ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Wisconsin Superior Yellowjackets earned their third Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s soccer regular season and tournament championships in 2023. Following the conference season, the Yellowjackets earned two of the four top conference honors in addition to having the most All-UMAC award winners, it was announced on Tuesday.
Brenna Mattson was named the Defensive Player of the Year, marking the fourth year in a row that a Yellowjacket has won the award. The defender led Wisconsin-Superior’s back line to hold opponents to just 6.8 shots taken per game with just 4.2 of those shots per game being on goal. Her defensive leadership helped the Yellowjackets only allow an average of 1.00 goals per game.
Wisconsin-Superior Head Coach Allison DeGroot earned Coach of the Year honors for the fourth consecutive year. Under her leadership, the Yellowjackets went 14-5-1 during the regular season and won their third consecutive UMAC Regular Season Championship with a 13-1 record in the conference. DeGroot then coached her team to win their third UMAC Tournament Championship in a row, punching their ticket to the NCAA DIII Championship.
The Offensive Player of the Year award was won by Haley Mersberger of the University of Northwestern for the second consecutive year. The sophomore scored 29 goals in 20 games to not only lead the UMAC but rank second in the nation for NCAA DIII, trailing only Alyse Then of Old Westbury who scored 30 goals as of the close of the conference championships. Mersberger surpassed 50 career goals this fall after following up her Rookie of the Year freshman season in which she scored 26 goals with an even more productive year.
This season’s Rookie of the Year award went to Rachel Fuller of Crown College. The freshman goalkeeper recorded 7.58 saves per game with a total of 144 on the year. Fuller saved 77.0 percent of the shots taken on her goal, which was the third-best mark in the UMAC. She also tied for the second-most shutouts in the conference, holding Crown’s opponents scoreless four times this fall.
The Yellowjackets had the most First Team All-Conference members, taking five of the 11 spots. Niya Wilson and Mya Holmquist both joined Northwestern’s Mersberger as the First Team forwards. Wilson had the second-most goals in the conference with 26 on the year and capped off a tremendous conference tournament with MVP honors. Holmquist led the UMAC in assists this past year, recording 13 for an average of .591 per game.
Allison Alessi and Lindrey Schendel represented UWS as First Team midfielders. Alessi scored seven goals for the Yellowjackets while Schendel had the 10
th most assists in the conference with five. Mya Chan of Northwestern was named a First Team midfielder after recording the third most assists in the UMAC with eight. Asia Jota of Bethany Lutheran College earned First Team midfielder honors as well, scoring four goals and notching four assists on the year.
Alongside Mattson, Ashley Casper of Bethany Lutheran and Jay Kwateh of University of Minnesota Morris earned First Team honors as defenders.
Brooke Wolanin of Bethany Lutheran was named the goalie for the First Team. The senior saved 48 shots this fall while only allowing 1.324 goals per game. She also tied for second in the conference with four shutouts on the season.
Martin Luther 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.
Individual Awards
* Offensive Player of the Year Award – Haley Mersberger, University of Northwestern
# Defensive Player of the Year Award – Brenna Mattson, University of Wisconsin-Superior
% Rookie of the Year Award – Rachel Fuller, Crown College
Coach of the Year Award – Allison DeGroot, University of Wisconsin-Superior
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Martin Luther College
| First Team All-Conference |
| Allison Alessi |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Senior |
Midfielder |
| Ashley Casper |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Junior |
Defender |
| Mya Chan |
University of Northwestern |
Junior |
Midfielder |
| Mya Holmquist |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Junior |
Forward |
| Asia Jota |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Senior |
Midfielder |
| Jay Kwateh |
University of Minnesota Morris |
Senior |
Defender |
| Brenna Mattson # |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Junior |
Defender |
| Haley Mersberger * |
University of Northwestern |
Sophomore |
Forward |
| Lindrey Schendel |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Senior |
Midfielder |
| Niya Wilson |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Senior |
Forward |
| Brooke Wolanin |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Senior |
Goalie |
| Second Team All-Conference |
| Bosley Lauren |
University of Northwestern |
Junior |
Defender |
| Halle Carlson |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Junior |
Defender |
| Megan Kohrt |
University of Northwestern |
Junior |
Midfielder |
| Lydia Krenke |
Martin Luther College |
Senior |
Midfielder |
| Elysabeth Lough |
Northland College |
Junior |
Goalie |
| Elena Luján Rubio |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Sophomore |
Forward |
| Megan Moeller |
University of Northwestern |
Senior |
Forward |
| Olaitz Azkue Muguruza |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Junior |
Forward |
| Katie Schoeneck |
Martin Luther College |
Freshman |
Forward |
| Lexi Shreve |
Crown College |
Sophomore |
Midfielder |
| Tori Vosburg |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Senior |
Defender |
| Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| Anna Borgwardt |
Martin Luther College |
Senior |
Defender |
| Isabella Connell |
North Central University |
Senior |
Midfielder |
| Megan Corbett |
University of Northwestern |
Sophomore |
Midfielder |
| Emma Domka |
Crown College |
Senior |
Forward |
| Rachel Fuller % |
Crown College |
Freshman |
Goalie |
| Jenna Lang |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |
Junior |
Goalie |
| Kara Lewis |
North Central University |
Graduate Student |
Forward |
| Kim Peters |
University of Minnesota Morris |
Junior |
Forward |
| Juana Quevedo |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Senior |
Defender |
| Madison Sax |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Junior |
Defender |
| Ellie Schanbacher |
Crown College |
Sophomore |
Midfielder |
| Rachel Schoeneck |
Martin Luther College |
Sophomore |
Midfielder |
| Jadyn Sondrol |
University of Minnesota Morris |
Senior |
Midfielder |
| Audri Sturgeon |
Crown College |
Senior |
Defender |
| Kristen Vensland |
Northland College |
Senior |
Defender |
| Ramiyah Words |
North Central University |
Freshman |
Defender |
| Lilianne Zimpelmann |
Martin Luther College |
Junior |
Defender |
| Individual Sportsmanship Awards |
| Payton Danielson |
Bethany Lutheran College |
| Aletheia Fisher |
Crown College |
| Hannah Schroeder |
Martin Luther College |
| Sydney Adams |
North Central University |
| Kristen Vensland |
Northland College |
| Ayla Wicklow |
University of Minnesota Morris |
| Katie Beaulieu |
University of Northwestern |
| Kaitlyn Raisch |
University of Wisconsin-Superior |