TROY, N.Y. - Two Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athletes have been selected to the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Men's Soccer Academic All-District™ 3 Division III Team.
Steven Collins and
Andrew Gondek are now on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, from which first-, second- and third team National Academic All-America honorees will be selected.
A junior, Collins (Flemington, NJ / Hunterdon Central Regional) has started all 17 games for the Engineers at both holding midfield and striker positions. Third on the team with five points (2 goals, 1 assist), he has 21 shots (7 on goal) and averages 74.3 minutes per match.
Now a two-time all-district selection, Collins is a chemical engineering major and economics minor with a 3.98 cumulative grade point average. A two-time Liberty League All-Academic selection, he has worked as a research assistant in the Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing labs. A member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, he has worked with Circle-K as a volunteer and is the Scholarship Chair at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Gondek (Ballston Spa, NY / Ballston Spa), a junior, has a 3.58 GPA as an electrical engineering major. He is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and has been a teaching assistant in the engineering department as well as the physics, applied physics, and astronomy department at Rensselaer. Gondek has also been an engineering intern with D.A. Collins Construction Co., Inc., producing project plans and estimated budget forecasts with other project managers. He also optimized the functionality of budget management and organization systems and rendered and analyzed bridge, structure, and hydroelectric dam drawings.
On the field, the center back has started all 17 games and has anchored a back line that has surrendered just 12 goals and posted eight clean sheets. Offensively, Gondek has one goal on 14 shots (4 on target). A two-time Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week, he averages a team-beste 93.5 minutes per game and has one game-winning goal.
Rensselaer (8-6-3; 5-2-1 Liberty League) has won five straight games and closes out its regular season schedule on Saturday, when it hosts Saint Thomas Aquinas at East Campus Stadium (1pm).
