Soccer Teams Honored for 2019-20 Academic Success

Both the men and women’s soccer teams at the University of San Diego were bestowed with the Team Academic Award by the United Soccer Coaches for the 2019-20 season, it was announced on Sept. 24.

Men’s Soccer

For the third time in program history, San Diego men's team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for its exemplary work in the classroom.

USD accumulated a 3.42 team grade point average this past year, highlighted by the efforts of United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Americans Miguel Berry and Henry Lander as well as Scholar All-West Region Team selection Ross Meldrum.

Ten Toreros earned 2019 WCC All-Academic Team honors, including first team selections Berry and Matt Wiher. Eight earned honorable mention.

The Toreros have now earned the Team Academic Award three times: 2014, 2017 and 2020.

The United Soccer Coaches annually recognizes winners for the Team Academic Award from the high school to collegiate levels since 1996. A total of 889 college teams (333 men, 556 women) earned this year's award after posting a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Women’s Soccer

San Diego women's soccer earned its fourth such team recognition from the United Soccer Coaches after garnering a 3.33 GPA in 2019-20.

"Credit to our team for their hard work in the classroom," said assistant coach Leigh Ann Brown who serves as the program's academic liaison. "I am really proud of these young women for staying disciplined and focused during this time of adversity. This is just one of the many reasons we love working with them every day."

USD was one of 172 schools to have both its men's and women's soccer team recognized this year. The Toreros and Saint Mary's were the only two schools of that 172 from the West Coast Conference.

—USD Athletics