Juniors Sam Johnson and Erika Swenson were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans it was announced on Tuesday.

2009 Women's Soccer Academic All-Americans

All-Time Concordia Academic All-Americans

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/17/09)-- The awards keep mounting for the 2009 Concordia women's soccer team. Two days after earning their first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, Cobber juniors Sam Johnson (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) and Erika Swenson (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Third Team.

It is the first time that a Concordia women's soccer player has ever earned the most prestigious academic/athletic honor. The duo were the only players from the MIAC to receive Academic All-American honors and Concordia was one of only three schools in the nation to have multiple Academic All-Americans.

Johnson and Swenson become the 20th and 21st athletes in Concordia history to earn the sports' top honor. They also up the total of Cobber Academic All-Americans in the past four years to nine. In addidtion, it is only the second time in school history that teammates have earned All-American honors in the same season. Women's track and field athletes Kristi Farver and Kris Kuehl were named Academic All-Americans in 1992. CC men's soccer player Justin Foss was the last player to recieve the award as he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Third Team last fall.

The ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

Johnson and Swenson helped Concordia to the best season in program history. The Cobbers are currently 18-0-2 on the year and will be playing in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 21. The 18 wins is the most in school history and Concordia won their first-ever national playoff games in the first and second round of the tournament.

The Cobbers went 10-0-1 in the MIAC and captured their third MIAC regular-season title in the past four seasons.

Johnson carries a 3.64 grade point average while majoring in Math Education. On the field Johnson had a career year as she currently has 22 goals and three assists for 47 points. It is the second highest point total in school history. She was recently named the MIAC Most Valuable Player. Johnson scored 11 goals in conference play and had five game-winning goals. She led the MIAC in goals scored, points and game-winning goals. She finished the 11-game conference slate with 11 goals and one assist for 23 points.

Swenson is the team's starting central defender and returned to the Cobber lineup in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after being out for six games due to an injury. Her return bolstered Concordia's backline and allowed the Cobbers to only allow one goal in the two national playoff games. Swenson was part of the Cobber defense that finished the year by only allowing five goals in 11 league games - tops in the MIAC. Concordia led the conference in goals against average and shutouts in conference games. The Cobbers have only allowed 10 goals all season which is also the best in the MIAC.