The Monmouth University women’s soccer team was named United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award winner for the 23rd consecutive season on Thursday, September 24 while the men’s team earned the award as well. This makes Monmouth one of 183 schools in the country to earn the award in both programs.
“We are so proud of the continued commitment our team puts toward their academic performance,” said head coach Dr. Krissy Turner. “This recognition is a credit to the players and our academic support staff who help them reach their potential as student-athletes.”
All of the teams for both men’s and women’s who totaled a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher were granted the award for the 2019-2020 school year. This resulted in a total of 903 collegiate award winners across the country with 562 going to women’s teams and 341 to men’s.
The four-consecutive reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Lady Hawks combined for a phenomenal 3.72 overall GPA last season. Even better than that was their record-breaking spring semester which saw a 3.82 GPA in their off-season, the highest mark in program history.
“As cliché as it sounds, Monmouth women’s soccer prides itself on being student-athletes and not just athletes,” said senior defender Sarina Jones who has been a part of three-straight conference titles and national academic awards. “We take our work in the classroom seriously and are honored to receive this award every year. Our program has a long history of academic success and we are glad to continue that tradition.”
Despite not quite mimicking the same women’s success on the field, the Monmouth men’s soccer team has remained just as successful in the classroom being honored with the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award as well.
“I am really proud of the team for achieving this prestigious award,” said head coach Robert McCourt. “This year has been a difficult time for everyone in the world. It is great to see the team get recognized for digging in and achieving such tremendous success in the classroom.”
This makes it an impressive ten of the last 12 years that the men’s soccer team has brought this prestigious award back to Monmouth campus. Of the 341 men’s teams to win the award in the 2019-2020 season few have done it for as long as the Hawks.
Junior goalkeeper Sean Murray has been a part of several of these academically successful teams already and has led them on the field as well as the team’s starting goalie.
“It’s important to get all the details right both on and off the field and our academics is the most important component,” said Murray. “It’s something our staff stresses from day one and something we talk about often as a team. We’re humbled to be recognized yet again among other programs nationally for our academic success.”
PHOTOS COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
Both of these programs will continue to dominate the classrooms as they wait for their chance to get back to dominating on the field. With MAAC play suspended until further notice, the Monmouth soccer teams will continue to prepare for whenever that return to play date may be.
