Lewison Earns SCIAC Newcomer of the Year; Helfrich, Fogg, Zitar Earn All-SCIAC

CLAREMONT, Calif. - First-year forward Cate Lewison earned the SCIAC Women's Soccer Newcomer of the Year honor in a vote of the league's coaches, and was joined on the All-SCIAC teams by Kaitlyn Helfrich, Emma Fogg and Riley Zitar, the league office announced today.

Helfrich, who won the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year Award last year, earned a spot on the All-SCIAC first team for the second year in a row, and was joined by center back Emma Fogg. Lewison and Zitar both earned second-team All-SCIAC distinction in their rookie seasons. 

Lewison finished the year with two goals and two assists and was a big part of the CMS attack all season long, using her speed up the sidelines to force opposing defenses to account for her at all times. She scored the game's only goal in wins over La Verne and UC Santa Cruz, and had assists against Chicago and Carleton. One of her biggest plays of the year didn't show up on the stat sheet, as she hustled to win the ball from two Cal Lutheran defenders and the goalie, and the Athenas were able to score a subsequent goal (from Nithya Yeluri) into the empty net in a 1-1 tie with the Regals. 

Helfrich followed up her Newcomer of the Year season with five goals and two assists this fall. She twice had two-goal games, picking up a brace in a non-conference game against Carleton, and the scoring twice in a 3-3 tie with Whittier than clinched a SCIAC Tournament bid for the Athenas. Her second goal of the game tied the score 3-3 with just over four minutes left in regulation, which earned CMS its first SCIAC Tournament appearance since 2016. 

That game-tying goal from Helfrich came off a pass from Emma Fogg, who assisted on both of her goals in the Whittier game, and joined her on the All-SCIAC first team. Fogg was a mainstay of a CMS defense that produced 10 shutouts during the regular season, including two against nationally ranked teams (a 1-0 win over No. 6 MIT and a 0-0 tie with Pomona-Pitzer). She was twice named the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Week, once after her two-assist game against Whittier, and once after a 2-0-1 week with three shutouts. 

Zitar, like Lewison, had a big impact on the CMS attack in her first season, frequently making long runs out of the defensive midfield to create chances. She had two goals and an assist on the year, with one of the goals providing the margin of victory in a 1-0 win over Occidental in the season finale. She also had an assist on a Helfrich goal against Whittier, when her 30-yard shot hit off the post and Helfrich was able to put in the rebound. 

CMS begins its postseason play this evening, when it takes on Cal Lutheran for a 7 p.m. contest. Admission is $10 at the door for SCIAC events ($8 in advance on TicketLeap), with free admission for anyone with SCIAC ID.