Mariel Gutierrez has made her mark on the University of Northern Colorado on the soccer field and in the classroom. She is also UNC’s second College Colorado Sportswoman of the Year and fourth overall. Gutierrez picked up the award for Division I soccer.
She won the Offensive MVP, a unanimous fourth time First Team Selection and the Golden Boot award for the Big Sky Conference. Gutierrez is also a leader in the classroom with a 3.5 GPA in Business Finance.
She is one of only two players to ever be named Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. This was her second time winning the award as she also had in 2017. This award differs from some of the others because it is not done by region it is done by Division I as a whole. She is the only player from the Big Sky and the only player from a school in the state of Colorado.
Additionally, Gutierrez was also named first team scholar all-west region by United Soccer Coaches and she was named first team all-region by the same organization for her play on the field.
To make it even more impressive Mariel will be the first in her family to attend and graduate college. Her exceptional career in the classroom and on the field is one that atheltes hope and wish to have at least one of, but she is a true student-athlete star.
Following college Mariel hopes to play professional soccer. The professional league draft came and went, but that does not mean she is out of options. She has an agent who is looking at her potentially playing overseas such as Portugal or Spain since that fits her skillset accordingly.
Gutierrez will finish fourth in the UNC record book for goals scored at 36. She will also finish fifth in points scored at 86 points on her career. Mariel is UNC’s best soccer player since the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Gutierrez will receive her honor alongside fellow Bear and women’s basketball award winner Savannah Smith at 7 p.m. March 10 at the Colorado Sportswoman of the Year banquet at the Denver Mariott Tech Center.
Other HONORS AND AWARDS
2017 Scholar All-America Team (2nd player in UNC history)
2017 All-Region Division I Second Team
2017 Scholar All-West Region
2017 Big Sky All-Conference First Team
2017 Big Sky All-Academic
2017 Big Sky All-Tournament Team
2016 Big Sky All-Conference First Team: Nov. 1, 2016
2015 Big Sky All-Academic: Jan. 27, 2016
2015 NSCAA All-Pacific Second Team: Dec. 1, 2015
CollegeSoccer360 Weekly Honor Roll: Nov. 2-8, 2015
2015 Big Sky All-Tournament Team: Nov. 8, 2015
2015 Big Sky Top Newcomer: Nov. 3, 2015
2015 Big Sky All-Conference First Team: Nov. 3, 2015
2015 Defensive Player of the Week: Oct. 20, 2015
