ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women’s soccer team had six members of the team pick up All-UMAC honors on Tuesday. Monica Calderon was named First Team All-UMAC for the second season running. Jay Kwateh and Kim Peters each landed on the Second Team, while Caroline O’Donnell and Hannah Pedderson were both named Honorable Mention. Ayla Wicklow picked up the Sportsmanship Award for the Cougars.
Calderon, a junior from Indio, Calif., was a repeat selection on the First Team All-UMAC. Calderon occupied a true “box-to-box” role as a midfielder for the Cougars, starting all 20 matches and scoring a team-high nine goals while also tying for the team lead with three assists on the year. All nine goals and three assists came in UMAC play, including four game-winning goals.
Kwateh, a junior from Maple Grove, Minn., earned All-UMAC honors for a second straight season by being named to the Second Team after earning First Team honors in the 2020-21 season. Though most often deployed as a defender, Kwateh could also move forward into the attack when called upon and she ended with five shots on the season (four on goal) while playing in 10 UMAC matches and 15 matches overall on the season.
Peters, a freshman from Eagan, Minn., also made Second Team All-UMAC after finishing second on the team in goals (seven) and points (15). Peters was a starter in all 14 UMAC matches and scored five goals and added an assist while leading the Cougars with 50 total shots, including 32 on target. Two of the goals scored by Peters came in a 3-2 road win at Martin Luther College on Oct. 22 that helped the Cougars lock up a UMAC Tournament berth.
Another repeat All-UMAC performer for Minnesota Morris is O’Donnell, a junior from Kailua, Hawaii. O’Donnell was Second Team All-UMAC in last year’s spring season and was named Honorable Mention in 2021. Tied with Calderon for the team lead in assists on the season with three, O’Donnell had all three in a four-day stretch of road matches at the University of Northwestern, North Central University, and Crown College. Also like Calderon, she started all 20 matches for the Cougars from her spot in the center of the UMN Morris defense.
The final Honorable Mention selection for Minnesota Morris was Pedderson, a senior from Plymouth, Minn. Another Cougar who started all 20 matches in 2021, Pedderson was a key part of the central midfield both in terms of dispossessing opponents and then starting the offense through the middle of the field. Pedderson recorded two goals and an assist in UMAC play and had three goals and two assists overall on the season, finishing third on the team with eight points.
The UMAC also honors one team member from each institution with a Sportsmanship Award. The winner of this year’s accolade for Minnesota Morris went to Wicklow, a freshman from Winona, Minn.
Minnesota Morris ended the 2021 season with an overall record of 6-14-0, including a 6-8-0 mark in the UMAC. The Cougars entered the UMAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed before falling to eventual conference champions UW-Superior in the semifinals.
