East Haven, Connecticut, senior safety is program's first Academic All-American® in 23 years, earning second team honors
CoSIDA Academic All-America® Football Team Announcement
Stonehill College's All-Time Academic All-Americans®
EASTON, Mass. (December 3, 2015) – Stonehill College senior co-captain Anthony Masucci (East Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) has earned a spot on the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® football second team as selected by the CoSIDA Academic All-America® committee.
Masucci, who will receive the 70th Annual Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award from the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston on December 17, is the second student-athlete in program history to earn Academic All-America® honors and the first since Kevin Broderick '93 was a second team selection in 1992. Masucci collected Academic All-America® honors for the first time after being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District™ team for Super Region 1 the last two years. He is the 23rd Academic All-American® in Stonehill history and the 13th male student-athlete to receive the honors. Masucci is also one of two Northeast-10 Conference student-athletes named to the football Academic All-America® team this year.
Masucci, who has earned a 3.59 cumulative grade point average as a finance major and economics minor at Stonehill, was a semifinalist for the 2015 National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame William V. Campbell Trophy and Scholar-Athlete Awards this fall. He was selected to the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference team as a junior and has been named to the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll all six semesters at the College to date.
Masucci earned All-Northeast-10 second team honors this fall, finishing his senior season ranked third on the team with 63 tackles (29 solo), including 4.0 for a loss of 15 yards, with an interception and four pass breakups. He led a Stonehill defense which ranks second in the NE-10 and 11th nationally in Division II for total defense, allowing just 279.2 yards per game, and second in the Conference for passing defense (17th nationally) at 158.5 yards per game. The Skyhawks lead the NE-10 (23rd) in rushing defense (120.6 yds/gm) and fourth (32nd) for scoring defense (20.9 ppg). The defense also ranks seventh nationally for first down defense (14.4 allowed per game) and 14th for third down conversion defense (30.6%).
Masucci, who posted a season-high 11 tackles (seven solo) at the University of New Haven on October 17, started 32 of the 42 games he played over his Stonehill career, including the last 22 straight. He capped his career with 203 tackles, with 101 solo, including 10.0 for a loss of 54 yards, with 0.5 sacks for a loss of three yards, two forced fumbles, five interceptions and ten pass breakups. Masucci is one of 17 players in program history with over 200 career tackles, posting a career-high 14 stops at Bloomsburg University as a sophomore in 2013.
Stonehill finished 2015 with its second winning season over the past three years, posting a 7-4 record overall, including 5-4 in NE-10 play to finish fourth in the Conference standings. The Skyhawks capped the season with three wins over their last four after a 17-14 win at third place Merrimack College during NE-10 Championship Weekend.
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