KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Carleton College's Piper Dean and Cate Patterson were both named All-Americans in voting by the United Soccer Coaches. Dean was a first-team selection while Patterson was tabbed to the second team.
 
"In our program we consistently talk about what it means to be a 'winner,'" said Carleton head coach Jessica Mueller. "To us, being a winner is more than simply achieving desired outcomes and results. It's about being a great teammate, a great student, and a great leader; it's about competing every day even when things don't go the way we think they are going to go and even when we face really hard challenges.
 
"Piper and Cate are incredibly talented soccer players. They are two of the best statistically to ever put on a Carleton Women's Soccer jersey, but they are also so much more than talent. They are truly winners, on the field and off. They've absolutely earned their All-American status, and I couldn't be more proud of them as soccer players and as people."
 
This is the first time in Carleton Women's Soccer history that multiple players earned All-America recognition in the same season. They are the program's first All-Americans since 2010, joining Rebecca Fielder (1989) and Leigh-Anne Borkowski (2010) on the Knights' list of All-Americans (see chart below).
 
The United Soccer Coaches recognized 15 women as First-Team All-Americans, 17 on the second team, and 18 on the third team for a total of 50 All-Americans.
 
Dean is 1 of 4 defenders named to the All-America First team. Despite playing center back, the MIAC Defender of the Year in both 2022 and 2023 tied for second on the Knights with 7 goals this fall. That is the third-highest goal total among the 17 defenders to collect All-America recognition this fall. She started all 21 games and played all 1,890 minutes throughout the season, notching two game-winning goals in addition to scoring against California Lutheran while making her NCAA Championships debut.
 
Carleton finished the season with a 16-3-2 ledger, the second-highest win total in program history. The Knights returned to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in program history and first time since 2010. For the second consecutive year, they went undefeated in MIAC action en route to the conference's regular-season title.
 
Dean anchored a defense that ranked 10th in the nation after posting a 0.389 goals against average during the regular-season. Carleton yielded only 11 goals all season with three of those coming in the Knights' 3-2 loss during the NCAA Championships to Final Four bound California Lutheran. That was the only time all season that the Knights surrendered multiple goals in a game.
 
Patterson is the first attacking player in program history to take home All-America recognition. During the 2023 campaign, she tallied 5 goals and 6 assists to finish with 16 points, tied for the second-highest total on the Knights. She recorded the game winner in a victory over NCAA Tournament qualifier North Central College and set up game-winning goals against two other postseason teams. Patterson added her first career hat trick on Oct. 16 vs. UW-River Falls and holds the school record for career assists (21), ranks 3rd in career points (67), and 5th in career goals (23).
 
Carleton Men's Soccer also received good news as senior defender Justin Crawmer was a first-team All-American. This marks the first time in school history that both soccer programs had an All-American in the same season. Carleton is 1 of only 6 schools to have an All-American on both its men's and women's teams in 2023 with Messiah University the only other one to have a first teamer on both its programs.
 
Carleton Women's Soccer All-Americans
1989   --   Rebecca Fielder (defender), second team
2010   --   Leigh-Anne Borkowski (defender), NSCAA All-America first team
2010   --   Leigh-Anne Borkowski (defender), D3soccer.com All-America second team
2023   --   Piper Dean (defender), USC All-America first team
2023   --   Cate Patterson (midfielder), USC All-America second team