Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa’s Lila Dere is the 2021 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Women’s Soccer Player of the Year, the league announced Tuesday. Dere’s award was announced alongside the 2021 RMAC Women’s Soccer All-Conference teams. RMAC Individual awards and all-conference rosters are voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their players.
 
Dere earns the league’s top honor after closing out the regular season with a conference-leading 15 goals over 16 appearances, a mark that ranks 12th in the nation. In addition to her goal-scoring endeavors, the redshirt freshman enters the RMAC semifinal round with four assists and 34 points. She averages six shots per game and 3.06 shots-on-goal per game, leading the country in both categories. Averaging .88 goals per game, Dere holds a .559 shots-on-goal percentage. The Player of the Year honor is the latest award for Dere, who was also named RMAC Freshman of the Year during the 2020 season.
 
Colorado School of Mines’ Reese McDermott earns RMAC Freshman of the Year distinctions after pushing the Orediggers to the No. 3 seed at the 2021 RMAC Women’s Soccer Tournament. The freshman striker leads the Orediggers with 18 points and eight goals this season. She holds 17 appearances for Mines with starts in 15 of those matches. McDermott’s efficiency has been instrumental for the Orediggers as the Houston, Texas, native has placed 18 of her 31 shots on frame, earning a .581 shots-on-goal percentage.
 
Colorado Mesa’s Michaela Dangler is the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading a stingy backline for the Mavericks, which has limited opponents to a combined 14 goals and 9.6 shots per game throughout the 2021 campaign. Dangler has earned starts in all 16 of her appearances this season, racking up 1,465 minutes on the pitch. The redshirt sophomore has also added two goals and two assists for six points in RMAC play.
 
Mines’ Sierra Roth is the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year after starting in 19 matches for the Orediggers this season. Roth captains a Mines defense that stands first in the RMAC and 19th nationally in goals-against average (.552). She has recorded 82 saves and a .882 save percentage on the season, earning eight shutouts in her 12 victories. In her 19 appearances, Roth has allowed just 11 goals over 1,753:04 minutes of action, pushing the Orediggers to a No. 20 national ranking.
 
After steering the Mavericks to a share of the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament, Megan Remec is the RMAC Coach of the Year. In just her second season with the Mavs, Remec earned her second postseason bid after pushing CMU to a 10-2-0 record in conference play. Under her guidance, Colorado Mesa has outscored opponents by a 23-goal margin this season. The Mavericks’ defense has allowed 14 goals overall and eight goals in conference matches during the 2021 campaign. Six of CMU’s 10 conference victories came by way of shutout.

Of the 26 players honored among the all-conference rosters, Colorado School of Mines, MSU Denver and Westminster lead the way with four selections each. Colorado Mesa, Regis and University of Colorado Colorado Springs each account for three honorees apiece. Colorado Christian and Colorado State University Pueblo each claim a pair of roster spots, while Fort Lewis rounds out the all-conference rosters with one selection.