After she completed an end-of-year interview with University of Maine women’s soccer coach Scott Atherley following her freshman season, striker Abby Kraemer stayed in her chair for a minute before leaving.
UMaine had gone 3-7-4 overall, 1-6-2 in America East and missed the league playoffs.
Before she exited the room, she made a bold prediction.
“She told me we were going to win a conference championship before she left,” said Atherley.
That is something the program had never accomplished before, until Kraemer made good on her prediction.
Kraemer not only led the Black Bears to one America East playoff title, she sparked them to back-to-back titles in 2023 and ‘24.
For that and her academic prowess and community involvement, the league’s first two-time All-American in 25 years was selected the America East Woman of the Year on Tuesday.
The award goes to the conference’s senior male and female student-athletes who have best distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership,” according to the America East Conference.
The other finalists were Vermont basketball star Anna Olson and Albany field hockey standout Alison Smisdom.
“I’m honored and honestly a little overwhelmed to be receiving such an esteemed recognition,” Kraemer said in her Tuesday night acceptance speech.
She called her time at UMaine “unforgettable,” congratulated the other nominees and thanked her family for their support.
“She really transformed our culture,” Atherley said on Wednesday. “Her great talent wasn’t scoring goals, it was making those players around her better.”
She helped everybody around her rise to a higher level, the coach said.
“That was her gift,” Atherley added. “By virtue of her presence and expectations for the team, she also held everyone else accountable including the coaching staff.”
She was an extremely hard worker and was very popular among her teammates, Atherley said.
“Everyone loved her. She was the type of player everybody wanted to have on their team but nobody wanted to play against her,” said Atherley.
Kraemer was chosen a third team All-American last fall after being a second team selection two years ago.
“The individual accolades I received over the years were never the goal, and honestly they were things I never imagined possible,” Kraemer said. “I’ve always viewed these recognitions as team achievements, and seeing our school’s name alongside some of the top programs and players in the country was incredible. Without my team, I wouldn’t have received any of these awards, including this one here tonight.”
She was a four-time All-America East choice and concluded her career with 74 points on 31 goals and 12 assists. Ten of her goals were game-winners including one with 29 seconds left to give UMaine a 2-1 win over Vermont in an America East semifinal in 2023.
She had both goals in that game.
The Black Bears, whose conference titles earned them their first two NCAA Tournament berths, went 33-7-14 over her final three seasons including a 15-1-8 regular season record in America East play.
Off the field, she was named the league’s 2024 Scholar Athlete of the Year and the “M” Club’s Dean Smith Award recipient which goes to the top male and female student-athletes at the school.
She graduated in December with a 3.902 grade-point average in biochemistry and was selected to a number of all-academic teams. She started playing professionally in Portugal after earning her degree.
The Waterloo, Ontario native was also active in the local community, volunteering as a hospital aid at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and as an office volunteer at the Down East Medical Center.
She was also a four-year Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member, and participated in both the annual UMaine Day of Service and the National Girls and Women in Sports celebration at the school.
America East began honoring a Woman of the Year in 2006 and introduced the Man of the Year award in 2015. Kraemer is the fourth UMaine recipient, joining Connor Goodman (2024), Holly Stewart (2015) and Kelton Cullenberg (2014).
“She was an exceptional student and was very engaged in the community,” Atherley said.
