Jan. 11, 2002

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s soccer defenders Andreas Forstner (Gerlinden, Germany) and Griffin Howard (San Diego, Calif.) were named to the Verizon District V Men’s Soccer All-Academic team. The Irish duo now advances to the national ballot and both are eligible for national Academic All-America honors. National teams for the first-ever selection in men’s soccer will be announced on February 5, 2002.

Forstner and Griffin helped the Irish to a second-place finish this year in the BIG EAST regular season standings. Notre Dame had a 12-7 overall record and earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament as the Irish advanced to NCAA play for the first time since the 1996 campaign. The tandem helped the Irish record eight shutouts this past season and post a 0.98 team goals against average.

Forstner, a junior who completed his final year of eligibility in 2001, was a three-year starter for the Irish and one of just three Irish players this past season to start all 19 games. He played in 54 career games in three seasons and made 53 starts (including a string of 36 straight). Forstner scored a goal and dished off three assists this season and finished his Irish career with two goals and an assist.

Enrolled in the College of Science with a double major in science and business, Forstner has been named to the Dean’s List all five semesters at Notre Dame and owns a cumulative 3.557 grade point average. One of three captains on this year’s team, he earned BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week honors three times during his career. A two-time member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star team, Forstner was a member of Notre Dame’s Academic Honors Program which pairs academically gifted student-athletes with a faculty mentor.

Howard earned all-BIG EAST honors in ’01 for the first time in his career as a second-team honoree. An Irish captain this season, he was a BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week selection and was selected to the all-tournament team at the Umbro/Spinx Furman Invitational. The Irish fifth-year player finished with a goal and an assist this season.

A Dean’s List student, Howard received his bachelor’s degree in May of 2002 in accounting from the Mendoza College of Business with a cumulative grade index of 3.473. Currently, he is enrolled as a graduate student and is pursuing a master’s degree in accounting.