Four University students excel in women’s soccer

Four University women’s soccer players were recently selected to the 1999 All-University Athletic Association Team, while Head Coach Amy Reifert and Assistant Coaches Bannon Stroud and Elizabeth Adams were honored as the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.

Reifert has been named the league’s coach of the year four times––in 1992, ’94, ’96 and this year––during her nine years at Chicago.

Among the University’s student honorees are fourth-year forward Jessica Berry, who was named the 1999 UAA Player of the Year.

Joining Berry as repeat selections on the 1999 All-UAA First Team are fourth-year midfielders Cinnamon Pace and Kate Cortis. First-year Cherish Orozco was selected to the All-UAA Second Team.

Berry scored a school-record 14 goals and added five assists for 33 points this past season. She finished her career as Chicago’s all-time leading goal scorer with 40.

In seven UAA matches, Berry collected three goals and three assists for nine points. She scored game-winners against Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Rochester.

Berry is the first Chicago athlete to earn UAA Player of the Year accolades in women’s soccer. A Second-team selection in 1996 and First-team pick the past three years, she is Chicago’s second, four-time All-UAA women’s soccer honoree.

Pace was Chicago’s third-leading scorer with six goals and three assists for 15 points this season. She scored three goals and added an assist to give her seven points in six league contests. Pace was a First-team pick in 1998 and a Second-team selection in 1997.

Cortis helped Chicago limit the opposition to just 15 goals in 21 matches, including one goal in seven UAA contests. In addition to her defensive play, she contributed one goal and two assists for four points this season. Cortis was an All-UAA First-team pick one year ago.

Orozco was the team’s second-leading scorer with seven goals and seven assists for 21 points. In UAA competition, she registered three goals and a pair of assists for eight points. She also scored game-winning goals against league rivals New York University and Washington University.

Chicago, which posted an overall record of 14-3-4, won its third UAA title with a 6-0-1 mark in conference play. The Maroons earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship for the fourth straight season and advanced to the Central Regional final.

Members of the UAA, which was founded in 1986, share a common set of theoretical beliefs: academic excellence and athletic excellence are not mutually exclusive; the academic enterprise is the primary element; athletic excellence properly relates to the caliber of experience offered to students; athletic programs should reflect the quality of the academic environment within which they exist; and a consistent and challenging level of athletic competition should be provided for both women and men.