Oct. 25, 2005
George Mason profiles former student-athlete Lisa (Gmitter) Pittaro in the `Where are they now?' series commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1985 NCAA Championship women's soccer team.
The Trenton, N.J. native was a four-time All-American for the Patriots and is second all-time in goals. She led the Patriots in scoring all four years. As a junior on the 1985 squad, she led the Patriots with 14 goals and six assists during the season and scored the second goal off a Pam Baughman pass with four minutes to play against North Carolina in the Championship game.
She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament teams in 1983, 1985 and 1986, including Offensive MVP honors as a freshman in 1983. Her accolades also include Soccer America Player of the Year in 1985. Her Mason records upheld for many years, including 20 goals in a single season (currently 2nd) in 1999 and career game-winning goals with 19 withstood for 11 years until broken by one goal by Jenn Gross in 1997.
Currently, she resides in Robbinsville, N.J. with her husband and three children, stepdaughter Erica (16), Giana (5) and CJ (3). Husband Chris is the scouting director for the Oakland Athletics. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1982, and made his major league debut with the Tigers in 1985. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 1986 and spent parts of the '86 and '87 seasons on the Twins big league roster.
Lisa has been a pre-school teacher for the past two years and is currently pursuing a teaching position in heath and physical education. She, like many of her Mason teammates, can't get away from her passion of soccer and has been coaching on a variety of levels for the past 10 years. She is the Junior Varsity boys coach at her alma mater Steinert High School. She is also the head coach and trainer for a U10 girls team and a U17 girls team in Hamilton, N.J.
Pittaro accomplished so much during her four-year career and will be forever etched in the history books, but the highlight was the National Championship. "We had such great team chemistry and heart that no one could beat us that day," said Pittaro reliving her fondest memories at Mason. "I also will never forget our win against Cortland State my freshman year," added Pittaro. "We beat them in the snow to advance to the final four."
