KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Savannah College of Art and Design men's soccer players
Matt Dwyer and
Robbie Wright have been named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Nominated by each institution's head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.50 on a 4.0 scale and have achieved junior academic status to qualify. There were a total of 256 players named to the team.
Dwyer, a 6-foot-0 junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, is a stalwart in the backfield for the Bees, who allowed just 15 goals in 18 matches (0.83 goals per match) and recorded eight shutouts this season. Dwyer started 11 of the 16 matches he played for the Bees, who were 12-3-3, finished second in The Sun Conference and ranked No. 24 in the final NAIA poll in 2009, this season. Dwyer has a 3.83 cumulative grade point average as a sculpture major.
Wright, a 6-0 senior goalkeeper from Bellingham, Wash., was a second-team all-conference selection in 2009 and allowed just nine goals in 13 matches (all starts) and registered two shutouts in just over 1,067 minutes played. The 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American is ranked 20th in the NAIA with a 0.760 goals-against average and the Bees were 9-2-2 with him in the goal. Wright, who received the conference's Champion of Character Award last season, has recorded 34 saves in 2009 with a .791 saves percentage. Wright is an architecture major and has a 3.90 cumulative grade point average.