CMS Women's Soccer Earns Team Academic Award from United Soccer Coaches

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer team was one of 583 squads from all three NCAA divisions to earn the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2019-20 academic year.

The Athenas easily surpassed the minimum standard for the award, earning a 3.59 aggregate team grade point average during the past two semesters. A whopping 21 CMS women's soccer players earned SCIAC All-Academic Team honors as well for carrying a 3.4 cumulative GPA or higher. That list included all five members of the senior class (Gabby Clouse, Hayden Craig, Rhiann Holman, Kira Favakeh, Sarah Tocher), who each earned All-SCIAC Academic Team distinction for the fourth time in four years.  

It was a successful season for the Athenas on and off the field. After earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, CMS captured a regional championship to move on to the NCAA Round of 16, matching the deepest tournament run in program history. The Athenas opened the NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 win over Emory, and then won the regional championship over host Cal Lutheran 4-2 on penalty kicks after the two teams played to a 0-0 draw through 110 minutes. 

CMS ended the year with a 11-5-4 record, marking the 11th time in the last 14 years that the Athenas have won at least 10 games, including a program record of 17 wins in the 2016 campaign, when this past year's seniors were freshmen. 

To relive the 2019 NCAA Regional championship, read our Championship Memories Saturday feature published in September, as some of the Athenas looked back on the dramatic win over Cal Lutheran last fall. 

Championship Memories Saturday: CMS Women's Soccer Takes 2019 NCAA Regional Title