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Local colleges receive academic honors from IWLCA

Date: 8/13/2014

SPRINGFIELD – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team this week was named a 2014 Division III Academic Honor Squad by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). The Golden Bears also earned the distinction in 2013.

Western New England was one of 125 Division III institutions out of a possible 255 NCAA teams to receive the accolade from the IWLCA. Teams with a composite grade-point average of 3.0 or higher for the 2014 season are recognized for their scholastic achievements. The Royal Blue and Gold finished the academic year with a 3.12 GPA, including 13 student-athletes with at least a 3.0. Four Golden Bears posted a 3.65 GPA or higher.

The Golden Bears completed another successful season on the field to go hand-in-hand with their accomplishments in the classroom last spring.

Western New England had the first unbeaten regular-season in program history en route to setting a school record for winning percentage (.944; 17-1) and tying another for wins (17). Taylor Scialdone was one of 10 Golden Bears selected to the All-Commonwealth Coast Conference team and she was voted the top offensive player in both the CCC and Eastern College Athletic Conference New England as a sophomore. Jessica Scannapieco joined Scialdone on the All-ECAC New England First Team.

Aimee Klepacki repeated as CCC Coach of the Year to bring to six the number of times that she has been a "conference coach of the year" (New England Women's Lacrosse Association: 2001-02-05; CCC: 2011-13-14) in her 15 seasons at the WNE helm. In addition, WNE received votes in the national rankings by Lacrosse Magazine for the first time ever.

In total, the IWLCA bestowed 254 colleges and universities across all three NCAA divisions of women's lacrosse with academic honor squad recognition.

The American International College (AIC) women’s lacrosse team was recognized as one of 45 Division II schools honored by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association as an Academic Honor Squad for the 2014 season announced earlier this week.

Joining AIC from the Northeast-10 were Assumption, Le Moyne, Southern New Hampshire, Stonehill and the University of New Haven.