Carli Brill’s 2003 performance on the soccer field earned her the honor of being The Pitt… Carli Brill’s 2003 performance on the soccer field earned her the honor of being The Pitt News’ Freshman Female Athlete of the Fall.

She started all 17 games this season and recorded a goal on 14 shots, from the defensive position. Her one goal on the season came in a 5-1 win over Jacksonville, early in the year.

“We’re really proud of her,” Dawn Brill-Cooper, her mother, said. “She always gives her 100 percent in everything.”

Brill has won several awards before, on and off the field. She was named Penn Manor All-Around 2002-03 Female Athlete her senior year of high school and also won the Academic Excellence Award and The Ditlow Award for character.

She recorded 32 goals and 18 assists in her high school career at Penn Manor. With those numbers, she helped Penn Manor qualify for the district playoffs for three consecutive years.

“I can’t wait for next season,” Brill said. “[The team has] improved so much. We’re only getting better.”

The team has several players returning next year, and Brill looks forward to lacing up the spikes and getting back onto the field, so she can help her team climb the rankings of the Big East. This past season, the women’s soccer team went 5-10-2, with several close losses.

“The games are so fun,” she commented.

Brill was also shocked on Tuesday with the announcement from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America that she has earned NSCAA/Adidas Girls High School All-America Honors. She is one of seven defenders nationally named to this 74-member team.

“I did not expect it at all,” Brill said. “It’s a big honor.”

“We’re so thankful that she is being recognized,” Brill-Cooper said.