Dec. 30, 2003

The Notre Dame women’s soccer team recently was one of several Division I women’s soccer programs to earn the annual NSCAA Team Academic Award, presented by the National Soccer Coaches Association of American to programs that maintained a 3.0 team grade-point average during the previous academic year (2002-03).

Notre Dame’s 3.32 team GPA in 2002-03 ranked 33rd among nearly 300 Division I women’s soccer programs while the Irish owned the sixth-best ’02-’03 team GPA among the 64 teams that competed in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, trailing only Arizona State’s 3.46, Wisconsin’s 3.40, Mississippi’s 3.38 and Portland and Marquette’s matching 3.37. Four of those teams advanced past the 2002 NCAA first round, with Notre Dame moving on to the third round (final 16) while Portland went on to win the ’02 NCAA championship.

When looking at the 2003 NCAA field, only four teams – ASU, Mississippi, Portland and DePaul (3.33) – had posted a better 2002-03 team GPA than Notre Dame’s 3.32 (all but DePaul advanced past the first round of the ’03 NCAAs).

The awards will be presented at the College Coaches Luncheon on Jan. 15, as part of the 57th Annual NSCAA Convention to be held in Charlotte, N.C.

Some of the more noteworthy academic performances by Notre Dame women’s soccer players during the ’02-’03 academic year included (years indicate ’02-’03 status): senior defender Vanessa Pruzinsky (4.0 gradate as chemical engineering major), senior midfielder and ’03 graduate Ashley Dryer (3.60 cumulative GPA, seven-time Dean’s List as sociology/psychology major), junior forward Amy Warner (3.67 GPA in ’03 spring, sociology major), junior midfielder Kim Carpenter (Dean’s List both semesters in ’02-’03, pre-professional science major), junior midfielder Randi Scheller (3.61 GPA in ’03 spring, management major), junior defender Melissa Tancredi (3.52 GPA in ’02 fall, anthropology/pre-professional major), junior forward Amanda Guertin (3.09 cumulative GPA, marketing major), sophomore midfielder Mary Boland (Dean’s List both semesters, including 3.94 GPA in ’03 spring, College of Arts and Letters), sophomore defender Candace Chapman (3.19 cumulative GPA in College of Arts and Letters), sophomore defender Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (3.35 cumulative GPA in Mendoza College of Business), sophomore midfielder Sarah Halpenny (3.17 cumulative GPA in College of Business), freshman goalkeeper Erika Bohn (3.67 GPA), freshman midfielder Annie Schefter (3.67 GPA) and freshman defender Amber McMillin (3.37 GPA).

Pruzinsky went on to be the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for the 2003 Division I women’s soccer season, with Boland (now a psychology major) and Bohn (now enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business) named to the CoSIDA second team Academic All-America team. Carpenter joined the above three players on the CoSIDA Academic All-District V team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (representing the official Academic All-America designation, as part of a program separate from the NSCAA awards).