(courtesy Rice Athletics Communications)
ST. LOUIS – Rice senior defender Mijke Roelfsema has been named one of the 15 national women’s semifinalists for the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy, presented annually to the top college soccer players of the year, the United Soccer Coaches Association and Missouri Athletic Club announced.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. This year’s award was pushed back to accommodate the seasons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners will be announced May 27 at the 2021 MAC Hermann Trophy Press Conference and Banquet which will take lace at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
Roelfsema has posted a sensational season that has helped lead the Rice soccer program to both a Conference USA Championship and the third round of the NCAA Championship. An international soccer standout originally from The Netherlands, Roelfsema was named the Defensive MVP of the C-USA Championship after earning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honors for the regular season. She has anchored a young Owls backline by starting all 17 games this season, amassing a streak of 36-straight starts dating back to her first year with the program in the fall of 2019 (when she transferred to Rice from Boston College). Roelfsema rarely comes off the field, playing 1,524 of the team’s 1,567 minutes this season (97.3 percent of the team’s total playing time).
By training daily under the direction of Rice head coach Brian Lee, Roelfsema’s experience and leadership have helped the Owls post a historic season. The Rice backline has limited opposing teams to an austere 12.2 shots per game and has been a catalyst behind the squad’s eleven shutouts, the most recent of which was a stunning 1-0 victory over No. 5 NCAA seed West Virginia last weekend. The top defender in C-USA has also come forward to provide an attacking presence for the No. 22 ranked Owls, recording three goals on 11 shots for a .273 shot-percentage. Roelfsema scored the game-tying goal in the 3-2 upset victory against nationally-ranked Texas A&M, and she has also scored goals against C-USA foes North Texas and Old Dominion.