FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Norwich Athletics Communications
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior defender Mary-Kait Mace (Canton, N.Y.) of the Norwich University women's soccer team was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team on Tuesday afternoon.
Mace became the 16th student-athlete in school history to earn the prestigious honor of Academic All-American and the 13th in the last nine years. The CoSIDA Academic All-American program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
Mace was the lone representative from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) on this year's women's or men's soccer Academic All-American teams.
Mace is just the fourth female student-athlete in Norwich history to earn the honor and the second women's soccer player after Portia Babcock was the first in 1987. Mace is the second female Academic All-American for Norwich in the last six months after Emily Oliver '19 earned the honor in June for softball.
Mace is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and was the first member of the women's soccer team to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors since 2012 when Courtney Parisot was selected to the team two years in a row.
Mace carries a 4.0 GPA and is a University and Presidential Scholar. The athletic training major had the highest GPA in her class as a freshman and sophomore, while also being a two-sport NCAA varsity athlete on the women's soccer and lacrosse teams.
"I have always believed in the quote 'how you do anything is how you do everything,' so I have always strived to put in equal dedication and time into both academics and athletics," Mace said. "Through my four years here I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by exceptionally supportive teammates, coaches, and professors that have always motivated me to do my best. It is a privilege to be selected for this award."
Mace is a two-sport, two-year captain on the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams, while also serving as the women's club hockey team captain. She is an athletic community service liaison, as well as a civilian academic mentor. Mace serves as the Sports Medicine Society Treasurer and has been named to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team five times in her career (women's soccer, three; women's lacrosse, two). She also volunteers for the St. Lawrence County Cancer Fund back home in New York.
"MK (Mace) emulates the full definition of being a student-athlete," said Norwich University women's soccer coach Heather Faasse. "As a captain, she has challenged her teammates to achieve greatness in every aspect of their lives. She leads by example and provides support for those around her. MK will have a lasting impression on our program and what it truly means to be a Norwich women's soccer student-athlete."
Mace is a six-time Dean's List honoree and was named to the GNAC All-Academic team the last two years.
This year on the soccer field, Mace was one of five players to play and start in all 18 games. In three seasons on the soccer team, Mace played in 48 games and started 45 of them. She scored her first collegiate goal this season in a 3-1 win over Colby-Sawyer. Mace scored a goal and had two assists for four points in her career, while playing a vital factor in the team's defense and their emergence the last two seasons as a legitimate league playoff contender again. Norwich won 13 total games the last two seasons after needing the previous five seasons to reach 13 total wins.