Pictured: Kerry Kartsonis, winner of the Seamus Malin '62 Award.
Photo courtesy: David Silverman Photography

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard women's soccer team held its annual awards banquet Sunday, honoring the successful 2009 season that saw the Crimson win its second straight Ivy League title and advance to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. The Crimson finished 9-7-1 overall and was 6-1 in the Ivy League.

With the team, coaches and members of the administration in attendance, head coach Ray Leone announced the recipients of the Crimson's two major awards.

The first award presented was the Leslie Gray Poole '93 Memorial Award, presented annually to the most improved player on the Harvard women's soccer team. The award was given to junior forward/midfielder Kerry Kartsonis, who started 15 of the 17 games she appeared in last fall. Kartsonis, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., assisted on two goals, including the game winner against Dartmouth Oct. 31, helping Harvard win the Ivy League title.

Next, Leone handed out the Seamus Malin '62 Award, given annually to the player who has, through love of the game and commitment to Harvard, demonstrated the values shown by Seamus Malin '62 in his long and continuing association with Harvard and the game. Senior defender Lizzy Nichols, a co-captain of the Crimson from Princeton, N.J. earned the award. Nichols, a finalist for the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup and Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, earned her fourth straight nod to the All-Ivy League team in 2009. She also garnered a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team and was honored on the Academic All-Ivy League squad for the third straight year. Nichols started all 16 games she appeared in, scoring two goals, including one on a penalty kick, in a win against Penn Sept. 26.