Department of Intercollegiate Athletics Award Recipients
Robert L. and William P. McCahill Award
Charles J. Lyon, H Sci '14
St. Charles, Ill.
Charlie is living out his childhood dream: playing as a professional goalkeeper for Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders, a path he shaped while leading the Marquette men’s team to consecutive NCAA title appearances.
Charlie is in his second season with the Sounders and was the fourth player in Marquette program history to be selected in the MLS SuperDraft.
“Each day is very difficult, and it pushes me further than I thought I could go both physically and mentally,” he says.
A biomedical sciences major who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in December 2014, Charlie was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and three-time Big East All-Academic Team member. He finished his career with 29 shutouts, the most in program history, and was Marquette's all-time career leader in goals against average (0.83) and save percentage (.811).
Charlie says, long term, he plans to attend medical school or work in the health care field, with the end goal of helping people achieve great health.
“My Marquette experience had a significant impact on my worldview and desire to help others,” he says. “I saw a strong commitment to serving others, and that is something that I want to always incorporate in to my life.”
Recently, Charlie incorporated veganism into his life, something about which he’s extremely proud.
“It is not very common for a professional athlete to be a vegan, but I am trying to help prove that a high-level athlete can be completely plant-based,” he says.
Fun Facts
Your hometown: St. Charles, Ill.
Your favorite book or favorite quote: Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
Someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner. There are many great scientists that I would like to share dinner with. I would be very torn between Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. I would hope to understand the nature of reality more by spending time with them.
