SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Saint Mary's Men's Soccer had two players named to the WCC All-Academic First Team in Louis Sterobo and Jack Vestberg, along with seven other players receiving honorable mention.
 
Along with the two first teamers, the honorable mentions include Cade Cowan, Tyler Hardin, Luke Lawrence, Timothy Stephens, Bastian Toelhoej, Jude Zamora, and Riley Lynch.
 
Vestberg had another outstanding season in the classroom with an eye-popping 3.983 GPA. The Stockholm, Sweden native played in 11 games with five starts, collecting two assists in the win over USF. He earned WCC All-Academic Honorable mention last season with a 3.967 GPA.
 
Sterobo had a 3.808 GPA while majoring in business administration. He has been a force on the back line for the Gaels for the past four seasons. The Odense, Denmark native finished his Saint Mary's career fifth all time in minutes played in program history with 5,045. He has played every minute of every game for 30-straight matches as a Gael.
 
A stalwart of the Gaels defense, he was named All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2023, after being named a First-Team All-WCC Defender in 2022 and making 2nd-team All-WCC in 2021. He was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team and WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention with a 3.50 GPA in 2022.
 
The requirements for nominees to the WCC All-Academic Team included a minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average based on the most recently completed term at the time of the nomination. For soccer, it was the 2023 spring term.
 
The player had to be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. They also had to have at least sophomore athletic and academic standing with at least one year in residence completed at the nominating institution, so true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and athletic transfers could not be nominated.
 
Cade Cowan had a 3.426 GPA while majoring in business administration, and the captain played in nine games with six starts with a goal and two assists on the season. The Littleton, Colo. native was All-Academic Honorable Mention last season with a 3.395 GPA.  
 
Luke Lawrence is a Kinesiology and Exercise major who had a 3.608 GPA. He played and started in 17 games in 2023, and was second on the team in minutes played. He played the full 90 minutes in every match except the 5-1 win in the season opener over Detroit Mercy, where he still logged 83 minutes played.
 
Tyler Hardin had a 3.437 GPA, as the business administration major Played in 12 games with 10 starts. He had a two-goal match – with the game winner – against Darmouth this season, finishing with three goals and two assists on the year. His 3.278 the previous year landed him in the Honorable Mention list for 2022.
 
Timothy Stephens finished with a 3.685 GPA as a business administration major, and the senior defender played the full 90 minutes eight times this past season in 17 games with 14 starts. Registered three assists with eight shots. He made honorable mention last season with a 3.60 GPA.
 
Finance major Bastian Toelhoej had a 3.666 GPA and played and started in 15 games, logging 90 minutes in 12 of them. The solid back-line defender also had two assists on the season.
 
Jude Zamora played in 17 games in 14 starts this season, showing his versatility by playing forward, midfield, and defense. The business administration major had a phenomenal 3.890 GPA, and scored a goal against USD and registered an assist against San Jose State.
 
Riley Lynch had a 3.655 GPA as a communications major, and was All-Academic First Team last season with a 3.744 GPA. He was still tops in the conference in shots and shots on goal, and was third in goals with eight on the season. His 21 points overall were tied for third in the WCC, and he had two game-winning goals on the year, with none more dramatic than his free kick just outside the box in the 74th minute of the Gaels 3-2 win over Pacific.
 
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