CoSIDA Release
 

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior defender Anthony Berntsen (Portland, Maine) of the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's soccer team became the first student-athlete in that program's history to be named an Academic All-America, as he was named to the 2010 ESPN Academic All-America® Men's Soccer team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), as a member of the second team.

To be eligible for nomination to this prestigious team, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

Berntsen, a four-year letterwinner and a two-year captain of the Leopards, was named the 2010 The Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Soccer Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-TCCC selection last week.  This season he played in 17 of the team's 18 games, helping the Leopards to a 9-8-1 record with seven shutouts and two other games in which Wentworth held the opposition to just one goal.

A Computer Engineering Technology major, Berntsen started 53 of the 68 games he played in during his career.  A stalwart on defense throughout his time wearing the Black & Gold, he was often been called upon to shut down the opposing team's top scorer.  During last two seasons he started every game he has played in (37 of team's 39) and during the 2009 season he helped the team post second-most shutouts (eight) in school history.  For his efforts, he was named Second Team All-TCCC and First Team NSCAA All-New England.

During both his freshman and junior seasons, Berntsen and his teammates played in both TCCC and ECAC New England championship games and last season the Leopards won the ECAC Division III New England title.

Wentworth finished the 2010 season with a 9-8-1 record, marking the third time in his four seasons the Leopards finished above .500.

The Academic All-America® program currently selects 12 teams at the University Division level and 12 teams at the College Division level. The program currently selects the following Academic All-America® teams: men's and women's soccer, volleyball, football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's cross country and track, women's cross country and track, men's at-large and women's at-large.  Since 1995, Wentworth has had five student-athletes earn a total of eight Academic All-America selections.

For more information about the ESPN Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit CoSIDA's website.

WENTWORTH'S ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS