By Susanna Kappanadze
Staff Writer

Women’s soccer junior captain, Marissa Ruda, has made Marywood history. Last month, the center midfielder from Athens, PA became the first Marywood soccer player to be honored as a National Soccer Coaches Association of America College Scholar. Ruda was chosen as an All-East Region Honorable Mention selection to the academic team. Only one other women’s soccer player from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference was selected for this team.

As in every season spent playing for Marywood, Ruda led the Pacer’s offense this season. With the help from its junior captain, Marywood’s team achieved an overall record of 11-3-4 (6-1-3 PAC), marking its highest finish in program history and the 3-seed in the conference tournament.

The NSCAA award is not the first time Ruda has achieved a first for Marywood athletics. In 2006, she became the first Marywood soccer player to be named to D3kicks.com’s All-Mid Atlantic Region Team. Ruda was also the first player from Marywood to be named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District II College Division Soccer First-Team.

Ruda has been playing soccer for 15 years and has discovered a balance between sports and academics. A Communication Sciences and Disorders major, with a focus on Speech Pathology, she manages to keep a grade point average of 3.94 despite the demands of a busy soccer schedule. She plans to continue on to graduate school, after graduation in 2009, to pursue a career in Speech Pathology.