‘It Feels Amazing Every Time’ UWS Women’s Soccer Wins Third-Straight UMAC Title

Advancing to NCAA Division III Tournament

SUPERIOR, Wis.- The UW-Superior women’s soccer team have captured their third consecutive UMAC Championship, defeating Northwestern (Minn.) 3-0 at NBC Spartan Sports Complex on Saturday.

Despite outshooting the Wolves 8-1 in the first half, the Yellow Jackets were scoreless at halftime. “I told them at the end of the day, we were working hard, but we needed to calm down and settle the ball a little bit more, play more our style.” Explained head coach Allison DeGroot, who is the winningest coach in program history.

In the 51st minute, the Jackets’ hard work paid off as Niya Wilson scored, despite being injured on the play. “The goalie landed on my ankle,” said Wilson. “It hurt a lot at first, but I was able to figure it out with our trainers and we were good to go and patched it up and got the job done.”

Less than 20 minutes later, Mya Holmquist added to UWS’s lead with a goal off a corner kick, and Wilson delivered the dagger with her second goal of the day in the 82nd minute. “”I think that’s what we were looking for was to seal the deal…and to be able to do that and take that weight off our shoulders was the biggest deal in the world. We were able to play comfortable and close out the last 20 minutes.”

Overall, DeGroot was pleased with her team’s performance. “”The players worked extremely hard and prepared well to get to this place.”

Wilson, who has played a key role on the team since 2020, was also named the tournament MVP. “”It feels amazing every time,” she said in regard to winning the UMAC Championship. “We’ve done it three times in a row, and it doesn’t feel any less amazing this time than it did the first time.”

Meanwhile, the UWS men have also won the UMAC Championship, defeating Bethany Lutheran 1-0 on Saturday. Both teams will learn who they will face in the National Tournament Monday afternoon.