BY STEVEN SOUSA // Oct. 16, 2017 //

United Soccer Coaches announced that the Curry College men’s soccer team is the recipient of the 2016-2017 Team Academic Award for the third year in a row.

The academic award is given out to teams that earn a collective grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.  The 2016-2017 academic year saw the Colonels check in at 3.08.

Head coach Peter Mendel feels it’s an incredible accomplishment for the program and the players in it.

“I’m very proud of the fact we’ve been able to maintain a 3.0 average for three straight years,” Mendel noted. “That’s another testament to the guys and them putting the work in the classroom as well.”

In his past 11 seasons as head coach for the Colonels, Mendel has tried to manufacture a successful soccer program without sacrificing anything in the classroom.  He said it has been a process but the past three years prove it is paying off.

Also in that span, he has become the winningest coach in Curry College men’s soccer history, further cementing his legacy.

The Colonels are one of five men’s teams in the Commonwealth Coast Conference to win the award which registers as half of the conference.  The other four include Western New England, Endicott, Roger Williams, and Salve Regina.

Curry has three games remaining on their schedule and they currently sit at an 8-8-1 overall record and remain 7th in the CCC. Its final two games will pit the Colonels against the third and fourth-place teams in WNE and Wentworth.

The WNE game is a part of Homecoming Weekend, with all in-season sports teams playing on the campus of Curry College. Men’s soccer will kick off at 5:30 p.m.