Maier & Kolb Win United Soccer Coaches Player of Distinction Award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – University of New Hampshire senior midfielder Abbi Maier (Cincinnati, Ohio) and senior captain Maddie Kolb (Tolland, Conn.) have each won the United Soccer Coaches Player of Distinction Award for exceptional contributions to the team while exemplifying the finest attributes of a college player.

"We were very fortunate to have two members of our team win this award in Abbi Maier and Maddie Kolb as each player is well deserving of this honor," said UNH women's soccer head coach Steve Welham. "Both Abbi & Maddie won positional players of the year during their careers along with several all-conference and all region awards. I could go on and on here. Outside of their many accomplishments and accolades each player helped lead our team and give back to the community in different ways."

Kolb was a two-time All-Atlantic Region, two-time All-Conference and two-time All-New England selection. The 2024 America East Defender of the Year, Kolb had another outstanding season as the anchor of the defense in 2025 as she started in all 17 games and was a strong leader as the captain of the team. As a freshman in 2022 she was picked to the America East All-Rookie Team. Kolb has also been strong in the classroom as a member of the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll (2023) and America East Academic Honor Roll (2024).

"Maddie has been a mainstay on our backline for four years and was leading our team in different ways throughout her career," said Welham. "She stepped into the captaincy role during her senior year and performed exceptionally well. Maddie gave so much of her personal time and attention to each and every member of the team ensuring that we maintain the strong team culture we have enjoyed here for so long at UNH."

This past season, Maier was only the second player in program history to be named the America East Women's Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year. The 2025 America East Co-Midfielder of the Year, Maier was selected to the United Soccer Coaches Division I All-Atlantic Region Third Team, All-ECAC Second Team and America East All-Conference First Team. She was also selected to play in the 2025 New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) Senior Bowl. In 2025, She led the team with a career-best six goals and 14 points as she also added two assists. Maier tied for fifth in the conference in goals and tied for sixth in points.

"Abbi has proven to be one of our most consistent and highest achieving student-athletes you could ever find currently holding a 3.98 cumulative GPA," said Welham. "Abbi not only is a member of UNH Honors College, she has volunteered as a counselor for the crisis text line, along with being a student-athlete peer tutor here at UNH all the while researching and writing her thesis on the differences in concussion reporting for both male and female soccer players where she will present later at the URC."

"Both Maddie and Abbi represent the best of UNH Women's Soccer and do so in their own unique way," said Welham. "We are very proud of who they are and who they have become!"

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