Saint Michael’s College women’s soccer seniors Katie Escobedo (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina) and Izzy Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) and junior Claire Williams (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert) were all recently named to the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) All-New England second team for the 2022 season.
The Purple Knights were among 24 NEWISA All-New England honorees, including 12 on the second team. Twenty of the selections hailed from the Northeast-10 Conference. Saint Michael’s had a trio honored in the same season for the first time since 1992, as Escobedo, Ruprecht and Williams were all recognized for the first time.
Escobedo, who also earned NE10 All-Conference second team and NE10 Academic All-Conference laurels, put together one of the greatest seasons ever by a Purple and Gold goalkeeper. She led the NE10 in shutouts (8) while taking second in both goals-against average (0.60) and save percentage (.864), setting a program record for GAA and tying a 33-year-old mark for clean sheets. Among all NCAA Division II netminders, the captain was 16th nationally in GAA and 18th in save percentage.
Ruprecht was a key member of the Purple Knight midfield since stepping on campus, starting all 49 games while turning in six goals and four assists for her career. Each of her final four career goals came on penalty kicks, where she was a perfect 4-for-4, including in a 1-0 win over eventual United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division I national champion University of Maine Fort Kent on Oct. 4. The captain provided the assist on the Purple Knights’ 51st-minute winner in a 2-1 victory over regionally-ranked Pace University on Oct. 1.
Williams posted two goals and two assists while making 14 of her 15 appearances in the starting lineup. She assisted the winner at Queens (N.Y.) College) in a 2-0 win on Sept. 4, scored the tying marker to start a rally in a 2-1 win over Pace, and assisted the go-ahead goal in a 1-1 draw with Assumption University on Oct. 26.
Saint Michael’s went 5-5-5 overall last fall, including 3-5-4 in the NE10 to stay in the postseason hunt until the final day of the season. The Purple Knights allowed only nine goals in 15 games, setting a school record with a 0.60 GAA, shattering the 1989 team’s figure (0.88). Its .870 save percentage was good for third in program history, short only of the 1989 (.903) and 1990 (.886) squads. Saint Michael’s finished 13th in the nation in save percentage and tied for 15th in GAA, leading the league in the former.