Pelusi wins keeper of the year

Jamie Pelusi, a captain on the Pitt women’s soccer team, has been named Big East Goalkeeper of… Jamie Pelusi, a captain on the Pitt women’s soccer team, has been named Big East Goalkeeper of the Year by the conference. The announcement came at the league’s annual women’s soccer banquet earlier this month.

“To get an award is always nice,” said Pelusi, who also earned All-Big East First Team honors. “But it is always a question of how hard your teammates push you in practice.”

She was particularly grateful to have backup goalkeeper Lailah Issac, also a junior, to work with in practice.

“We trained together and would push each other every day,” Pelusi said. “Her work ethic really forced me to pick up my game.”

“It’s a great honor for Jamie,” head coach Sue-Moy Chin said on Pittsburghpanthers.com. “I couldn’t ask for someone better to coach. She is eager to learn and takes direction very well. It is rewarding to work with her and she deserves this award.”

A junior from Hampton, Pa., Pelusi became only the second Panther in school history to earn the Goalkeeper of the Year Award, the last going to Rachel Brown in 2001. Pelusi started all 17 games for the Panthers this season, leading them to a 6-10-1 record with a 2-7-1 mark in the conference. Those 17 starts push her streak to 53 straight starts, making her one of only five players in Pitt history to start every game of his or her career.

She led the conference for the second straight season in saves per game with a 5.65 average, while placing seventh in the Big East with a .780 save percentage. On her way to a single-season, school record-tying five shutouts, Pelusi also broke the career record for saves, having stopped 339 shots in her three seasons as a Panther.

In addition to her athletic achievements, Pelusi, who majors in social work, is also a two-time Big East Academic All-Star.

Much of her individual improvement, both in and out of the goal, she attributed to Chin, who was a goalkeeper herself in college at Florida International.

“She understands all of the mental and technical aspects that go along with being in the goal,” Pelusi said of her coach. “I’ve seen a drastic improvement in my game from where I was when I left high school.”