Ferris State Soccer Lone GLIAC School To Earn Ethics & Sportsmanship Praise

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's soccer program had a record-breaking season on the field under head coach Andy McCaslin this past fall and has received distinguished praise for the way in which it was accomplished.

The Bulldogs were recently the lone Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) program to be named to the 2015 National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award recipients list. FSU earned a "Silver" designation after accumulating only five yellow cards over 20 contests played during the season.

In the 2015 season, Ferris State posted a 14-5-1 overall record and went 9-2-1 in league play en route to a conference runner-up finish in regular season action under head coach Andy McCaslin.

A total of 82 college teams and 39 fall-competing high school teams were awarded either the Gold, Silver, or Bronze version of their respective NSCAA Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award.

The award recognizes teams that exhibit fair play, sporting behavior and adherence to the laws of the game, as reflected by the number of yellow caution cards or red ejection cards they are shown by referees throughout the season. It is based on the number of cards accumulated divided by the number of games played (i.e., 5 cards divided by 20 games played is 0.25 or 25%, which qualifies for a Silver Award).

Fifteen teams were recipients of the Gold Award, which is given to teams with a percentage of cards ranging from 1-10%.

A total of 42 teams claimed the Silver Award, which is given to teams that accumulate a percentage of cards ranging from 11-30%, while the Bronze Award went to 17 teams, which is presented to teams that accumulate a percentage of cards ranging from 31-50%.

This past season, Ferris State set a new school record with 14 victories overall and placed the highest in school history with a runner-up league regular season finish. FSU set a new school mark with nine league wins and posted a school all-time best 12-match unbeaten streak at one point this year.

Additionally, the Bulldogs also set a school record for most shutouts in a campaign (8) and most consecutive shutouts (4) while being ranked among the top six in the Midwest Region. FSU did not drop a match after the opening weekend of the season until mid-October under McCaslin's direction.