University of New Mexico men’s soccer players Jason Beaulieu and Simon Spangenberg were named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Men’s Soccer Teams, CoSIDA announced last week.
Beaulieu and Spangenberg are the 21st and 22nd CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in program history, which is the most in the country at any level for a men's soccer program. 20 of those honorees have come during the tenure of current head coach Jeremy Fishbein.
In order to be eligible, an athlete must have at least a 3.2 grade point average, be a sophomore or above in academic standing and be a significant part of the team. Beaulieu was the sole goalkeeper named to the first team, reporting a 3.99 GPA in Civil Engineering. He has received three CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in addition to multiple Conference USA All-Academic designations. He has also been named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and been awarded a C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal.
Beaulieu played every minute for the Lobos this season, recording 0.95 goals against average and five shutouts in his final season. He is top five all time in four different categories: clean sheets (22), wins (34), saves (239) and appearances (68).
Spangenberg was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team for his 4.19 GPA in pre-mechanical engineering. In addition, he was awarded a 2017 C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and a spot on the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He scored three goals and had an assist for the Lobos in 2017.
"Lobo soccer is about excellence in the classroom, in the community and on the playing field," Fishbein said in a release. "Jason and Simon truly exemplify everything we stand for as Lobos and I am really excited for both of them. They have extremely bright futures ahead of them."
This is the first time either player has been named an Academic All-American. Callum Montgomery of Charlotte was the only other player from C-USA who received the honor, joining Spangenberg on the second team.
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance sports reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
