3 CyberRays to retire at season's end

July 31, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release


SAN JOSE (July 31, 2003) – Three years ago they were starters in the first game the San Jose CyberRays ever played. Whenever the CyberRays' current season ends, so will their playing careers in soccer.

Midfielder Tisha Venturini-Hoch, a founding player of the WUSA, midfielder Ann Cook and defender Kelly Lindsey will be honored in post-game ceremonies Sunday, Aug. 10 following the CyberRays final regular-season game against the Boston Breakers in Spartan Stadium.

For her unique contributions to sports as a founding player – she was one of the 20 members of the 1999 World Cup champion U.S. Women's National Team who helped establish the WUSA – as well as her unparalleled playing career, Venturini-Hoch's No.15 jersey also will be retired following the conclusion of the current season.

Tish, 30, a Modesto native, first joined the national team in 1992 when she was still an all-American at North Carolina, where she played on four NCAA championship teams. Her national teams won the '99 World Cup and 1996 Olympic gold medal, and in her first professional season the CyberRays won the inaugural Founders Cup, making her the first player to win championships at all four levels.

She may, in fact, be among the winningest team athletes ever. Grace Davis High in Modesto was 54-0-2 with Tish on the field. North Carolina was 97-1-1 with Tish. The U.S. Women's National Team was 113-13-6 with Tish. The CyberRays currently are 26-22-12 and counting with Tish.

She scored for the CyberRays in the 86th minute of the inaugural WUSA Championship Game to tie the Atlanta Beat 3-3 and send the game to overtime, which the CyberRays won 4-2 on penalty kicks. She made the first PK. She played most of the 2001 season with a cast on her broken left wrist, which she suffered in a 1-0 loss to the Washington Freedom in the WUSA Inaugural Game.

Last season Tish was voted by her CyberRays teammates as Most Valuable Player and winner of the Heart of a Champion Award. She was second on the team in goals (6) and points (15).

Cook, 28, from Springfield, Mo., was traded to the Washington Freedom in 2002 but returned to the CyberRays this season as a free agent. She plans to enter graduate school in public policy. Each team Cook has played for has advanced to the Founders Cup.

Lindsey, 23, from Omaha, Neb., was the CyberRays' first pick in the 2001 college draft and was named to the All-WUSA Second Team as a rookie. She will become an assistant soccer coach at Colorado University. Lindsey's only career WUSA point came in Founders Cup I when she assisted on the Brandi Chastain goal that gave the CyberRays an early 1-0 lead.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from July 31, 2003


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