Over the next few weeks, GoColumbiaLions.com will take a look at the teams, student-athletes, coaches and staff members set to be inducted in the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame this October. Our next installment features the first Lion wrestler to earn All-America honors.
Sophie Reiser '10CC
You know you are exceptionally talented when ESPN.com recommends you as a player to watch out for. But far away from the pomposity, lie personalities like Sophie Reiser, busy, preoccupied carving out a legacy only a few student-athletes can match.
Sophie started 13 of Columbia's 18 games as a freshman, before going on to feature in every single match in her final three seasons. She has been an all-Ivy first team selection since her sophomore year and received Ivy League Player of the Year honors in 2008. Her individual talent coupled with an openhanded game-play saw her climb to seventh in the nation in assists per game (0.65) and 10th in points per game (2.06). Reiser also holds a unique distinction of being the first Columbia women's soccer player to be named All-American by Soccer Buzz.
Sophie is among very few women's soccer players who has realized her passion into a feasible career. In 2010, the former Columbia Lions midfielder became the first women's soccer player in the school's history to be drafted by a professional soccer franchise when she was picked up by the Chicago Red Stars in the fifth round of draft picks.
Her senior year saw her play a crucial role as captain, helping the Lions finish .500 or better in the Ivy League for the third time running, making it the longest streak in the program's history. She called the curtains on her illustrious Columbia student-athlete career ranked second in assists, fourth in points and eighth in goals.
Her versatility was not restricted just to the soccer field. She graduated from Columbia University with a G.P.A of 3.67, earning a double-major in Political Science and Visual Arts.
