NSCAA/ADIDAS SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA TEAM
NSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-NORTH/CENTRAL REGION TEAM

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College men's soccer players Alex Hildebrandt (SR, St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) and Van Hong (JR, St. Louis Park, Minn.) earned recognition for their academic achievements from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, it was announced on Sunday.

For the second year in a row, Hildebrandt earned NSCAA/Adidas Scholar All-America honors as a first-team recipient. Hildebrandt was also named as a first-team Scholar All-North/Central Region honoree, while Hong was a third-team Scholar All-North/Central Region honoree.

An accounting/finance major with a 3.83 grade-point average, Hildebrandt has earned numerous honors both in the classroom and on the field during his Augsburg career. Hildebrandt was one of just two repeat selections among the 24 selections to the two NSCAA/Adidas Scholar All-America College Division teams, and the lone repeat first-team honoree.

Earlier this season, he earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second-team and Academic All-District first-team honors, in addition to earning NSCAA All-North Region first-team honors and All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors for the second straight year.

In 2008, Hildebrandt earned nearly every honor a collegiate soccer player can receive, earning NSCAA/Adidas Division III All-America second-team and NSCAA/Adidas All-Far West Region first-team honors. In the classroom, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America and Academic All-District squads, in addition to earning NSCAA/Adidas Scholar All-Region, Scholar All-America and Academic All-MIAC honors. He was also an All-MIAC honorable-mention honoree in 2006, and earned All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team honors in both 2008 and 2009.

This season, Hildebrandt finished with four goals for eight points in 1,464 minutes played (93.0 percent of Augsburg's 1,573 team minutes this season), including two game-winning goals. In his career at Augsburg (71 games), Hildebrandt finished with 14 goals and nine assists for 37 points, including five game-winning goals.

A forward, Hong is a biology/pre-medicine major with a 3.56 GPA. Hong has been a strong playmaker in the Auggie lineup, finishing this season with two goals and an assist for five points, appearing in 14 games (11 starts) and playing 969 minutes. Hong scored a goal in Augsburg's 2-0 win over Central (Iowa) on Sept. 7, and also scored in Augsburg's 2-0 win at St. Mary's on Oct. 27.

In two seasons at Augsburg after playing his first season at Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hong has appeared in 35 games (28 starts), with two goals and three assists for seven points.

Augsburg finished 8-8-1 overall, 3-7-0 in MIAC play this season, the sixth under head coach Greg Holker.