Second-straight year Johansson earns spot on prestigious team

RINDGE, N.H. (November 17, 2009) – The Franklin Pierce University women’s soccer team received even more recognition on Tuesday afternoon as team co-captains, senior back Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H.) and junior forward Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden), were named ESPN The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-Americans.

The Academic All-America team recognizes a student-athlete’s success both on the field and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

Smith and Johansson earned the opportunity to be selected to the national squad after each was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I First-Team selection last month.

Johansson, who owns a 3.97 GPA in mathematics, has scored 20 goals this season and has been named to both the Northeast-10 First-Team and the Daktronics All-East Region First-Team. It marked the second-straight season she earned a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Second-Team.

Smith, who has a 3.82 GPA in business, has anchored a defense that has produced 12 shutouts this season and allowed an average of just 0.73 goals a match. She has also scored three goals for six points. Smith was named the Northeast-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year last month, and was selected to the Daktronics All-East Region First-Team earlier in the afternoon.

Smith and Johansson will lead 20th-ranked Franklin Pierce (18-4-1) into its contest with No. 2 Saint Rose on Friday in the NCAA Division II Tournament East Region Championship. The contest will begin at 11 a.m. in Albany, N.Y., with the winner earning a trip to the national quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon versus either California (Pa.) or IUP.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)