The Midwest Conference released its 2022 end-of-season awards for women's soccer on Friday and Lake Forest College had six players listed among the honorees.
Highlighting the list of Foresters is senior goalkeeper Maggie Kersting, who repeated as MWC Defensive Player of the Year. Kersting recorded seven shutouts during the team's eight-game league schedule and allowed just one goal in the other contest. Her 0.13 goals against average and .947 save percentage in MWC play led the conference. Kersting's school record nine shutouts in all games this season and 19 for her career rank among the top 10 marks in league history while her career goals against average of 0.81 is third in MWC annals. Kersting is the first player to earn MWC Defensive Player of the Year honors twice since the award began in 2004.
Four Foresters joined Kersting on the first team, including MWC Newcomer of the Year Anna Gracia and fellow freshman Anna Hoffman. Gracia, a forward, and Hoffman, a midfielder, combined to score eight of Lake Forest's 15 goals during league play. They tied for second in the MWC in goals, each scoring four, and led the MWC with three game-winning goals apiece. Hoffman added an assist to rank tied-for-second in the conference in points while Gracia was tied-for-fourth. They are the program's first freshman duo to be named First Team All-MWC in 10 years.
Lake Forest also had a pair of players on the league's first team for the second time in their careers. Graduate student Hiwa Brown, a midfielder, earned that honor in 2019 after being named to the second team the year before. She studied abroad during the 2021 season and returned to the team this year had a goal and an assist during league play. Sophomore defender Krissy Kuwahara was a First Team All-MWC and Second Team All-Region selection last season. She led the Foresters' efforts on defense again this year as the team allowed opponents to put just 19 shots on goal in eight league contests.
The Foresters also had a Second Team All-MWC selection in freshman midfielder Caitlin Mulcahy. She scored once during conference play and contributed to the performance by the league's top defense as well. This year's list of All-MWC selections is the first since 1986 to include three freshman from the College.
Lake Forest posted a 11-5-3 overall record and finished second in the MWC with victories in seven of eight conference games this fall.
