After taking home a share of the conference championship, the University of Minnesota soccer team added a pile of post-season awards to its trophy haul.
Senior attacker Simone Kolander won her second consecutive Forward of the Year award, and fellow senior Rashida Beal took home the conference’s Defender of the Year trophy. In addition, head coach Stefanie Golan was named the Big Ten coach of the year, the first Gopher coach to win the award since 2008.
Kolander leads the conference in points with 28, and Beal organized a defense that allowed an astonishingly low three goals in the entire conference season.
Joining Kolander and Beal on the all-conference first team was senior midfielder Josee Stiever, her second consecutive year on an all-conference team. Beal was also second-team in 2015, but both move up to the first team this year. This is the first time since 1998 that the Gophers secured three spots on the all-Big Ten first team.
Senior goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs lost out on the conference’s Goalkeeper of the Year award, won by Northwestern’s Lauren Clem, but was named to the all-conference second team. Junior defender Maddie Gaffney claimed a spot on the third team.
Nikki Albrecht, who started every game for the Gophers’ outstanding defensive line, was named to the All-Freshman team.
Sunday, the Gophers host Indiana at 2 p.m., for the Big Ten quarterfinals.
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