By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University men's soccer goalkeeper Mason Kelliher (Jr., GK, Wellington, N.Z./Wellington College) has been named First Team Google Cloud NCAA Division III Academic All-District VIII in voting by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Kelliher and other First Team Academic All-District selections are eligible to be chosen for the Google Cloud NCAA Division III Academic All-America Team, which will be announced on Dec. 4.
A total of 11 athletes were named to the Academic All-District VIII Team. Kelliher was one of three athletes chosen from the Northwest Conference.
CoSIDA District VIII includes colleges and universities in the western United States. Players nominated for the Google Cloud All-District Team were starters or key reserves with cumulative grade point averages of 3.3 or higher (4.0 scale). Each nominated player was at his current college or university for at least one academic year.
First Team Google Cloud NCAA Division III Academic All-District VIII
Mason Kelliher (Jr., GK) earned Academic All-District VIII honors for the first time. He is majoring in Civic Communication and Media at Willamette. He began the fall semester with a 3.80 cumulative grade point average.
Kelliher was Willamette's starting goalkeeper this fall after contributing to the team as a forward in 2017. This year, he registered a 10-3-2 record while acheiving a 0.81 goals against average and a .833 save percentage. He was named Second Team All-Nothwest Conference and ranked second in the NWC in goals against average and save percentate. He attained five solo shutouts and one shared shutout during the season. He was credited with 62 saves, including a carer-high eight saves against Linfield College on Oct. 6.
As a freshman in 2016, he played in two games, both starts, at goalkeeper. He has played in 18 career games in goal with 16 starts, and has provided the team with an 11-3-2 record, a 0.77 goals against average and a .844 save percentage. As a sophomore in 2017, he played in 19 games, including 17 starts, at forward and earned one assist.