Meier, Mongillo named to men's soccer Academic All-America teams

Nov. 21, 2006

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Indianapolis, Ind. -- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee senior Billy Meier and Butler University senior Paul Mongillo received Second-Team Academic All-America recognition from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) earlier this week, putting them among 33 players to be recognized by the organization. The awards are sponsored by ESPN the Magazine.

Meier was the League's Defensive Player of the Year, anchoring a Panther unit which posted six shutouts and a 1.07 goals-against average on the way to a 8-9-1 record. UW-Milwaukee tied for third place in the loop standings with a 4-2-1 League ledger, aided by Meier's efforts which garnered First-Team All-League recognition in 2006. He also tied for second place on the team charts with three goals (two match-winners) and added two assists for eight points.

Meier earned Scholar All-Region accolades from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) last fall after helping the Panthers to a fourth consecutive League Championship. The NSCAA hands out this year's awards next month.

Mongillo played in all 19 games this season for the Bulldogs, making key contributions to a defensive effort which posted four shutouts. Butler also allowed only one goal in each of six other contests this season, compiling a 1.46 goals-against average on the way to a 7-10-2 final ledger. Mongillo's defensive work limited scoring opportunities, but he set up one of two BU strikes versus Xavier on Sept. 13.

In the classroom, Meier carries a 3.795 grade-point average while pursuing his master's degree in business. Mongillo owns a near-perfect 3.946 GPA as a finance major.

Southern Methodist University goalkeeper Matt Wideman received Academic All-America of the Year honors after leading SMU to the top spot in the national rankings for several weeks during the regular season. Gonzaga University's George Josten, the University of Alabama-Birmingham's Lukasz Kwapisz and Eugene Brooks from Cal State University-Fullerton comprised the forward line, with St. John's University's Jeff Stepan, Dartmouth College's Nick Christman and Tyler Hemming of Hartwick College in the midfield. The defense included Stephen Hall from the University at Albany, along with Matt Haney of the University of Delaware, Greg Cass from Columbia University and Devin Sheppard from Campbell University.

Note: The CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America teams can be found in the PDF version of this release.