Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s medal winners represent ten sports programs. The women’s rowing team led the way with six student-athletes, followed closely by the women’s soccer and softball teams with five each.

At least 32 Knights have earned medals during three of the last four years.

“Achieving a GPA of 3.75 or higher is a tremendous accomplishment for our student-athletes, who work hard in their classes while balancing the rigorous demands of their sports,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury. “The fact that so many of our student-athletes have earned academic recognitions from Conference USA is a testament to their determination and the support of our dedicated faculty members, coaches and academic advisors.”

C-USA announced its academic honor roll (3.0 GPA or better) Tuesday, and 221 Knights were on the list. That total ranked second among all C-USA schools and first among the league’s public institutions.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s student-athletes have collectively achieved a GPA of at least 3.0 for each of the last eight semesters.

In October, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ posted a program-best 83 percent Graduation Success Rate, which tied with the University of Florida for the top rating among Florida’s public universities.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s academic medal winners are listed below in alphabetical order by sport:

Football: Jacob Bundy (Business Economics) and  (Social Science Education master’s program)

Men’s Golf: Ìý(µþ³Ü²õ¾±²Ô±ð²õ²õ-±è±ð²Ô»å¾±²Ô²µ)

Women’s Rowing: Jesse Baldwin (Communication Science and Disorders), (Finance), (Elementary Education with a Coaching minor), Kelsey McCreary (Cinema Studies), Beatriz Merino (Pre-Clinical Allied Health with a Spanish minor) and  (Sport and Exercise Science/Psychology)

Men’s Soccer: Augusto Braccialli (Civil Engineering), (Psychology), (Molecular and Microbiology) and Ìý(±Ê²õ²â³¦³ó´Ç±ô´Ç²µ²â)

Women’s Soccer: (Biomedical Sciences), (Public Administration/Nonprofit Management), (Psychology), (Biology) and  (Communication Sciences and Disorders)

Softball: (Early Childhood Education), (Hospitality Management), (Elementary Education), (µþ¾±´Ç±ô´Ç²µ²â)Ìý²¹²Ô»å  (Mathematics Education)

Men’s Tennis: (Finance-pending) and  (Interdisciplinary Studies with a Math minor)

Women’s Tennis:  (Communication Sciences and Disorders)

Track and Field: (Undeclared), (Athletic Training), (Elementary Education) and Ìý(±Ê³ó¾±±ô´Ç²õ´Ç±è³ó²â)

Volleyball: (Marketing) and  (Molecular Biology and Microbology)

As a result of Sunday’s big win, the Knights have matched the 1997 and 2001 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ squads for the best start in school history at the Division I level.

The Knights, who outshot Mercer (1-3-1) 17-8 during the match, led 2-0 at halftime after a pair of goals from sophomore McKauly Tulloch (Kingston, Jamaica). The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ advantage grew to 4-0 nine minutes into the second half after junior Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) and senior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) both scored within a minute.

“I was really happy with our player’s attitude,” Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “We were playing on the road and our approach was very professional. We were ready to go at the opening whistle, and never looked back.”

Tulloch, who scored on a quick turnaround shot from 20 yards out 15 minutes into the match and then beat Mercer goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh on a breakaway setup by Robson with 40:54 on the clock, recorded six shots and also assisted on Cooksey’s goal. The Knights were aggressive from the start as Tulloch had a pair of shots on goal the first five minutes of the match. Later, his two goals brought his total on the year to eight in only five matches.

Robson opened the scoring in the second half by getting past Ranjitsingh on a penalty kick at the 48:43 mark. Less than one minute later, Tulloch took a shot and Cooksey scored off the rebound.

Three minutes after the Bears got on the board with a Ehjayson Henry goal, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ junior Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored from inside the box, assisted by Cooksey and senior Kevan George (Decatur, Ga.).

Nineteen Knights saw action against the Bears.

“We were good going forward today. A lot of players got involved,” Cunningham said. “It was good to see us finish our chances. We were able to get every player minutes today. That will help us in the long run.”

Junior Shawn Doyle (Fort Myers, Fla.) logged just over 71 minutes in the winning effort and posted one save before sophomore Will Hectico (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) entered the contest.

Junior Ben Hunt (Auckland, New Zealand) scored the Knights’ opening goal in the 37th minute. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ improved to 3-0 with the victory.

“Belmont is a very good team, much credit to them and their coaching staff,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “They came out prepared and they made it difficult for us so we had to play hard and when we got that third goal it put the game away.”

Hunt’s goal came from a header off a throw in from senior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.), who collected an assist along with Tulloch.

Tulloch’s first goal was a cross shot over the box into the far left corner of the net. Senior Spencer Scott (Palm City, Fla.) collected the assist.

Belmont’s (1-2) Brandon Tarr scored the lone goal for the Bruins in the 80th minute to bring the score to 2-1.

Tulloch’s second goal came in the 82nd minute as he tripped up the Belmont goalkeeper for an easy tap in. The Knights outshot the Bruins 22-14, and had the advantage in corner kicks 7-3.

“From the coaching staff, to the trainers and down to the guys on the field we all want to win and we all strive for perfection,” Cunningham added. “It’s fun to watch how intense they are in training and in everything we do and it pays off.”

Junior goalkeeper Shawn Doyle played 90 minutes for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and put aside five shots.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ again scored a late first-half goal, with junior Warren Creavalle (Acworth, Ga.) netting his second of the season with just 40 seconds remaining. Sophomore Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico), fresh off his first career goal in the Knights’ last game, picked up an assist, as well as senior and team captain Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) on the game’s opening tally.

“It was huge for us to get that goal and some momentum headed into the half,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said.

“After scoring out first goal, we are always looking for that second goal,” Creavalle said. “After half, we wanted to go out and we were able to get it early on in the half.”

That early second-half goal came from junior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) in the 56th minute. The third-year forward was able to take a pass from Creavalle and find the back of the net for his fourth of the season. Sophomore Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) was also credited with an assist after putting the centering pass to Creavalle to start the play.

Robson was not done, collecting the primary assist on Luiz Yamashita’s (Sao Paulo, Brazil) goal in the 70th minute for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s third goal. Robson’s shot was blocked out into the middle of the penalty box to a waiting Yamashita, who corralled the loose ball and put into the net for his second goal in as many games.

Robson now has three assists in his last two games and has at least one point in each of the Knights’ last seven contests.

After holding the Tigers without a shot through the first 82 minutes of play, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) was tested several times in the final minutes. Stopping a Memphis shot pointblank, Doyle also had to turn aside a rebound from the foot of Parker Duncan waiting on the door step.

The second-year keeper has now posted consecutive shutouts and has five this season.

“As a whole, the team has played really hard and that’s what we’ve been trying to do this entire year,” Doyle said. “We’ve had the success so far because we have outworked teams and I think that defensively we have been grinding out games and that’s how we have these shutouts.”

The Knights’ defense again was on its game, limiting opportunities and tightening in the final minutes with Memphis continuing to sustain offensive pressure.

“This is a conference game and you knew that Memphis would be fighting every minute of the match,” Cunningham added. “Credit to all the players for holding that team off in the late stages and not allow them to score one against us, which is always nice.”

The Knights head back on the road for their next game. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on Kentucky on Oct. 13 for the start of a three-game road swing.

“Marshall is an extremely tough place to play and win,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “I am proud of the team and the way everyone played today. It’s tough to give up a goal late in the game, but we kept the pressure on and it paid off with the goal in overtime.”

The game remained scoreless through the first half despite Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s offense converging on goal. Marshall goalkeeper Daniel Withrow turned aside four shots from the Knights in the first 45 minutes to keep Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ off the board.

It took until the 75th minute for the game’s first goal to be scored. For the third consecutive game, sophomore Nik Robson found the back of the net for the Knights. His sixth tally of the year came on penalty kick and gave his team a 1-0 lead.

Marshall would not let that lead stand for long, scoring nearly six minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Matt Risher headed a freekick from the foot of Withrow into the top left corner of the goal past Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ goalkeeper Shawn Doyle for the equalizer in the 81st minute.

With neither side able to score the winner in the final nine minutes of regulation, the game headed into overtime.

Just over eight minutes into the extra session, senior Yaron Bacher’s shot was deflected by Cooksey for the game winner. Cookey got just enough of Bacher’s shot to redirect it into the right corner of the goal past Withrow to end the game and give his team the win.

Prior to Sunday, the Knights had yet to play an overtime game in 2010, while Marshall had played in four games that reached extra time, including in each of its last two contests.

The win pushed Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s record to 3-2 on its five-game road swing. The Knights have not been home since defeating Florida Atlantic, 4-0, on Sept. 6.

“It hasn’t been easy being on the road the last three weekends,” Cunningham said. “I am proud of the guys for beating a very good and disciplined Marshall team on the road. I hope that a win like this will help us continue to play well as we come back home.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will return home for its next game on Saturday, Oct. 2 when it hosts SMU at 7 p.m.