Jan. 9, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team enjoyed a successful semester in the classroom in the fall of 2011, as 10 Nittany Lions made the Dean's List and 16 of 26 players on the roster earned a grade point average of 3.0 or better.
Jacob Barron (La Mirada, Calif.), Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.), Randy Falk (Tewksbury Township, N.J.), Mark Fetrow (West Chester, Pa.), Dan Hepner (Middletown, Pa.), Kyle MacDonald (Yardley, Pa.), Emmanuel Martin (Cormontreuil, France), Daniel Parr (Hummelstown, Pa.), Danny Sheerin (College Park, Md.), and Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) received GPAs of 3.50 or higher to qualify for Dean's List honors.
Barron, Cardona, Fetrow, and Wolverton formed the backbone of the 2011 Nittany Lions, combining to make 83 starts. Parr, who played in 18 games, was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award recipient in 2010. MacDonald, a freshman, broke his arm prior to the season and did not see action in 2011 while Martin was athletically ineligible to play but will be in the mix at goalkeeper in 2012.
Other Nittany Lions whose GPAs were at or above the 3.0 GPA plateau were Marco Ciarla (Potomac, Md.), Eli Dennis (Easton, Md.), Brian Forgue (Glenmoore, Pa.), Owen Griffith (Lewisburg, Pa.), Marvin Ledgister (London, England), and Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.).
Penn State also earned the NSCAA Academic Team Award for 2011, posting a cumulative 3.02 grade point average.
Additionally, five Nittany Lions were recognized with Academic All-Big Ten honors for the fall semester.
The Penn State men's soccer program has enjoyed a longstanding tradition of academic excellence. In total, Nittany Lions have been named to academic all-region/district or All-America teams on 31 occasions.
Penn State finished the 2011 season with a 9-9-2 record, advancing to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Nittany Lions ranked No. 1 in the conference in defense and broke the program record for shutouts in a season with 12. Head coach Bob Warming, who is entering his third year in Happy Valley, will return 14 letterwinners and eight starters for 2012.