Nov. 24, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second time in three seasons a University of Notre Dame soccer standout has been recognized as the top scholar-athlete by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Notre Dame tri-captain Patrick Hodan (Sr./M) was named the 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year® for Division I men’s soccer on Tuesday, joining teammate Michael Shipp (Sr./D) on the Academic All-America first team. Women’s tri-captains Cari Roccaro (Sr./D) and Katie Naughton (Sr./D) also claimed CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors, with Roccaro tabbed to the first team and Naughton earning a second team citation.
Hodan is the second Notre Dame men’s soccer player to be chosen as the CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year®, joining Harrison Shipp in 2013. Hodan became the eighth overall Irish student-athlete, and fourth soccer player, to win the award since 1993. Other past Notre Dame recipients of CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year® include Tim Ruddy (football, 1993), Jen Renola (women’s at-large – women’s soccer, 1997), Pat Garrity (men’s basketball, 1998), Ruth Riley (women’s basketball, 2001), Jarrah Myers (softball, 2002), and Vanessa Pruzinsky (women’s soccer, 2003).
The four total Academic All-America choices increased the overall Notre Dame recipient list to an even 250 since the program’s inception in 1952, which ranks second all-time. Some 124 Fighting Irish student-athletes have earned Academic All-America honors in the past 17 years alone.
Hodan (Brookfield, Wisconsin/Marquette University High School) became the first three-time Academic All-American in Notre Dame men’s soccer history with his second straight first team nod, adding both top squad honors to a 2013 third team selection as a sophomore. Hodan ranks second on the Notre Dame roster with 12 points after notching three goals and a career-high six assists through his first 21 starts in 2015, helping Notre Dame reach the NCAA Championship Round of 16 for the fourth consecutive season.
Hodan has seen action in 86 career matches during his four seasons at Notre Dame (50 starts), scoring 29 goals and adding 19 assists for 77 career points. A 2014 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) first team All-American, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Offensive Player of the Year, and a semifinalist for last season’s MAC Hermann Trophy. Hodan was named to all-ACC teams (first team in 2014, second team in 2013 and 2015) in each of Notre Dame’s three seasons as a conference member. He also had a first chance to break into the United States Men’s National Team system over the summer by attending a USMNT Under-23 identification camp in August at the U.S. National Training Center in Carson, California.
Hodan has maintained a 3.897 cumulative GPA as a finance major in the Mendoza College of Business, and has appeared on the dean’s list in his first six semesters at Notre Dame.
Shipp (Lake Forest, Illinois) is in his first full season as the starting right back for the Notre Dame men’s program. The Irish senior scored his first two career goals earlier this season and has added one assist, helping lead the Notre Dame defense to 10 team shutouts in 2015.
A veteran of 27 career matches (25 starts) at Notre Dame, Shipp was awarded the 2013 NCAA Elite 89 Award after holding the highest GPA among all players whose teams qualified for that season’s College Cup in Chester, Pennsylvania, and was the men’s soccer recipient of the Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award at the 2013 Notre Dame O.S.C.A.R.S. ceremony. The first team Academic All-America honor made Shipp the 11th different Notre Dame men’s soccer player to earn the distinction since 1995, and the 14th overall award recipient in that span. The Irish have notched seven of their 14 Academic All-America citations in the last four seasons alone.
Shipp currently carries a cumulative 3.974 GPA as a pre-professional (pre-med) studies and Spanish double major in the College of Science, and has been featured on the dean’s list in each of his first six semesters at Notre Dame.
Roccaro (East Islip, New York) was a two-time Irish captain and former captain of the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team. She made contributions from every field position throughout her career over 75 starts with 13 goals and four assists (30 points), transitioning to the back line as a senior to become one of the nation’s premier central defenders.
Roccaro was a four-time all-conference selection (ACC and BIG EAST), a two-time Monogram Club Team MVP, and the 2012 Soccer America National Freshman of the Year and BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. In 2013, she was named a Soccer America first team MVP, and was a two-time NSCAA All-Southeast Region second team pick (2013, 2014). Last season Roccaro was named an NSCAA Scholar All-North/Central Region first team honoree, as well as a third team NSCAA Scholar All-American.
Currently carrying a 3.59 cumulative GPA, Roccaro will graduate in December with a degree in sociology from the College of Arts and Letters.
Naughton (Elk Grove Village, Illinois) compiled a stellar career as a steady presence on the Irish back line, starting in all 89 games in which she appeared. The first three-time captain in Notre Dame women’s soccer history, Naughton scored 11 career goals and added two assists (24 points), was named to the all-ACC second team during her junior and senior seasons, and the all-BIG EAST third team as a freshman.
Naughton’s academic honors include third team NSCAA Scholar All-American recognition in 2014. She was also honored with the Francis Patrick O’Connor Award, given to one male and one female Notre Dame student-athlete who displays the true spirit of Notre Dame as exemplified by their contributions and inspirations to their teams, at last year’s O.S.C.A.R.S. ceremony.
A two-time participant in the Rosenthal Leadership Academy with a 3.55 GPA, Naughton will graduate with a degree in anthropology and Spanish from the College of Arts and Letters.
The Irish women’s soccer program has earned a total of 28 Academic All-America scrolls in program history, with Roccaro and Naughton the first Notre Dame teammates to receive the honor in the same season since Brittany Bock (`09) was named to the first team and Elise Weber (’09) to the second team in 2008.