Five Terriers Earn America East All-Academic Team Honors
November 2, 2011 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 2, 2011
BOSTON - Five members of the 2011 America East regular season champion Boston University women's soccer team have been recognized for their efforts off the field by being named to the league's All-Academic Team, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon.
Seniors Jessica Luscinski and Lina Cords earn their second academic award, while senior Katherine Donnelly, senior Tiya Gallegos and junior Jessica Morrow are first-time recipients.
Named 2011 AE Striker of the Year, Luscinski leads the league in points per game (1.44) and is majoring in health sciences. Focusing on biochemistry and molecular biology, Cords was tabbed the league's Defender of the Year and has anchored a backline that has shut out 12 opponents this season.
An America East First Team All-Conference honoree, Donnelly (advertising) has also played a key role in the backline, helping the Terriers record a 0.54 goals against average through 20 games. Named to the Second Team, Gallegos (speech language pathology) has 15 points this season on six goals and three assists.
Morrow (business administration & management) has 14 starts this year in the midfield on a team that has outscored opponents, 37-4, during the current 12-game win streak.
Boasting a school-record 17 wins, the No. 13 Terriers (17-2-1) will host Albany on Saturday (Nov. 5) at 1 p.m. with the America East title and an automatic NCAA berth on the line.
The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Directors meeting where faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference's nine member institutions decided to honor the league's top student-athletes, who excel equally in the classroom as they do on the playing field.
For the fourth straight year, America East will select the All-Academic teams using CoSIDA's Academic All-America program as a model. Student-athletes worthy of consideration are nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by a committee of SIDs, academic advisors and faculty representatives from all nine member institutions.
All-Academic squads for team sports are based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., 11 on the field for soccer) but can be more if there is a tie in voting. To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team's games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. Freshmen are not eligible for consideration.
