Men's Soccer 12/7/2011 7:00:00 AM Atlantic 10 Conference

Six Men's Soccer Squads Earn Academic Honor

Dec. 7, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) announced its 2011 Team Academic Award winners this week, as Charlotte, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, Richmond and Xavier were among the 218 men’s soccer programs honored nationally for their academic achievements. To earn the award teams must have had a team GPA of 3.0 or higher during the 2010-11 academic year.

Additionally, Charlotte, Dayton, Fordham, Richmond and Xavier were among the 154 institutions to have both their men’s and women’s soccer programs recognized.

Fordham, which posted a team GPA of 3.26, captured a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title for the first time in school history this past season. The Rams accomplished this with a 7-2 mark in league play, earning the A-10 Championship as the number one overall seed. Overall, the Rams compiled an 11-7-1 record. During the year, the Rams faced three ranked opponents and defeated two of them, #23 Xavier and #10 Charlotte, marking the first time in a quarter-century that Fordham beat a pair of top-25 teams in the same season. These wins helped Fordham earn an RPI of 60 at the end the season.

Xavier, which notched a team GPA of 3.13, was just one of 21 NCAA Div. I teams to receive the award and qualify for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. They were also just one of 12 Div. I teams to go to the 2010 and 2011 NCAA Tournaments and receive the award. The Musketeers just finished its best season in program history, which included their second straight Atlantic 10 Championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament. XU finished the season with a 12-5-4 record and set single-season school records for goals allowed (19) and goals against average (0.85).

Richmond men registered a 3.21 team grade-point average. After a slow start to the season, the Spiders (5-12-1, 4-5-0 A-10) bounced back down the stretch to finish with four wins in conference play, including three straight to end the year. In his first year as a Spider, freshman Timmy Albright turned in a team-best 12 points on five goals and a pair of assists en route to earning Atlantic 10 All-Rookie accolades.

Nationally-ranked Charlotte recorded a 3.20 team GPA, and recently advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the second time in school history and first time since 1996. This marks Charlotte's seventh NCAA Tournament berth in school history and second under the guidance of head coach Jeremy Gunn. The 49ers will face the two-seeded Creighton Bluejays (21-2-0) in the semifinals this Friday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m. EST in Hoover, Alabama. The winner advances to the NCAA Championship, to be played on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Dayton registered a 3.15 team GPA, while concluding the 2011 campaign with a 5-13-1 overall mark and 4-4-1 record in the A-10. Three Flyers were honored by the Atlantic 10 for their achievements on and off the field this season, including Academic All-Conference selection senior Michael Deyhle.

Duquesne, which also posted a 3.15 team GPA, finished the 2011 season with a 7-9-2 overall record and a 4-4-1 slate in Atlantic 10 play. Four players received a total of seven Atlantic 10 post-season awards as voted on by the league's coaches and sports information directors. Junior forward Joshua Patterson was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year.