WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team is the latest SMU squad to be recognized for excellence in the classroom, as the Cardinals were among those schools to earn the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award, it was announced Thursday.
 
The Cardinals, who boasted a 3.40 team GPA, were among a total of 746 soccer teams (220 men, 382 women) who posted team GPAs of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2021-22 academic year.
 
The United Soccer Coaches Team Excellence Award is the latest academic honor for the Cardinals, who had 12 members — Allysa Barlow (Appleton, Wis.), Keaton Cloven (Castle Rock, Colo.), Claire Fletcher (Woodbury, Minn.), Dara Kaiser (Bozeman, Mont.), Leah Lebrun (Antioch, Ill.), Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.), Brooklyn McKinney (Thornton, Colo.), Lindsey Monnet (Rochester, Minn.), Paige Morris Chandler, Ariz.), Maya Wachter (Dubuque, Iowa), Abbi Westhoff (Marion, Iowa), and Jenna Zimmer (Calgary, Alberta) — named to the Academic All-MIAC Team in January.