Temple University Athletics
Leandros Lillis Earns Men's Soccer Academic All-America® Honors
12.5.19 | Men's Soccer
PHILADELPHIA – Temple men's soccer senior Leandros Lillis has received one of the most prestigious academic awards to wrap up his final season in Cherry and White, landing a spot on the Academic All-America® Division I Men's Soccer Third Team as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) on Thursday afternoon. Lillis is just the sixth men's soccer student-athlete in Temple history to receive the accolade and the first since 2017.
In November, Lillis was one of 11 student-athletes and one of just four forwards within the Division I men's soccer second district to earn Academic All-District first team honors from CoSIDA. He's also just one of three to earn the honor from the American Athletic Conference, joined by UCF's Cal Jennings and Cincinnati's Ben Wendell.
Lillis has been a member of the Temple men's soccer team for two seasons after coming to North Philadelphia from Larnaca, Cyprus. The senior forward has been a pivotal attacking force throughout his tenure with the Owls, seeing action in all 18 games this season and drawing starts in the final nine. On Oct. 1, he netted his first career goal in thrilling fashion when he notched a 90th minute game-winner to propel the Owls to a 1-0 victory over Old Dominion. The win kick-started Temple's 5-1-1 record during the month of October and lit a fire for a Cherry and White offense that scored 11 goals in the next seven games.
In the classroom, Lillis is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Adult and Organizational Development through the College of Education at Temple. In his time in Cherry and White, he has accumulated the highest GPA on the squad at 3.97, earning him a spot on the President's Honor Roll for having a GPA of 3.5 or above.
Of the 34 members on the Academic All-America® Division I men's soccer teams, 11 boast a perfect 4.0 GPA. The 11 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.96, with the entire men's team holding a collective average GPA of 3.92.
CoSIDA's Academic All-America program began in 1952 and currently sponsors programs for men's soccer, women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field/cross country, as well as student-athletes who compete in other sports through the At-Large program. Among the criteria for nomination, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and must have reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
NCAA DIVISION I ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / GPA / Yr. / Major
GK / Michael Creek 3 / Missouri State University / 3.97 / Jr. / Entrepreneurship
D / Austin Day 3 / Grand Canyon University / 3.99/3.91 / Gr. / MBA
D / Kyle Hiebert 1 % / Missouri State University / 4.00 / Jr. / Accounting
D / Marius Kullmann 3 / Loyola University / 3.96 / Sr. / Finance / International Business
D / Dylan Waugaman 2 / Valparaiso University / 3.99 / Gr. / Accounting (UG) / MBA (G)
M / Anthony Bowie 1 / Western Michigan University / 4.00 / Sr. / Sales & Business Marketing
M / Nate Seaberg / Drake University / 4.00 / Sr. / Health Sciences - Clinical & Applied Sciences
M / Jonas Westmeyer / Marshall University / 4.00 / Sr. / Business (UG) / MBA (G)
F / Jan Maertins / Northern Illinois University / 3.98 / Sr. / Leadership & Management
F / Tyrone Mondi 3 / Coastal Carolina University / 4.00 / Sr. / Accounting
F / Daniele Proch 3 / Duke University 3.75 / Sr. / History
SECOND TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / GPA / Yr. / Major
GK / Andrew Thomas / Stanford University / 3.98 / Jr. / Engineering Physics
D / Gideon Betz 1 / Campbell University / 3.79 / Sr. / Business Administration (UG) / MBA (G)
D / Christian Casagranda / Quinnipiac University / 4.00/4.00 / Gr. / Public Relations
D / Matt Di Rosa / University of Maryland / 3.95 / Jr. / Information Systems
D / Joel Harrison / University of Michigan / 3.98 / Jr. / Computer Science
D / Jacob Wilkinson / Radford University / 4.00 / Sr. / Finance
M / Ruben Garcia / Liberty University / 4.00 / Sr. / Interdisciplinary Studies
M / Rikard Lindqvist 3 / Northern Kentucky / 4.00 / Sr. / Management
M / Pedro Valladao / IUPUI / 3.99 / Sr. / Mechanical Engineering
F / Ryan DeBois / Western Illinois University / 4.00 / Jr. / Management
F / Cal Jennings / UCF / 3.70 / Sr. / Nonprofit Management
F / Samson Sergi / Xavier University / 3.84/3.67 / Gr. / Marketing (UG) / MBA (G)
THIRD TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / GPA / Yr. / Major
GK / Hagay Jalon / Florida Atlantic University / 3.80 / Gr. / Psychology
D / Kasey French / University of Washington / 3.88 / Sr. / Physics / Mathematics
D / David Grana 2 / Saint Joseph's University / 3.95 / Jr. / Biology
D / Connor Ramlo / Creighton University / 3.98 / Sr. / Finance
D / Ben Wendell / University of Cincinnati / 4.00 / So. / Neuroscience
M / Jack Casey 2 # / University of Notre Dame / 3.87 / Sr. / Economics
M / Noah Leibold / University of Wisconsin / 3.94 / Sr. / Neurobiology
M / Zach Maas / Utah Valley University / 3.87 / Jr. / Exercise Science / Pre-Med
F / Miguel Berry / University of San Diego / 3.36 / Sr. / Business Administration
F / Leandros Lillis / Temple University / 3.97 / Sr. / Adult & Organizational Development
F / Johannes Pieles / Fordham University / 3.94 / Sr. / Finance
(1) = 2018 1st team Academic All-America®
(2) = 2018 2nd team Academic All-America®
(3) = 2018 3rd team Academic All-America®(#) = 2017 2nd team Academic All-America®
(%) = 2017 3rd team Academic All-America®
In November, Lillis was one of 11 student-athletes and one of just four forwards within the Division I men's soccer second district to earn Academic All-District first team honors from CoSIDA. He's also just one of three to earn the honor from the American Athletic Conference, joined by UCF's Cal Jennings and Cincinnati's Ben Wendell.
Lillis has been a member of the Temple men's soccer team for two seasons after coming to North Philadelphia from Larnaca, Cyprus. The senior forward has been a pivotal attacking force throughout his tenure with the Owls, seeing action in all 18 games this season and drawing starts in the final nine. On Oct. 1, he netted his first career goal in thrilling fashion when he notched a 90th minute game-winner to propel the Owls to a 1-0 victory over Old Dominion. The win kick-started Temple's 5-1-1 record during the month of October and lit a fire for a Cherry and White offense that scored 11 goals in the next seven games.
In the classroom, Lillis is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Adult and Organizational Development through the College of Education at Temple. In his time in Cherry and White, he has accumulated the highest GPA on the squad at 3.97, earning him a spot on the President's Honor Roll for having a GPA of 3.5 or above.
Of the 34 members on the Academic All-America® Division I men's soccer teams, 11 boast a perfect 4.0 GPA. The 11 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.96, with the entire men's team holding a collective average GPA of 3.92.
CoSIDA's Academic All-America program began in 1952 and currently sponsors programs for men's soccer, women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field/cross country, as well as student-athletes who compete in other sports through the At-Large program. Among the criteria for nomination, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and must have reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
NCAA DIVISION I ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / GPA / Yr. / Major
GK / Michael Creek 3 / Missouri State University / 3.97 / Jr. / Entrepreneurship
D / Austin Day 3 / Grand Canyon University / 3.99/3.91 / Gr. / MBA
D / Kyle Hiebert 1 % / Missouri State University / 4.00 / Jr. / Accounting
D / Marius Kullmann 3 / Loyola University / 3.96 / Sr. / Finance / International Business
D / Dylan Waugaman 2 / Valparaiso University / 3.99 / Gr. / Accounting (UG) / MBA (G)
M / Anthony Bowie 1 / Western Michigan University / 4.00 / Sr. / Sales & Business Marketing
M / Nate Seaberg / Drake University / 4.00 / Sr. / Health Sciences - Clinical & Applied Sciences
M / Jonas Westmeyer / Marshall University / 4.00 / Sr. / Business (UG) / MBA (G)
F / Jan Maertins / Northern Illinois University / 3.98 / Sr. / Leadership & Management
F / Tyrone Mondi 3 / Coastal Carolina University / 4.00 / Sr. / Accounting
F / Daniele Proch 3 / Duke University 3.75 / Sr. / History
SECOND TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / GPA / Yr. / Major
GK / Andrew Thomas / Stanford University / 3.98 / Jr. / Engineering Physics
D / Gideon Betz 1 / Campbell University / 3.79 / Sr. / Business Administration (UG) / MBA (G)
D / Christian Casagranda / Quinnipiac University / 4.00/4.00 / Gr. / Public Relations
D / Matt Di Rosa / University of Maryland / 3.95 / Jr. / Information Systems
D / Joel Harrison / University of Michigan / 3.98 / Jr. / Computer Science
D / Jacob Wilkinson / Radford University / 4.00 / Sr. / Finance
M / Ruben Garcia / Liberty University / 4.00 / Sr. / Interdisciplinary Studies
M / Rikard Lindqvist 3 / Northern Kentucky / 4.00 / Sr. / Management
M / Pedro Valladao / IUPUI / 3.99 / Sr. / Mechanical Engineering
F / Ryan DeBois / Western Illinois University / 4.00 / Jr. / Management
F / Cal Jennings / UCF / 3.70 / Sr. / Nonprofit Management
F / Samson Sergi / Xavier University / 3.84/3.67 / Gr. / Marketing (UG) / MBA (G)
THIRD TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / GPA / Yr. / Major
GK / Hagay Jalon / Florida Atlantic University / 3.80 / Gr. / Psychology
D / Kasey French / University of Washington / 3.88 / Sr. / Physics / Mathematics
D / David Grana 2 / Saint Joseph's University / 3.95 / Jr. / Biology
D / Connor Ramlo / Creighton University / 3.98 / Sr. / Finance
D / Ben Wendell / University of Cincinnati / 4.00 / So. / Neuroscience
M / Jack Casey 2 # / University of Notre Dame / 3.87 / Sr. / Economics
M / Noah Leibold / University of Wisconsin / 3.94 / Sr. / Neurobiology
M / Zach Maas / Utah Valley University / 3.87 / Jr. / Exercise Science / Pre-Med
F / Miguel Berry / University of San Diego / 3.36 / Sr. / Business Administration
F / Leandros Lillis / Temple University / 3.97 / Sr. / Adult & Organizational Development
F / Johannes Pieles / Fordham University / 3.94 / Sr. / Finance
(1) = 2018 1st team Academic All-America®
(2) = 2018 2nd team Academic All-America®
(3) = 2018 3rd team Academic All-America®(#) = 2017 2nd team Academic All-America®
(%) = 2017 3rd team Academic All-America®
Players Mentioned
M
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