarterfinals.
As Sesselmann reflects on her playing career, she's impressed with how far women's soccer has come since she was recruited to come to Purdue. From state-of-the-art Folk Field and the resources the current Boilermakers have to the growth of the NWSL and the high prominence of the U.S. Women's National Team, Sesselmann is proud of being part of that growth of women's soccer in the United States and globally.
"To see the game elevated, more people wanting to play, more females and young girls getting into the game, there being more role models, more mentoring, there's still a long way to go, but the strides that we've made are pretty phenomenal and special," Sesselmann said. "For me to be able to be a part of that is something I'll never forget. Right now, with what I'm doing to help grow the game is special to me. Seeing all the messages from young, up-and-coming athletes, saying, 'Hey, I look up to you, I watched you in college.' You have no idea the impact you can have on people."
Now living in Los Angeles, Sesselmann sees women's soccer games regularly selling out and boys looking up to, and wearing jerseys of, women's soccer players. That, along with the excitement leading into this summer's World Cup, shows how much the game has grown.
With all that Sesselmann has accomplished in her career, it all has tied back to Purdue. She's heavily involved in sports in her post-playing career, and still maintains strong relationships with Boilermaker teammates and fellow student-athletes from other sports during her time in West Lafayette. Her Purdue degree, and the network that degree helps foster, has helped Sesselmann with her endeavors in media, investments and more off the field.
Sesselmann has been inducted into her high school hall of fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame as part of the 2012 team, and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame honor is the perfect bow on a memorable playing career.
"Purdue took a chance on me, Coach Klatte took a chance on me, and that really elevated my career and made me who I am as a person on and off the field," Sesselmann said. "It's special. This honor means a lot to me for how hard I've worked in my career, it means more to me than anybody knows. I'm so excited to be a part of this weekend."
The record book shows that Sesselmann is one of the greatest players in Purdue's storied athletics history. Now, this weekend's Hall of Fame induction will make it ever more official.
Sesselmann joins Shauna Stapleton (inducted 2016) as Boilermakers that represented Purdue Soccer to be inducted into the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Honorees or their representatives will be publicly honored at Mackey Arena during the Purdue Men's Basketball game against Ohio State on Sunday, February 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
By Charlie Healy, Assistant Strategic Communications Director - Purdue Athletics