Brynteson Gets Soccer MVP Award

Soccer America magazine recently named Harvard senior Julie Brynteson one of ten Collegiate Most Valuable Players, making the Crimson forward the first female to receive the award since it was created four years ago.

Voted on by Soccer America editors, correspondents and photographers, the MVP award is given to the ten college players who contribute to their teams as a leader and a motivator, regardless of nationality, class standing or university attended.

The magazine cited Brynteson as an "integral part of the growth of women's soccer at Harvard," and "as one of the best female soccer players in the country."

"Brynteson's consistency in leading the team to two consecutive league championships with identical statistics both years was the thing that struck me," Michele Jurich, managing editor of Soccer America said yesterday. "It was not a tokenism to give her the award, but a question of a deserving athlete."

For the past two years, the Economics major has notched a hat trick in the finals of the Ivies and received the tournament MVP award.

This season, in the finals of the first Easter women's soccer tournament, Brynteson tallied the Crimson's lone goal to pace the team to a 1-1 tie for the title with Cortland State.

Displaying good speed and an almost mechanically accurate corner kick, the two-time captain scored 14 goals and six assists this year.

Other MVP award winners included NCAA champion Southern Indiana University junior Don Ebert, who was this year's top NASL draft choice, as well as at least four potential Olympic team players.

"The award was especially nice because there are no All-Americans for women's soccer," Crimson coach Bob Scalise said yesterday. "This proves we have several All-American types on our team."