Northwestern duo highlights UMAC women's soccer postseason awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---After winning the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's soccer regular season title, the University of Northwestern highlighted the 2017 postseason awards as Josh Pettit was voted by his peers as Coach of the Year and Anna Welch was selected as the Rookie of the Year.
Other top nods went to Molly Hancuh of the University of Minnesota Morris who was named the UMAC Offensive Player of the Year, while tournament champion College of St. Scholastica saw Hannah Zeis take the Defensive Player of the Year honor. The all-conference awards were also announced with Northwestern and St. Scholastica each seeing seven athletes recognized for outstanding performances this fall.
Under Pettit's leadership, the Eagles nearly ran the table in 2017 as they finished 11-0-1 in conference play to win their second regular season championship in the last three seasons. The Eagles lone hiccup this season was a tie with Minnesota Morris early in the season, but their top performance came in a 2-1 victory at home over St. Scholastica that helped secure the title. The Eagles went on to capture a thrilling 3-2 victory in double-overtime over Northland College in the semifinal before falling in a close title game Saturday against the Saints.
This season, Pettit's Eagles dominated conference play offensively with a league-best 60 goals scored for a remarkable average of five goals per game. They also converted 3-of-3 penalty kick opportunities in the regular season – and an additional chance in the waning seconds of overtime against Northland last Thursday. The Eagles were second in goals allowed (8) and goals against average (0.655) in conference games and they also captured six UMAC shutouts.
While the Eagles reigned supreme as a team, Hancuh topped the league in her final season with the Cougars that finished third in the standings. The senior capped off 2017 with her fourth-consecutive All-UMAC First Team honor – the only player to do so this season. She adds the Player of the Year honor to her Rookie of the Year accolade she collected in 2014.
This season Hancuh was second in conference games in points (41) and goals (16), but was first in overall points (55) – which is second-most all-time at Minnesota Morris for a single season. She finished the entire season with 21 goals and 13 assists. Hancuh scored the game-winning goal against the University of Wisconsin-Superior to help the Cougars secure the No. 3 seed and a quarterfinal bye in the postseason. Additionally, the midfielder scored two or more goals in a game six times against conference opponents and netted four in a win over Crown College.
What Hancuh was offensively, Zeis of St. Scholastica was defensively. The junior helped lead the conference's top defense – the Saints led all teams in conference play for the fewest goals allowed (5) and GAA (0.408). Zeis anchored the defense that had just one conference loss and a total of eight shutouts against UMAC opponents. In addition to her defensive prowess from her midfield position, Zeis had four assists in conference play.
Up-and-coming forward Welch should help the Eagles maintain success after a breakout rookie campaign. In UMAC games this season, Welch was fourth in points (28) and goals (12), and she compiled two multi-goal performances. Welch also added two game-winning tallies in league play and had a hat trick against North Central University. In overall games, she was third in points (34) and goals (15).
While Hancuh is the only four-time All-UMAC First Team honoree, Emily Goeppinger of Northwestern and Nicole Moldstad of Bethany Lutheran College have been named to one of the three teams in each of their four years in the UMAC. Yu Ito of Minnesota Morris is the only player to have three-consecutive years on the First Team, but five others have been on one of the three lists three times in their careers including Juliet Batista (Minnesota Morris), Rachel Dixon (St. Scholastica), Gretchen Hamernick-Winters (Northland), Cali Maarsa (St. Scholastica) and Dakotah Sparrman (North Central University).
Zeis and Taylor Olson of St. Scholastica are the only other players to earn All-UMAC First Team honors in back-to-back years, while Becca Rancour of the Saints has been a First Team honoree twice. There are 10 other players who have been recognized as All-UMAC performers on one of the three teams two times.
Crown College 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 - Molly Hancuh, Sr., Minnesota Morris
Defensive Player of the Year - Hannah Zeis, Jr., St. Scholastica
Rookie of the Year - Anna Welch, Fy., Northwestern
Coach of the Year - Josh Pettit, Northwestern
2017 UMAC Women's Soccer All-Conference First Team
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Molly Hancuh |
Minnesota Morris |
Sr. |
F |
Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View |
| Megan Jordan |
Northland |
Sr. |
GK |
Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson |
| Sarah Kell |
Martin Luther |
Sr. |
D |
Zumbrota, Minn./Winnebago Lutheran Academy |
| Yu Ito |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
MF |
Tokyo, Japan/Oshukan Tokyo Secondary |
| Cali Marsaa |
St. Scholastica |
Sr. |
D |
Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld |
| Anna Martinson |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
D |
Apple Valley, Minn./Homeschool |
| Nicole Moldstad |
Bethany Lutheran |
Sr. |
MF |
North Mankato, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran |
| Linley Norman |
Northwestern |
So. |
F |
Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake |
| Becca Rancour |
St. Scholastica |
So. |
F |
Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson |
| Taylor Olson |
St. Scholastica |
Sr. |
MF |
Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld |
| Hannah Zeis |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
MF |
Ashland, Wis./Ashland |
2017 UMAC Women's Soccer All-Conference Second Team
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Emily Goeppinger |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
MF |
Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield |
| Gretchen Hamernick-Winters |
Northland |
Jr. |
D |
Neenah, Wis./Neenah |
| Bailey Henderson |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Sr. |
GK |
Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul |
| Heather Jensen |
Northland |
Sr. |
D |
Anoka, Minn./Anoka |
| Megan Larsen |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
MF |
Appleton, Wis./Appleton East |
| Dana Lehtinen |
Northwestern |
So. |
D |
Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove |
| Emily Muir |
Martin Luther |
Sr. |
D |
Watertown, Wis./Luther Prep |
| Madison Perry |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fy. |
F |
Anoka, Minn./Anoka |
| Dakotah Sparrman |
North Central |
Sr. |
F |
Apple Valley, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary's |
| Anna Welch |
Northwestern |
Fy. |
F |
Lakeville, Minn./Homeschool |
| Britt Zieroth |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Sr. |
MF |
Twig, Minn./Proctor |
2017 UMAC Women's Soccer All-Conference Honorable Mention
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Shona Aird |
Northland |
Sr. |
F |
Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park |
| Juliet Batista |
Minnesota Morris |
Sr. |
D |
Ramsey, Minn./Anoka |
| Lydia Bitter |
Martin Luther |
Fy. |
MF |
Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji |
| Katelyn Carter |
Crown |
Jr. |
MF |
Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View |
| Lindsay Clay |
Minnesota Morris |
Sr. |
D |
Golden Valley, Minn./Hopkins |
| Michaela Cowman |
Crown |
Fy. |
GK |
Quincy, Ill./Quincy |
| Rachel Dixon |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
MF |
Superior, Wis./Superior |
| Megan Ellingboe |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
MF |
New Brighton, Minn./Irondale |
| Erin Feddersen |
Martin Luther |
Jr. |
GK |
Great Mills, Md./Great Mills |
| Morgan Hill |
Martin Luther |
So. |
F |
Spring, Texas/Luther Prep |
| Anna Hitterdahl |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
MF |
St. Louis Park, Minn./Southwest Christian |
| Kailee Katt |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
D |
Esko, Minn./Esko |
| Janelle Rouillard |
St. Scholastica |
So. |
MF |
Dayton, Minn./Rogers |
| Sadie Sandersfeld |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fy. |
D |
Fairmont, Minn./Fairmont |
| Emma Street |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
F |
Oak Grove, Minn./St. Francis |
| Marissa Ulman |
Northland |
Sr. |
MF |
Appleton, Wis./Appleton North |
2017 UMAC Women's Soccer Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award - Crown
Bethany Lutheran - Avery Cash, Sr., Ottumwa, Iowa/Ottumwa
Crown - Katie Lao, Sr., Milaca, Minn./Black Forest Academy
Martin Luther - Emily Unke, Sr., Sheboygan Falls, Wis./Manitowoc Lutheran
Minnesota Morris - Tiffany Oren, Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D/Washington
North Central - Cheyenne Brown, Fy., Pinetop, Ariz./Blue Ridge
Northland - Olivia Garceau, Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Great River School
Northwestern - Ellyn Boland, So., Marshalltown, Iowa/Marshalltown
St. Scholastica - Taylor Kunkel, Sr., Little Falls, Minn./Little Falls
Wisconsin-Superior - Hailey Kontny, Sr., Superior, Wis./Superior