Feb. 5, 2002
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State sophomore soccer player Kevin Sapanli has been named as a third-team selection on the Verizon Academic All-America Men's Soccer Team, announced Tuesday. The team is selected annually by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
To be nominated for the prestigious award, the student-athlete is required to be a starter or major contributor to their team and maintain at least a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average. One of four sophomores named to the team, Sapanli holds a 3.96 grade-point average as a business major.
Sapanli, who graduated from La Jolla High School, tied for the Aztec lead in points for the 2001 season, accumulating 19 on eight goals and three assists. He started in 16 of the 18 matches in which he played and finished the year with 44 shots.
Sapanli is the first Aztec men's soccer player to receive the honor since Marcelo Balboa was named to the second team in 1989. He is also the second SDSU athlete to receive the honor within three months, with punter Brian Simnjanovski being named as a second-team selection on the football team in December.
The Aztecs are coming off a strong 2001 season where they finished with a 7-9-4 mark, including a 3-2-2 record in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation race. The Aztecs were in contention for their first MPSF title entering the final weekend of the season. Highlighting the campaign was a 2-0 win over No. 25 Denver and a 2-1 loss to No. 23 UCLA.