Reddick Named National Soccer Player of the Year

UNC women’s soccer defender Catherine Reddick has received two prestigious national awards for her role in the Tar Heels’ latest national championship. Reddick earned the Honda Award in December after NCAA member schools selected her as the nation’s most outstanding collegiate female athlete in soccer. In January, she was selected for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Herman Trophy given to the top female player in NCAA Division I.

Reddick anchored UNC’s defense as the team defeated all six of its opponents in the NCAA tournament, following a season of 19 shutouts and a perfect 27-0-0 record. Reddick was named the NCAA tournament’s most valuable defensive player after the Tar Heels won the championship.

A senior from Birmingham, Ala., Reddick is the 12th Tar Heel to earn National Player of the Year honors.

With the Honda Award, Reddick automatically is nominated for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year honors, along with one athlete from 11 other sports. The winner will be determined in June by separate balloting from all NCAA member schools. The Herman Trophy winner is decided by a vote of the National Soccer Coaches Association.

In addition to protecting the goal and helping the team lead the nation in fewest goals per game in 2003 with 0.40, Reddick contributed six goals and five assists.

She returned to the team in mid-season after starting as a defender for the U.S. World Cup team. She is a three-time consensus first-team All-America selection and three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice.