Horizon League champions in the classroom with ten NSCAA Team Academic Award recipients

Dec. 4, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Mission, Kan. -- An already-historic season was made even more noteworthy Tuesday (Dec. 4), as ten Horizon League soccer teams were recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) for outstanding achievements in the classroom.

Seven of the League's nine women's teams were named as recipients of the NSCAA's Team
Academic Award. Three schools---Loyola University Chicago, Valparaiso University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee---also had their men's teams cited, joining a select group of 25 other Division I programs to receive dual honors. In all, 70 institutions at the Division II, Division III and NAIA levels gained dual distinction from the NSCAA, with the awards honoring achievements during the 2006 season and the 2006-07 academic calendar.

A total of 112 men's collegiate teams and 295 women's teams garnered recognition through the program, maintaining composite grade-point averages of 3.00 or higher for the academic year, with all players on the roster figuring into the final tabulations. Because the spring semester is included, teams receive the award at the following year's convention, with the latest accolades to be presented at the College Coaches Luncheon during the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore in January.

Loyola's women's team posted a 3.39 grade-point average during the 2006-07 school year while also winning the Horizon League championship in both 2006 and 2007 under coach Frank Mateus. The Rambler men's team, League champions in 2006 and regular-season titlists in 2007 for coach Brendan Eitz, compiled a 3.15 GPA during the same period. The Milwaukee women's team----League regular-season kingpins for the last eight years under Michael Moynihan's leadership---maintained a 3.38 clip in the classroom, while the Panther men's squad compiled a 3.05 mark for sideline boss Jon Coleman.

Horizon League newcomer Valparaiso helped make the circuit one of only three conferences to boast three current institutions with both the men and the women honored. Women's coach Stephen Anthony's crew compiled a 3.31 grade-point average, while Mike Avery's men's team finished with a 3.04 mark.

The Ivy League and Missouri Valley Conference also had three such schools.

Four other Horizon League institutions saw their women's programs receive recognition from the coaches' group. Butler University led the way with a 3.40 GPA for coach Tari St. John, just ahead of Loyola and Milwaukee. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay posted a 3.30 mark for director Quinn Ross, while Youngstown State University boss Anthony James (3.09) and Cleveland State University coach Derrek Falor (3.08) also led teams with marks above the requisite 3.00 standard.

A complete list of all the winners can be found on the NSCAA web site at www.nscaa.com.

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Schools with both men's & women's soccer programs receiving the NSCAA Team Academic Award (with Divisions)

Adelphi University (I M / II W)
Anderson University (III)
Baldwin-Wallace College (III)
Bellarmine College (II)
Benedictine College (III)
Berry College (NAIA)
Binghamton University (I)
Bucknell University (I)
University of California-Santa Cruz (III)
Campbell University (I)
Carleton College (III)
Case Western Reserve University (III)
University of Chicago (III)
Clemson University (I)
Coe College (III)
Cornell University (I)
Dana College (NAIA)
Dartmouth College (I)
Drake University (I)
Duke University (I)
Duquesne University (I)
Eastern Illinois University (I)
Eastern Mew Mexico University (II)
Emerson College (III)
University of Evansville (I)
Furman University (I)
Grinnell College (III)
Haverford College (III)
Houghton College (NAIA)
Huntingdon College (III)
University of Indianapolis (II)
Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ.-Indianapolis (I)
La Salle University (I)
Lawrence University (III)
Lesley University (III)
Lincoln Memorial University (II)
Loyola University Chicago (I)
Luther College (III)
Lynn University (II)
Macalester College (III)
Manhattanville College (III)
Marshall University (I)
Maryville College (III)
Maryville University of St. Louis (III)
University of Memphis (I)
Mercer University (I)
Montana State University-Billings (II)
University of New Hampshire (I)
University of New Mexico (I)
Northwestern University (I)
University of Notre Dame (I)
University of the Ozarks (III)
University of Pennsylvania (I)
Penn State University (I)
Regis University (III)
Rhodes College (III)
Rider University (I)
University of Rochester (III)
Rockhurst University (II)
University of Saint Francis (NAIA)
State Univ. of New-York-Geneseo (III)
Susquehanna University (III)
Tiffin University (NAIA)
U.S. Military Academy [Army] (I)
Upper Iowa University (II)
Valparaiso University (I)
Washington & Lee University (III)
Wilkes University (III)
William Jewell College (NAIA)
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (I)