MILWAUKEE – Denise Camarena of Riverside, Calif., has signed with the Milwaukee women's soccer team and will transfer into the program to play for the 2026 season, head coach Kevin Boyd announced today.
 
Camarena will join the program after spending the past three years at Northern Iowa, starting with a selection to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team in 2023.
 
"Denise is a student-athlete I have known since she was 13 years old," Boyd said. "I had the opportunity to coach her in California in the Legends program and was able to experience how good a teammate and player she was and is. She is an attacking-minded player who is very good on the ball. She excels in her ability to connect passes, and finding passes that break lines and create chance on goal. We expect she will help our midfield immediately."
 
Last fall, she appeared in 12 matches, making nine starts. She scored a pair of goals – finding the back of the net against Viterbo Aug. 31 as well as the game-winning goal against St. Ambrose Sept. 4. She finished with seven points and tied for the team lead with three assists, recording 15 shots from her spot in the midfield in 2025.
 
A member of the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team this past fall and a regular on the MVC Honor Roll, Camarena made 43 starts in her 50-game career at UNI, recording 14 points on three goals and eight assists. She finished the fall tied for eighth in UNI program history in career assists.