Lisa Joan Pittaro (; born May 22, 1965) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, making twelve appearances for the United States women's national team.

Career

Raised in

Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Hamilton Township is a Township (New Jersey), township and the most populous municipality in Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the largest suburb of Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton, the state's capi ...

, Gmitter-Pittaro played for the Steinert Spartans in high school, where she was a three-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n and set the school career record with 177 goals. She also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

while at Steinert. In college, she played for the

George Mason Patriots The George Mason Patriots are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing George Mason University (GMU), located in Fairfax, Virginia. The Patriots compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of th ...

from 1983 to 1986, helping the team to win the 1985 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. In total, she scored 64 goals and recorded 18 assists in 84 appearances for the Patriots. Her career goal tally ranks second in school history, while her career points (goals and assists) of 146 ranks third. She was an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-American in all four seasons, being included in the first team in 1983, 1985, and 1986, and the third team in 1984. She was also an NSCAA First-Team All-Region in all four seasons, and was ''Soccer America'' Player of the Year in 1985. She was included in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-Tournament Team in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, where she was chosen as the offensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

, the championship-winning 1985 tournament, and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. Gmitter-Pittaro made her international debut for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on July 7, 1986 in the 1986 North American Cup friendly tournament against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In total, she made twelve appearances for the U.S. and scored three goals, earning her final cap on December 20, 1987 in a friendly match against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

. In 1990, she also appeared for the United States B team in the North American Cup, scoring one goal in a 2–3 loss against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She played club soccer for the

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women's soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League (1995–2015), W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and C ...

and Maryland Pride. However, her career was sidelined due to injury. Gmitter-Pittaro later coached youth soccer, including the boys'

junior varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

Steinert High School Steinert High School (also formally known as Hamilton High School East) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of three secondary high schools that are part of the Hamilton Towns ...

. She was inducted into Steinert's Hall of Fame in 2006, and is a member of the Mercer County Athletic Hall of Fame and Mercer County Soccer Hall of Fame. She was also included in the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer 25th Anniversary Team in 2006.

Personal life

Gmitter-Pittaro has worked as a teacher in the Hamilton Township School District, and is married to former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player Chris Pittaro. She has two children with Chris, as well as a stepdaughter. Her daughter Giana played soccer for the

Yale Bulldogs The Yale Bulldogs are the college sports teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA national championships ...

, while her son C.J. is a college baseball player at Penn State.

Career statistics

International

International goals

Honors

United States * 1986 North American Cup

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gmitter-Pittaro, Lisa 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Soccer players from Mercer County, New Jersey American women's soccer players American women's soccer coaches United States women's international soccer players Women's association football forwards Steinert High School alumni George Mason Patriots women's soccer players New Jersey Wildcats players 20th-century American sportswomen