AUSTIN, Texas – Saint Joseph's College men's soccer senior back Will Wood (Franklin, N.H.) has earned 2023 Second Team Academic All-America® honors, as selected by the College Sports Communicators organization.
The award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the pitch and in the classroom. The Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men's and women's soccer honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA – on an annual basis.
A Pre-Med and Biology major, Wood claimed Academic All-District® accolades this fall and is line to claim Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) All-Academic accolades for the second-consecutive year.
In two seasons at Saint Joseph's, Wood has played in 37 games with two goals and seven assists. The University of Albany transfer also garnered United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Region and First Team All-Conference honors this fall.
Wood is the sixth SJC student-athlete – and the first Monks men's soccer player - in college history to garner Academic All-America® honors as he joins Jared Gagne '19 (Baseball), Kelsi McNamara '19 (Women's Basketball), Darian Berry '19 (Men's Basketball), Taylor Black '17 (Baseball), and Alyssa Dunn '11 (Softball) on the exclusive list.
Wood is one of just four players from the New England Region to earn Academic All-America® honors, as he is joined by Middlebury College seniors Ryan Grady and Jordan Saint-Louis and Endicott College senior Tiago Frazao on the short list.
Four of the 34 members of the Division III Academic All-America® men's soccer teams have a perfect 4.00 cumulative GPA. The 11 members of the first team have an average cumulative GPA of 3.92 and the 34 student-athletes that make up all three teams have an average cumulative GPA of 3.87.
Seven members of the Division III team were repeat Academic All-America® selections: Justin Cross (Stevens Institute of Technology), Logan Falzarano (Johns Hopkins), Alex Lippiatt (Case Western Reserve University), Aidan Westerberg (North Central College), Bruno Andino (Stevens Tech), Matt Vatne (Case Western Reserve) and Tyler Murphy (Trine University). Falzarano and Westerberg were three-time honorees.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director.
The Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2023-24 Division III Academic All-America® program. For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica.com/.
2023 Academic All-America® Men's Soccer Teams
