California State University Northridge Athletics
Photo by: Matt Monroe
Kutscher, Rizeq Honored as Big West Scholar Athletes of the Year
3/14/2019 6:42:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Seniors Lindsay Kutscher and Andrew Rizeq were honored Thursday as CSUN's Big West Scholar-Athletes of the Year at the conference's annual banquet at the Anaheim Marriott Suites Hotel.
The Matador duo, both soccer players, joined 16 fellow recipients from the eight other conference institutions (Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i) in being recognized by the Big West Conference for having shown outstanding academic performance and great on-the-field competition during the 2018 winter, spring and fall seasons.
An All-Big West Conference selection, Kutscher completed her soccer career at CSUN this past fall. She finished seventh all-time in CSUN history in matches played for the Matadors, after beginning her career as a walk-on. A biology major, Kutscher has earned Dean's List honors eight times and is currently volunteering at USC Keck Medical Center in the Anasthesia Tech Unit while also conducting research with the CSUN FAR on Health Disparities. She has twice attended the American Association for Cancer Research and she has presented on the topic of breast cancer at the American Society for Cell Biology Conference and twice at the Annual Student Research and Creative Works Symposium. After graduation, Lindsay plans to attend medical school to become a doctor.
"Lindsay is an unbelievable person, a tremendous student, an incredible teammate in addition to being a valuable leader on our team," said West. "She came here as a walk-on student-athlete and basically took over our team from the very start. I usually don't travel redshirt freshmen and Lindsay traveled with us the entire year. I think that was the reason her older sister Kourtney had such a great season. Kourtney became an all-conference player and I think Lindsay played a huge part in that."
Rizeq finished up his career with the CSUN soccer program this past fall, earning first team All-Big West Conference honors. He previously was named to the All-Big West Conference Freshman Team and took home second team all-conference after his junior season. He was named team captain after his sophomore year and has been involved in numerous volunteer opportunities with the Matadors. Rizeq is currently working with patients with disabilities at the CSUN Brown Center. A Kinesiology major, Andrew has earned Dean's List honors four times and will graduate next year and hopes to attend graduate school to become a Physician's Assistant.
"Andrew is as good as it gets and is certainly among the most complete student-athletes we've ever had in our program," said Men's Soccer head coach Terry Davila. "He is such a high level person along the lines of Kevin Guppy, Joe Franco and Yossi Raz, just amazing people on and off the field. If I could have a whole bunch of guys like that every year, I would take it. Andrew is a role model human being and the type of guy you want representing the University. His core values are high academics, service and selflessness, he hits it out of the ballpark in every one those areas."
CSUN's All-Time Big West Scholar Athletes of the Year
#GoMatadors
The Matador duo, both soccer players, joined 16 fellow recipients from the eight other conference institutions (Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i) in being recognized by the Big West Conference for having shown outstanding academic performance and great on-the-field competition during the 2018 winter, spring and fall seasons.
An All-Big West Conference selection, Kutscher completed her soccer career at CSUN this past fall. She finished seventh all-time in CSUN history in matches played for the Matadors, after beginning her career as a walk-on. A biology major, Kutscher has earned Dean's List honors eight times and is currently volunteering at USC Keck Medical Center in the Anasthesia Tech Unit while also conducting research with the CSUN FAR on Health Disparities. She has twice attended the American Association for Cancer Research and she has presented on the topic of breast cancer at the American Society for Cell Biology Conference and twice at the Annual Student Research and Creative Works Symposium. After graduation, Lindsay plans to attend medical school to become a doctor.
"Lindsay is an unbelievable person, a tremendous student, an incredible teammate in addition to being a valuable leader on our team," said West. "She came here as a walk-on student-athlete and basically took over our team from the very start. I usually don't travel redshirt freshmen and Lindsay traveled with us the entire year. I think that was the reason her older sister Kourtney had such a great season. Kourtney became an all-conference player and I think Lindsay played a huge part in that."
Rizeq finished up his career with the CSUN soccer program this past fall, earning first team All-Big West Conference honors. He previously was named to the All-Big West Conference Freshman Team and took home second team all-conference after his junior season. He was named team captain after his sophomore year and has been involved in numerous volunteer opportunities with the Matadors. Rizeq is currently working with patients with disabilities at the CSUN Brown Center. A Kinesiology major, Andrew has earned Dean's List honors four times and will graduate next year and hopes to attend graduate school to become a Physician's Assistant.
"Andrew is as good as it gets and is certainly among the most complete student-athletes we've ever had in our program," said Men's Soccer head coach Terry Davila. "He is such a high level person along the lines of Kevin Guppy, Joe Franco and Yossi Raz, just amazing people on and off the field. If I could have a whole bunch of guys like that every year, I would take it. Andrew is a role model human being and the type of guy you want representing the University. His core values are high academics, service and selflessness, he hits it out of the ballpark in every one those areas."
CSUN's All-Time Big West Scholar Athletes of the Year
| 2002 | Laura Walter (WVB) | Eckhard Walter (MVB) |
| 2003 | Sandra Milchiker (SB) | Yossi Raz (MSOC) |
| 2004 | Comfort Agara (WTF) | Doug English (MVB) |
| 2005 | Jennifer Dishner (SB) | Jason Romero (MTF) |
| 2006 | Megan Ching (WBB) | Brian Waite (MVB) |
| 2007 | Megan Ching (WBB) | Terrell Jones (MBB) |
| 2008 | Suzanne Mischenko (WSOC) | Kevin Guppy (MSOC) |
| 2009 | Jaclyn Reimer (SB) | Ryan Pineda (BB) |
| 2010 | Kristin McLaughlin (WWP) | Moises Gomez (MSOC) |
| 2011 | Jilian Stapf (WWP) | Nick Delio (MGOLF) |
| 2012 | Jennider Sher (WTEN) | Joe Franco (MSOC) |
| 2013 | Casey Hinger (WVB) | Yarden Azulay (MSOC) |
| 2014 | Marisa Young (WWP) | Jordan Taylor (MTF) |
| 2015 | Maylynn Mitchell (SB) | Shane Steffes (MSOC) |
| 2016 | Nicole Thompson (WSOC) | Andre McBride (MTF) |
| 2017 | Monique Griffiths (WTF) | Felix Mory (MGOLF) |
| 2018 | Lindsay Kutscher (WSOC) | Andrew Rizeq (MSOC) |
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Players Mentioned
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