The Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team was named the Greater Cleveland Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year at the 23rd Greater Cleveland Sports Awards presented by Medical Mutual and Ancora on Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Spartans beat out the other two finalists, University of Texas rower and Shaker Heights High School graduate Sophie Calabrese and John Carroll University basketball player and Lakewood High School graduate Olivia Nagy for the award, presented by H. Jack's Plumbing & Heating Co. Finalists were selected by local sports and media outlets as well as an awards committee who chose outstanding athletes from the Northeast Ohio counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark, and Summit.
The Spartans completed one of the best seasons ever by a CWRU team in any sport, finishing 2022 as the national runner-up with a 20-1-1 record. While also securing the best national finish by a women's team in Case Western Reserve history, the team set program records for wins (20) and goals scored (70) and won the first University Athletic Association title in program history. In addition, the Spartans set a new Division III record with 23 goals scored in the NCAA Tournament.
First Team All-America graduate student forward Camryn Hartman led the team's offense, scoring 14 goals and adding 10 assists. Defensively, senior Merry Meyer was named to the All-America Third Team anchoring a defense that allowed a goals-against average of 0.68 and had 11 shutouts.
The Spartans are under the leadership of Head Coach Abby Richter, in her first year running the program, and are coached by Assistant Coaches Cameron Shedenhelm and Kaleigh Piscioneri and student assistant coaches Grace Bratter and Rebecca Hammill. The coaching staff was named the UAA and Region VII Coaching Staff of the Year following the season.
The team are the second CWRU student-athletes to win an award from the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, after former CWRU football player Jeff Mayer won the Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine Courage Award in 2007.
