AUSTIN, Texas --- Roanoke College goalkeeper Zach Behe is the first but certainly will not be the last ODAC student-athlete to be recognized nationally for their accomplishments in and out of their respective athletic arenas as the Maroons' men's soccer player garnered First Team Academic All-American laurels from the College Sports Information Directors of the America (CoSIDA) earlier this week.
A total of 20 standouts represented ODAC schools on the Academic All-American charts in 2020-21. Behe is the first to claim an honor in 2021-22 with CoSIDA beginning to rollout its highest honors this week. Still on deck for the fall are football and women's volleyball. Field hockey and cross country are not honored until the spring as part of comebined ballots.
CoSIDA's Academic All-American program highlights the academic, athletic, and civic/leadership achievements throughout all divisions of the NCAA's membership in addition to NAIA and junior college platforms. Eligible nominees must carry at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average having spent at least one full calendar year at the nominating institution. Nominees must have reached sophomore-level eligibility and must have competed in at least 50-percent of their team's games at a specific position or competitions if a meet-based sport.
RELATED: CoSIDA Academic All-America Release | CoSIDA Academic All-District Release
The program is a two-tiered process that includes the Academic All-District honors. Those earning First Team Academic All-District status move on to nomination pools for Academic All-America consideration in their respective sports. For ODAC men's soccer, Behe was joined by Unviersity of Lynchburg defensive duo Nick Foley and Griffin Phillips, Eastern Mennonite University midfielder Jonas Beachy, and Washington and Lee University All-American midfielder Samuel Bass on the Division III District 5 team.
Behe, a senior from High Point, N.C., excelled both in the classroom on the Salem, Va., campus and manning the Maroons goal for the men's soccer team. With the books, Behe carries a 3.96 grade point average in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Accounting. He is a member of Delta Mu Delta, a business honor society, and Alpha Chi. He is also a member of the AICPA, a national professional accounting organization and has been a subject tutor for the college since the fall of 2020 while receiving the Larry W. Lynch Scholarship in Finance last spring. Behe is currently the President of the Student Athlete advisory Committee (SAAC) at Roanoke as well as the associate representative of the ODAC to the NCAA.
On the pitch, Behe pairs this honor with an All-ODAC Second Team nod this season and in 2019. He started all 18 matches and was responsible for eight shutouts while combing for a ninth. He recorded 57 saves while posting the second-best goals against average (.53) and save percentage (.851) in the ODAC. He closes his career with 17 full shutouts and 11 combined efforts. He boasts a 0.68 GAA and .822 save percentage with 176 career stops.