Champion Northland leads UMAC women's soccer award winners
ST. PAUL, Minn.---After winning its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's soccer regular season title in program history, Northland College headlined the all-conference awards with six First Team honorees and three of the top four honors announced Wednesday.
Senior Madeleine Wieland was named the UMAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Harley Kinney captured the Rookie of the Year honor for the LumberJills. Justin Sexton was voted by his peers as the UMAC Coach of the Year after helping the LumberJills post a remarkable 7-0-1 conference record to win the title. Senior keeper Torri Jordan of playoff champion University of Minnesota Morris was also recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year.
Under Sexton's leadership, the LumberJills kicked off the UMAC season tying reigning co-champion College of St. Scholastica in a scoreless game before defeating playoff qualifier Minnesota Morris 2-0 at home. The Lumberjills continued to rise to the top when they shutout other 2016 co-champion University of Northwestern to set themselves up for the postseason.
Finally, Sexton's squad defeated Bethany Lutheran College 1-0 in overtime in its final regular season game to lock up the title and remain undefeated against conference foes. In their eight conference games, the LumberJills used impressive defense to shutdown opponents posting just a .243 goals against average (GAA) to lead the league allowing just two goals. They also ranked third in scoring with 2.375 goals per game with a 2.13 scoring margin that ranked second among conference teams.
Leading the LumberJills on the field was Wieland who proved to be the team's greatest offensive weapon and most-clutch player. In conference play, the dominant forward ranked fourth in points (18) and goals (8). She also ranked among the top five players for shots per game.
Wieland tallied two conference game-winners in two of the most important games for the Jills all season. She recorded all three goals in the win over Northwestern before finding the deciding tally in the win over Bethany Lutheran to clinch the title. Additionally, she tallied a goal and an assist in the regular-season victory over Minnesota Morris. The senior also recorded multi-point games five times in conference play.
First-year Kinney helped anchor Northland's defense that shutout conference opponents in six of eight games during the regular season. The Jills' back line also allowed less than 10 shots per game to opponents which was among the lowest in the league and held opponents to just 37 shots on goal in UMAC games. Kinney was also among team leaders in minutes played and tallied her first collegiate goal in a win over North Central University.
For the Cougars, Jordan makes her third appearance as an all-conference honoree and her second as a First Team selection after a breakout senior season. Jordan earned three cofnerence shutouts with a .863 save percentage and .853 GAA that ranked third and fourth, respectively, in conference play. The senior also averaged 5.50 saves per game. Jordan also recorded 29 saves and two shutoutsin the conference playoffs to earn UMAC Tournament MVP and lead the Cougars to the NCAA postseason.
For overall all-conference honors, Weiland was the one of two three-time selections to the UMAC First Team and was joined by just Jenna Maurer of Martin Luther College to have earned a spot on one of the three teams for all four years of their careers. Molly Hancuh of Minnesota Morris joined Weiland as a three-time First Team honoree.
Abbey Lamfers of Northwestern repeated as First Team and led a group of six players who have been selected to one of the All-UMAC teams three times including Jordan (Minnesota Morris), Emily Goeppinger (Northwestern), Alyssa Maertz (Martin Luther), Nicole Moldstad (Bethany Lutheran) and Laura Rethman (Northland).
Last year's Rookie of the Year Yu Ito was a repeat First Team pick and Rachel Dixon of St. Scholastica and Dakotah Sparrman of North Central were both repeat Second Team selections. Eight other players earned one of the three team honors for the second time in their careers including Juliet Batista (Minnesota Morris), Carly Denler (Minnesota Morris), Gretchen Hamernick-Winters (Northland), Cali Marsaa (St. Scholastica), Kaitlin Meinke (Northwestern), Sarah Paul (Bethany Lutheran), Emily Romuald (Northland) and Kaiya Voldberg (Northland).
North Central won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Offensive Player of the Year - Madeleine Wieland, Sr., Northland
Defensive Player of the Year - Torri Jordan, Sr., Minnesota Morris
Rookie of the Year - Harley Kinney, Fy., Northland
Coach of the Year - Justin Sexton, Northland
2016 UMAC Women's Soccer All-Conference First Team
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Gretchen Hamernick-Winters |
Northland |
So. |
D |
Neenah, Wis. |
| Molly Hancuh |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
MF |
Shoreview, Minn. |
| Torri Jordan |
Minnesota Morris |
Sr. |
GK |
Fort Atkinson, Wis. |
| Harley Kinney |
Northland |
Fy. |
D |
Ashland, Wis. |
| Yu Ito |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
MF |
Tokyo, Japan |
| Abbey Lamfers |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
D |
Edina, Minn. |
| Cali Marsaa |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
D |
Duluth, Minn. |
| Jenna Maurer |
Martin Luther |
Sr. |
F |
Bellingham, Mass. |
| Taylor Olson |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
F |
Duluth, Minn. |
| Laura Rethman |
Northland |
Jr. |
MF |
Nashville, Tenn. |
| Emily Romuald |
Northland |
Jr. |
GK |
Fon du Lac, Wis. |
| Kaiya Voldberg |
Northland |
So. |
F |
Ashland, Wis. |
| Madeleine Wieland |
Northland |
Sr. |
F |
Buffalo Grove, Ill. |
| Hannah Zeis |
St. Scholastica |
So. |
MF |
Ashland, Wis. |
2016 UMAC Women's Soccer All-Conference Second Team
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Juliet Batista |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
D |
Ramsey, Minn. |
| Rachel Bitter |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fy. |
F |
Bemidji, Minn. |
| Carly Denler |
Minnesota Morris |
Sr. |
F |
Brooklyn Park, Minn. |
| Rachel Dixon |
St. Scholastica |
So. |
MF |
Superior, Wis. |
| Emily Goeppinger |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
F |
Marshfield, Wis. |
| Anna Hitterdal |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
MF |
St. Louis Park, Minn. |
| Tatum Ladinois |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
MF |
Suamico, Wis. |
| Alyssa Maertz |
Martin Luther |
Sr. |
D |
Watertown, S.D. |
| Kadie Mattson |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
D |
North Branch, Minn. |
| Emily Muir |
Martin Luther |
Jr. |
D |
Watertown, Wis. |
| Nicole Moldstad |
Bethany Lutheran |
Jr. |
MF |
North Mankaro, Minn. |
| Roni Rudolph |
St. Scholastica |
Fy. |
GK |
Duluth, Minn. |
| Dakotah Sparrman |
North Central |
Jr. |
F |
Apple Valley, Minn. |
2016 UMAC Women's Soccer All-Conference Honorable Mention
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Katelyn Carter |
Crown |
So. |
MF |
Mesa, Ariz. |
| Averi Cash |
Bethany Lutheran |
Jr. |
GK |
Ottumwa, Iowa |
| Lindsay Clay |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
D |
Golden Valley, Minn. |
| Samantha Dewey |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
GK |
Two Harbors, Minn. |
| Sarah Fjeran |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
F |
Duluth, Minn. |
| Kelli Graham |
Wisconsin-Superior |
So. |
MF |
Middleville, Mich. |
| Danielle James |
Wisconsin-Superior |
So. |
D |
Bloomington, Minn. |
| Sarah Kell |
Martin Luther |
Jr. |
D |
Zumbrota, Minn. |
| Anna Kragt |
Crown |
Fy. |
F |
Milaca, Minn. |
| Dana Lehtinen |
Northwestern |
Fy. |
D |
Maple Grove, Minn. |
| Kaitlin Meinke |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
F |
Victoria, Minn. |
| Linley Norman |
Northwestern |
Fy. |
F |
Prior Lake, Minn. |
| Kirsten Olsen |
St. Scholastica |
Sr. |
MF |
Ham Lake, Minn. |
| Sarah Paul |
Bethany Lutheran |
So. |
D |
Chisago Lakes, Minn. |
| Janelle Rouillard |
St. Scholastica |
Fy. |
MF |
Dayton, Minn. |
| Abby Schwinden |
North Central |
So. |
MF |
Lakeville, Minn. |
| Liza Shelquist |
Wisconsin-Superior |
So. |
F |
Pine Island, Minn. |
2016 UMAC Women's Soccer Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award - North Central
Bethany Lutheran - Colleen Croy, Sr., Tacomah, Wash.
Crown - Gilly Noring, Sr., Granger, Iowa
Martin Luther - Emily Unke, Jr., Sheboygan Falls, Wis.
Minnesota Morris - Sydney McAdam, Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.
North Central - Linnea Madsen, So., Whitefish, Mont.
Northland - Laura Rethman, Jr., Nashville, Tenn.
Northwestern - Samantha Dewey, Jr., Two Harbors, Minn.
St. Scholastica - Alex Miller, Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Wisconsin-Superior - Cheyenne Hirdler, So., Mound, Minn.