BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University field hockey team is one of 147 NCAA Division III programs to earn the 2019 Zag Sports/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Academic Team Award. The news was announced by an NFHCA press release on Wednesday, March 5th.

The National Academic Team Award recognizes programs that earned a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. The Bears posted an impressive 3.24 GPA for the 2019 fall semester.

MIT posted the highest team GPA with a mark of 3.84. Second on the top-five list was William Paterson University with a 3.75 team GPA. Coming in third were the 2019 NCAA Division III National Champions, Middlebury College, with a 3.71. Wells College and Alvernia University rounded out the top-five performers with team GPAs of 3.69 and 3.66, respectively.

Bridgewater State is one of ten Little East Conference (LEC) field hockey programs to earn the award. The Bears are joined by Castleton University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Fitchburg State University, Keene State College, Plymouth State University, University of Southern Maine, Western Connecticut State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University.

For a full list of the 147 DIII programs, click here.

The Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad (individual) will be announced on March 12th.