Contact: Ashleigh Jones, Sports Information Graduate Assistant 

Oct. 5, 2017- The North Central College men's soccer team of the 2016-2017 academic year was one of two College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) programs named as Team Academic Award winners on Thursday, announced by the United Soccer Coaches (formerly the NSCAA). 

Under the leadership of head coach Matt Klosterman, the Cardinals achieved a 3.03 team GPA. 

The 2016-2017 academic year honored a total of 813 collegiate teams (282 men, 531 women) with the distinction of the Team Academic Award, including 195 schools who had both their men's and women's programs among the recipients. 

The other CCIW recipient was Wheaton College, who achieved a 3.16 team GPA. 

Celebrating academic achievements of high school and college soccer teams is an annual recognition that the United Soccer Coaches take time to encourage student athletes to collectively demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their studies over the course of a full school year. 

In order to become a College Team Academic Award recipient, teams must be active members of the United Soccer Coaches College Services Program with a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster. 

North Central men's soccer travels Saturday, October 7, to Decatur, Ill. to face Millikin University at 2:30 PM, in hopes to improve its CCIW record to three wins. Live stats can be found HERE.