» 2008 Academic All-District Team

Three College of Wooster men's soccer players were honored on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, as Jay Keener (Wadsworth, Ohio / Wadsworth) earned first-team status and Nate Florian (Medina, Ohio / Highland) and Karl Ruter (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South) collected second-team mention, the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) announced Thursday. All three are first timers on the prestigious team, but it is the third-straight season multiple Wooster players have been so recognized.

Keener, by virtue of being on the 12-member first team, is a candidate for the Academic All-America Team® now. He is a junior defender for the Fighting Scots, anchoring a defense that has given up just 13 goals – the third-fewest in the North Coast Athletic Conference this year. Keener has started 37 of 47 career games and was a second-team all-NCAC pick last season. A chemistry major, he's a regular member on the Dean's List while volunteering with Homework-4-Hoops, an outreach program to tutor and spend time with juveniles, and Wooster's Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Florian, a team captain, has started every match this fall as a defensive-oriented midfielder, playing a key role in limiting the opposition to one goal or less in 11 of 15 matches, including three shutouts. He did score one goal on the offensive end as well, sparking the Scots to a 2-1 win over John Carroll University, which is currently in the regional rankings. For his career, Florian has played in 61 career games (34 starts), helping Wooster to a 32-22-9 record. He is a business economics major, and like Keener, active with Homework-4-Hoops and SAAC while regularly making the Dean's List.

Ruter, a junior and team captain, is one of the Scots' top offensive threats from his midfield position. Despite missing four matches this fall due to injury, he has scored four goals and assisted on four others to rank ninth in the NCAC in scoring race (1.09 ppg) and increase his career total to 34 points (14 goals, 6 assists). A political science major with a minor in business economics, Ruter has made Dean's List and also spends time as a Homework-4-Hoops volunteer.

The trio is trying to lead Wooster, which is 6-8-1 overall, to a spot in the four-team NCAC Tournament. With two matches in the regular season remaining, the Scots are in sixth-place, however, most of the rest of the league only has one match left.

The honorees were selected by CoSIDA among top players with minimum 3.30 grade-point averages from the college division (NCAA Div. II and III, and NAIA) in Wooster's five-state district (Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee).