FOUR HORNETS EARN ACADEMIC ALL-MOUNTAIN PACIFIC SPORTS FEDERATION HONORS

1/20/2010

WOODLAND, Calif. - Four Sacramento State men's soccer players, seniors Kyle Beasley and Scott Crandall, redshirt sophomore Adam Bettencourt and redshirt freshman Oscar Torrico, earned Academic all-MPSF honors, as announced by executive director Al Beaird.

Beasley was honored for the third time by the conference, while Bettencourt earned accolades for the second straight season. Crandall and Torrico were recognized for the first time. All four players started a minimum of 18 matches on the season, leading the Hornets to a 12-6-3 overall mark, the MPSF regular season and conference tournament titles, as well as a first round victory in the NCAA tournament over Loyola Marymount. Sacramento State finished the season ranked No. 30 by College Soccer News and No. 32 by Top Drawer Soccer, and also were receiving votes in the NSCAA coaches top 25.

A native of Concord, Calif., Beasley earned ESPN the Magazine first team academic all-district honors this season. He appeared in 20 of the team's 21 matches this season, making 18 starts as a defender and defensive midfielder for coach Michael Linenberger.

Also a standout defensively for the Hornets, Torrico appeared in all 21 of the Hornets matches, making 19 starts. He recorded the first two assists of his career in the team's home finale against San Jose State, a 4-3 victory.

One of the team's 2009 tri-captains, Bettencourt made the move from midfielder to forward this season, starting all 20 contests that he appeared in. He scored his lone goal of the year against New Mexico on Oct. 30, giving the game-winning tally in the 58th minute of a 1-0 Hornet victory.

The fourth leading scorer on the 2009 team, Crandall scored four goals and added an assist in his final season in the Green and Gold, scoring the first goal for the Hornets in both the conference title game against New Mexico and the NCAA Tournament tilt with Loyola Marymount.

The MPSF honored 36 student-athletes from the eight schools that compete in men's soccer in the league. To be recognized, student-athletes needed to have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, be a least a sophomore academically, complete one full academic year at the school, and participate in 50 percent or more of the team's games.