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College honors: Six state players first-team Academic All-Americans

11/28/2014, 5:45pm CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
Capital One Academic All-America logo

A dozen players with Wisconsin ties earned spots on Capital One Academic All-America men's and women's soccer teams, including six players who were named to the first teams in their respective divisions.

Marquette senior goalkeeper Charlie Lyon was a first-team NCAA Division I honoree for the second straight year, matching Scott Ziemba (1995 and '96) as the only players in program history to make the first team more than once.

Lyon set a team record with eight consecutive shutouts, not yielding a goal for 804 minutes, 58 seconds from from Sept. 5 to Oct. 11, and finished his career as the program leader in clean sheets (29), goals-against average (0.83) and save percentage (0.811). The Illinois native also has a 3.887 grade-point average in biomedical sciences and is set to graduate in December.

Also on the men's Division I first team was Notre Dame's Patrick Hodan (Milwaukee Marquette). The junior midfielder is just the second Fighting Irish player to earn Academic All-American honors twice, joining Harrison Shipp (2012 and '13).

Hodan was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and leads Notre Dame with nine goals heading into Sunday's NCAA third-round match against Virginia. The business major has a 3.932 GPA, and has appeared on the dean's list in each of his first four semesters at Notre Dame.

Northern Illinois' Dusty Page (Germantown/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) was a second-team selection – the senior defender has a 4.0 GPA in finance and had one goal and one assist this fall as he played a team-best 1,518 minutes.

Senior midfielder Laurie Bell became only the second UW-Milwaukee soccer player named an Academic All-American more than once, as he made the third team. Bell, a native of England who was a first-team choice last fall, has a 3.76 GPA in English/journalism and had three goals and three assists for the Panthers this season. Antou Jallow (2003 and '04) is the only other two-time Academic All-American for UWM soccer.

Milwaukee School of Engineering junior midfielder Logan Andryk (Milwaukee Marquette) made the men's Division III first team – the honors in all divisions were voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.

A Hartland native, Andryk scored 10 goals and had a school-record 25 assists – that total leads the nation – in 22 matches. He was named the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight year as the Raiders posted a program-record 17 victories and earned their first NCAA tournament berth, and carries a 3.78 GPA as a biomolecular engineering major.

St. Norbert's Thomas Gritton (Neenah) was named to the Division III team. The senior defender, who had a 3.92 GPA in economics/mathematics, had one goal and one assist in 13 appearances for the Green Knights. He's the sixth Academic All-American in program history, and the first since 2008.

In the men's College Division, which includes NAIA programs, Canadian teams and two-year schools, Jamestown (N.D.) senior midfielder Jack Keeling was a first-team selection for the second straight year. Keeling, an Englishman who played for the Madison 56ers in the National Premier Soccer League for the past three seasons, has a 3.88 GPA in physical education/teacher education and had six goals and four assists this year.

Four state players earned spots on the women's Division III teams, led by UW-Whitewater senior defender Kelsey Beld (Madison Memorial).

Beld, who had a goal and two assists and helped anchor a backline that posted 12 shutouts in 22 matches, has a 4.00 GPA as an accounting major and moved up to the first team after being a third-team pick on last fall's Academic All-American teams.

Edgewood College senior Jenna Mineau (Green Bay Notre Dame), who carries a a 3.85 GPA in biology, was a second-team choice after leading the Eagles with 11 goals despite being a defender. She finished her career 15th in program history with 25 goals, including a perfect 10-for-10 performance on penalty kicks.

Also on the second team was Lake Forest (Ill.) junior Michelle Greeneway (Sheboygan North), the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

The forward scored a program-record 33 goals – that total currently ranks fourth in the nation – and added 13 assists for the Foresters, who won their first 21 games before falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Greeneway, who has a 3.46 GPA in finance, is second in the country with 11 game-winning goals.

Beld's teammate, midfielder Jenna Woodson (Menomonee Falls), was a third-team selection. The junior has a 3.83 GPA in international business and had three goals and a team-high eight assists as Whitewater won its fifth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

Senior defender Karley Mecko became the first UW-Parkside soccer player named a first-team All-American, making the women's Division II top squad.

Mecko, an applied health science major with a 3.73 GPA, was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Defender of the Year as the Rangers posted a program-record 16 shutouts and allowed just six goals in 22 matches. She also finished second on the team with eight goals and added two assists.

  • Four state schools were among the 195 nationwide to have both their men's and women's soccer teams earn the National Soccer Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2013-14 school year. The men's and women's teams from Edgewood College, Lawrence, Marquette and UW-Milwaukee all had team grade-point averages of 3.0 or better to claim the award. In all, a dozen Wisconsin teams were among the 861 collegiate sides (582 women, 279 men) honored. The Michigan Tech women's program, which has 13 state natives on its 23-player roster and is coached by Michelle Jacob (Neenah/UW-Stevens Point) and Neenah's Chuck Coan, also earned the award with a 3.28 team GPA.

MEN

School Coach GPA
UW-Milwaukee Kris Kelderman 3.23
Marquette Louis Bennett 3.18
Lawrence Blake Johnson 3.17
Edgewood College Tim Alexander 3.08

WOMEN

School Coach GPA
Milwaukee School of Engineering Rolf Zersen 3.55
UW-La Crosse Jason Murphy 3.54
UW-Milwaukee Greg Henschel 3.50
Edgewood College Tim Alexander 3.48
UW-Eau Claire Sean Yengo 3.45
Marquette Markus Roeders 3.34
Lawrence Lisa Sammons 3.33
UW-Whitewater Ryan Quamme 3.18

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