WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University senior center-back Weston Zeiner (North Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) has been named to the Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America® Men's Soccer first team, as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Zeiner was a Capital One Academic All-America second team selection as a junior, becoming the first player in the men's soccer team's history to earn Academic All-America distinction. Now, he adds first team Academic All-America honors to his impressive list of accomplishments.

"I am ecstatic to be a recipient of this honor. Over the past four years at Bentley, I have found it very challenging to be successful at balancing the academic, athletic and social demands of a student-athlete," said Zeiner. "Therefore, I receive this award with great pride knowing that my efforts have been nationally recognized by the CoSIDA committee. However, I could not have been so successful without the incredible support, inspiration, and guidance that I received from my family, friends, teammates, professors, and coaches."

An accountancy major with a 3.84 grade point average, Zeiner was named to the Academic All-District 1 team in early November for the second straight year, making him eligible for the All-America ballot.

Bentley's team captain, Zeiner led the Falcons to a 10-5-2 overall record this season and the fourth-seed in the Northeast-10 playoffs. His list of accomplishments from just his senior season saw him be named the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous first team All-Conference choice and Daktronics All-East Region first team.

Zeiner, just the eighth student-athlete in Bentley history to earn Academic All-America honors more than once, started all 17 matches for the Falcons in 2012 and contributed two goals and two assists from his center-back position.

"I have worked with college players for close to 20 years, and Weston has been one of the best players that I have come across in the college game," said head coach Gary Crompton. "He is not only a gifted player, but he is a true gentleman and a scholar. And not only is he one of the best players in the country, but he is also one of the hardest working as well."   

The three other defensive players along with Zeiner to earn first team Academic All-America honors are seniors Ryan Bennett of Indianapolis, Matt Duffy of Eckerd and Zachary Page-Belknap of Colorado School of Mines. Senior Marc Herschberger of Metropolitan State was named the Division II men's soccer Academic All-America of the Year.

The Capital One Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011-12 D-III Academic All-America® teams program.