The National Soccer Coaches Association of America ((NSCAA) announced its Team Academic Awards on Thursday afternoon and 12 America East men's and women's soccer programs were honored.
Four men's programs were on the list including Albany, Binghamton, Hartford and Stony Brook. The Hawks, who reached the America East championship game last year, posted the highest GPA among America East teams at 3.16.
Eight of the conference's nine women's programs were honored including Albany, Binghamton, Hartford, Maine, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire, Stony Brook and Vermont. The Great Danes and River Hawks tied for the highest team GPA at 3.43.
A total of 859 soccer teams (307 men, 558 women) posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2014-15 academic year.
Of that total, 207 schools had both their men's and women's programs recognized including four of the eight America East institutions that sponsor both men's and women's soccer. Those schools were Albany, Binghamton, Hartford and Stony Brook.
Both America East men's and women's soccer student-athletes excelled on in the classroom last year as the men averaged a 3.03 GPA while the women came in at 3.30.