MHS soccer star signs DI

Maricopa High School soccer standout Abigail Kuehnl signed her letter of intent yesterday to play for Division I University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“My goal has always been to play college soccer,” a smiling Kuehnl said after signing the letter. “So I’m just super grateful for this opportunity to get to continue what I love and just have fun.” 

Kuehnl will hit the Midwest college campus with an academic scholarship, said her father, Jason Kuehnl. 

“It was a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, a lot of time put in, and just a lot of grit from the kid,” he said. 

She thrived academically her sophomore year and was recognized for the All-Region 2nd team as a team standout.

Her junior year, she carried a 4.2 weighted grade point average. 

A weighted GPA is one that takes the difficulty of a student’s classes into account along with the student’s grades. 

Kuehnl also made the AZSports360 All-Academic Team twice and led her team in both assists and goals. 

Kuehnl said at UW-Milwaukee she will major in kinesiology, the study of body movement, combining anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, psychology and other disciplines to understand how the body works and adapts. 

Cortney Kellenaers, Kuehnl’s coach since the young athlete joined the MHS soccer team as a sophomore, called her “a star.” 

“She’s probably the best player we’ve ever had,” said Kellenaers, a coach of 17 years. 

Kuehnl was most recently honored as the West Valley 6A Region Player of the Year and second team all-state. 

Kuehnl verbally committed to UW-Milwaukee during her junior year at MHS before making it official in writing at the school yesterday afternoon.

She played on a highly competitive club team with Arizona Soccer Club at the time and followed her coach over to Arizona Arsenal this year.  

Her club coach, Lindsay Johnson, was a driving force in helping her to earn a scholarship, Kellenaers said. 

“She wanted to head back to the Midwest for her college experience, and I am very excited that things have worked out for her,” Kellenaers said. “She is very deserving and has more than earned this opportunity.”