Maryclaire Robinson, who led UC Davis to a berth in the Big West women’s soccer tournament despite the Aggies being picked to finish eighth in the league, was named the conference’s coach of the year on Tuesday, while Aisha Lott, Lisa Kemp and Allison Kelly each received all-league recognition.
Lott was named to the All-Big West first team for the second straight year, joining Kemp is a first-teamer after she earned second-team honors last year. Kelly received distinction as honorable mention.
A senior from Milpitas, Lott helped provide the backbone of a UCD defense that allowed just 1.32 goals per game and collected six shutouts during the season. She also scored a goal, in the Aggies’ 4-1 win at UC Riverside on Oct. 6, and is among a select group of just five Big West players who were repeat honorees on the first team.
Kemp, a senior midfielder from Eden Prairie, Minn., was second on the team with six goals and 17 points and tied for the UCD lead in assists with five. She provided consistent offensive output throughout the season, delivering five points over a three-game span early in the year, then providing three goals and three assists to help the Aggies win five straight near the end of the campaign.
Kelly, a junior forward who prepped at Rio Americano, led UCD with eight goals and 19 points in 2011, also picking up a trio of assists to earn her first Big West award. Kelly scored twice — including the game-winner — in the Aggies’ 4-3 win at Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 20 and was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a pair of game-winning goals against Creighton and UNLV during nonconference play.
Robinson, in her 20th season at the helm of UCD, earned her first Big West Coach of the Year honor after leading the Aggies to 11 wins in 2011, their first double-digit victory total since 2002, when they were in Division II.
UCD finished 4-3-1 in the Big West, to tie for third in the final standings and push Robinson’s career victory total to 187.