Horizon League schools receive eight NSCAA Team Academic Awards

Dec. 14, 2005

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

INDIANAPOLIS -- Loyola University Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee took a place among the nation's elite soccer programs in one respect Wednesday (Dec. 14) when the National Soccer Coaches Association of America presented its annual Team Academic Awards.

The Horizon League representatives are two of only 13 NCAA Division I schools to have both their men's and women's teams receive the award from the coaches' association. An additional 32 insititutions at the Division II, Division III and NAIA levels also gained dual distinction from the NSCAA, with the awards honoring achievements during the 2004 season and the 2004-05 academic calendar.

A total of 65 men's teams and 246 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 awards presented at the College Coaches Luncheon during the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia in January.

Loyola's women's team posted a 3.47 GPA during the 2004-05 school year while the Rambler men's squad maintained a 3.09 pace during the same period. The UW-Milwaukee women's team registered a team GPA of 3.24 with the men's squad maintaining a 3.16 rate.

Four other Horizon League institutions also received recognition from the association, On the women's side, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay posted a 3.40 GPA to join Butler University (3.25) and Wright State University (3.19). The University of Detroit Mercy men's team came in wih a 3.10 team average to claim the final award for the League.

The eight programs honored represent a dramatic increase from last year when the UW-Green Bay and Wright State women's teams were the League's only representatives.

With Loyola and UW-Milwaukee, the Horizon League was one of five conferences to boast two institutions garnering dual accolades. The Big East Conference (DePaul University and the University of Notre Dame) also claimed a pair of doubly-honored schools, as did the Missouri Valley Conference (Drake University and Missouri State University), Northeast Conference (Fairleigh Dickinson University and Long Island University) plus the Patriot League (Bucknell University and Lafayette College). Duquesne University, Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania were the only other Division I schools with both teams recognized.

NCAA Division I women's champion University of Portland also garnered academic distinction from the coaches' association, along with Division I men's runner-up University of New Mexico. A complete list of all the winners can be found on the NSCAA web site at www.nscaa.com.

Schools with both men's and women's soccer programs receiving the NSCAA Team Academic Award (with Divisions)
Adelphi University (II)
Anderson University (III)
Berry College (NAIA)
Bucknell University (I)
Carleton College (III)
Case Western Reserve University (III)
Dana College (NAIA)
DePaul University (I)
Drake University (I)
Duquesne University (I)
Eastern New Mexico University (II)
Embry-Riddle University (NAIA)
Emerson College (III)
Emory University (III)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (I)
Grinnell Gollege (III)
Hiram College (III)
Indiana Institute of Technology (NAIA)
Johns Hopkins University (III)
Juniata College (III)
Lafayette College (I)
Lawrence University (III)
Long Island University (I)
Loyola University Chicago (I)
Lynn University (II)
Maryville University (III)
Mass. Inst. of Technology (III)
Metropolitan State College (II)
University of Missouri-Rolla (II)
Missouri State University (I)
Mount Union College (III)
Northwestern University (I)
University of Notre Dame (I)
Oberlin College (III)
Pomona-Pitzer College (III)
University of Pennsylvania (I)
Quincy University (II)
Rhodes College (III)
St. Edward's University (II)
St. Lawrence University (III)
Susquehanna University (III)
Tiffin University (NAIA)
Valparaiso University (I)
Washington & Lee University (III)
Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (I)

Horizon League soccer programs receiving the NSCAA Team Academic Award

Men's teams -- Coach -- GPA
Detroit -- Morris Lupenec -- 3.10
Loyola -- Brendan Eitz -- 3.09
UW-Milwaukee -- Louis Bennett -- 3.16
Women's teams -- Coach -- GPA
Butler -- Woody Sherwood -- 3.25
Loyola -- Frank Mateus -- 3.47
UW-Green Bay -- Quinn Ross -- 3.40
UW-Milwaukee -- Michael Moynihan -- 3.24
Wright State -- Pat Ferguson -- 3.19