HELENA, Mont. -- The United Soccer Coaches awarded the Carroll College men's soccer team the Team Academic Award for excellence in the classroom. 

"We continue to build on our reputation of academic excellence," Saints coach Doug Mello said. "With Javi (Porras) being named the national scholar-athlete of the year, we've come to expect great things of our student-athletes here at Carroll College."

Mello's teams have garnered the award every year he's coached at Carroll College, while the 2017-18 team's placement in the Top 30 among all four-year colleges is the highest the Saints have ever finished.

To receive the award, a team must post a GPA of 3.0 or better. 

"United Soccer Coaches annually celebrates the academic achievements of high school and college soccer teams whose student-athletes collectively demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their studies over the course of a full academic year," according to the USC description of the honor. 

The Saints' performed well in the classroom this past year. Porras won the United Soccer Coaches National Scholar Player of the Year in the NAIA earlier this winter. In addition, Chris Brayton, Terry Cox, Alessio Georgiades and Konar Skindlov were named Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes.