Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines junior forward Reese McDermott is the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Year, the league announced Sunday alongside its other individual honors and all-conference rosters. RMAC Women’s Soccer individual honors and all-conference rosters are voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves or their student-athletes.
 
McDermott has been a force for the No. 7 Orediggers throughout the 2023 campaign and earned the RMAC Player of the Year honor after finishing the regular season tied for first in the league with 27 points. The junior has started in all 18 of the Orediggers’ matches this season and has 10 goals and seven assists to her name. She ranks first in the RMAC and 14th nationally with 4.17 shots per game and has landed 34 shots on frame for a prolific .453 shots-on-goal percentage. Throughout 1,091 minutes of action, McDermott stands 16th in NCAA Division II with four game-winning goals.   
 
Bella Campos is the RMAC Freshman of the Year after an incredible start to her collegiate career with the Orediggers. Campos wasted no time inserting herself into the Mines attack and pushed the Orediggers to the No. 2 seed in the upcoming RMAC Women’s Soccer Tournament with a league-leading 12 goals. The freshman is a consistent spark off the bench for Mines and has racked up an incredible 27 points, which is tied for first in the RMAC, over just 662 minutes of action. She has 44 shots on the season with 24 of those placed on frame for a .545 shots-on-goal percentage.
 
Natalie Rouse is the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Mines defensive unit to an incredible 13 shutouts so far this season. Rouse has been a critical presence on the Mines backline, which allowed just four goals in conference play and eight goals throughout the entire regular season. Behind Rouse, the Orediggers have outscored opponents 52-8 throughout the 2023 campaign. While her defensive efforts are remarkable, she has also fit herself into the Mines attack and enters the RMAC Tournament with six goals and one assist for 13 points.
 
University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ Isabella Whitmore is the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the Mountain Lions to the league’s regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming RMAC Women’s Soccer Tournament. She has been elite in the net all season and holds eight solo shutout performances on the year. With over 1,490 minutes on the pitch, she has an impressive .825 save percentage. Whitmore is credited with a 12-3-3 record this season and has converted 52 saves on 125 shots faced.  
 
J.B. Belzer is the RMAC Coach of the Year after leading his Mountain Lions to a 10-1-1 record in RMAC play for UCCS’ fourth regular-season title in the last five seasons. Under Belzer’s leadership, the Mountain Lions finished their conference schedule with a four-match win streak, rounding out a stretch where they found the net nine times. UCCS ranks 22nd nationally for shutout percentage (.611) while averaging 2.0 goals per game. The Mountain Lion’s midfield has been as efficient as ever under Belzer and paces an attack that outscored opponents 36-11 in the regular season.
 
UCCS leads the RMAC’s all-conference rosters with six honorees, four first-teamers and a pair of second-team selections. Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa stand tied for second with five all-conference honorees apiece. Fort Lewis and Regis check in next with three selections each, followed by Colorado State University Pueblo, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Western Colorado and Westminster, which each notched one spot on the all-conference lists.