The 2012 All-Midwest Conference women's soccer teams were released on Thursday. Lake Forest College senior sweeper Becky Esrock was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year and was joined on the First Team by Michelle Greeneway and Holly Lesperance. Lisa Sorensen and Bri Schleibinger were Second Team selections and T.R. Bell was named MWC Coach of the Year.
Esrock moved from forward to sweeper after the sixth game of the season and the Foresters went 12-2-1 with nine shutouts the rest of the way. She finished the year with 14 points on six goals and two assists on the year. Her penalty kick goal was the final score in Lake Forest 2-0 triumph in the final of the MWC Tournament and she netted the team's only goal in its 2-1 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tourney. Esrock moved into third place in program history with 39 goals and 93 points in her career.
Greeneway, a freshman forward, finished third in the conference with 40 points, fourth with 16 goals, and tied-for-fourth with eight assists. Her goal and point totals matched the fifth-highest marks in program history. Greeneway scored at least once in 12 of 21 contests, including eight in a row from September 16 through October 13. She had two goals and an assist in the team's 3-0 victory in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament.
Lesperance, another freshman forward, was fifth in the league with 15 goals and 36 points and she ranked tied-for-seventh with six assists. She also tied for second in the conference with six game-winning goals. Like Greeneway, Lesperance scored a goal in 12 of 21 games. She also had at least one point in 12 of 13 contests between September 15 and November 2.
It was the first time in the program's 27 years that two Forester freshmen earned First Team All-MWC honors.
Sorensen, a senior forward, was an Honorable Mention All-MWC selection as a freshman, a First Team choice as a sophomore, and now a Second Team honoree for the second straight season. She ranked third in the league with a team-high nine assists and her 17 points was the third-highest total on the team. Sorensen finished her career ranked sixth in team history with 86 career points, eighth with 30 goals, and tied-for-fifth with 26 assists.
Schleibinger, a senior goalkeeper, led the conference with a save percentage of .832 and ranked second with a 1.07 goals against average. Her 107 saves on the year is the second-highest single-season total in program history and she finished second in team annals with 346 career saves. She went 14-6-1 on the season and 43-22-1 in her four years. Eight of her 18 career shutouts occured in 2012.
Bell led Lake Forest to an 14-6-1 overall record and a 8-1-1 mark in league play to claim the fourth MWC title in team history. The Foresters defeated Grinnell College and St. Norbert College to win the conference tournment and advanced to the NCAA Tourney for just the second time. The team's 58 goals on the year led the league and tied the program record. The Foresters also led the conference with 11 shutouts and ranked second with a 1.03 goals against average. The 2012 MWC Coach of the Year award is the third in Bell's career.
Lake Forest's five All-MWC selections were the most of any team in the league.
