Women's Soccer Standout Student-Athletes Earn All-Academic Recognition - AmericaEast.com
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -- Eleven America East student-athletes have been selected to the 2008 Women’s Soccer All-Academic Team, which was released by the conference office this afternoon. These student athletes, who excel both academically as well as athletically, represent the best of the America East Conference.
The All-Academic team consists of Angelina Cords (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown), Emily Pallotta (Andover, Mass./Andover), Marisha Schumacher-Hodge (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schneley) and Elizabeth Speck (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Sacred Heart) from Boston University, Kacey Busque (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) and Laura Guigli (North Stonington, Conn./Wheeler) from University of Hartford, Anjelica Hodgson (Nepean, Ontario/John McCrae) and Kim Stephenson (Hampden, Maine/Hampden) from University of Maine, Sarah Hourihan (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) and Caitlin Whelan (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) from University of New Hampshire and Erin Pichiotino (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) from University of Vermont.
Schumacher-Hodge was also named the America East Midfielder of the Year and a first-team all-conference honoree. She is joined by first-team choices Busque, Cords and Whelan. Pallotta, Speck and Stephenson were second-team All-America East selections.
Busque and Schumacher-Hodge were also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I Women’s Soccer First Team, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Pallotta was a first-team choice, while Hourihan and Hodgson were third-team selections.
The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings, where faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor the league’s top student-athletes, whom excel equally in the classroom as they do on the playing field.
For the last two academic years, the All-Academic Team has been selected based on a formula. Starting this year, America East has adopted a more objective approach based on feedback from various coaches’ groups and administrators and approval of the league's athletic directors.. The process will now resemble the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America program. Student-athletes worthy of consideration will now be nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by 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). 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. Freshman are not eligible for consideration.