LOWELL, Mass. – Thirteen members of the UMass Lowell Hockey team have been named to the 2015-16 Hockey East All-Academic Team which was announced Thursday afternoon by the conference office.
 
Six of the thirteen were honored for the first time and seven made their second appearance on the All-Academic Team.  Those making the team for the first time were freshmen defenseman Avni Berisha (Lake Ariel, Pa.), goalie Sean Cleary (Centerville, Mass.), forward Nick Master (Broomall, Pa.) and defenseman Jake Townsend (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and sophomores defenseman Chris Forney (Thief River Falls, Minn.) and forward C.J. Smith (Des Moines, Iowa.)  The second time honorees included sophomores forward Gage Hough (Omaha, Neb.), forward Jake Kamrass (Atlanta, Ga.) forward Michael Louria (Wexford, Pa.) and defenseman Tyler Mueller (Regina, Sask.), juniors forward Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) and defenseman Dylan Zink (Madison, Wis.) and senior forward Robert Francis (San Diego, Calif.)
 
Mueller topped the list with a team leading 3.78 grade point average.
 
"We're very proud that thirteen players earned spots on the Hockey East All-Academic team," said UMass Lowell Hockey Head Coach Norm Bazin. "These young men continue to demonstrate a strong understanding of what our team culture is all about. We are very proud of our student athletes and the manner in which they conduct themselves on and off the ice. They value the world class education they are receiving here at UMass Lowell."
 
The 13 are part of a group of 115 student-athletes who achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or better in each of the two academic periods during the past season.  Only one school, Merrimack, placed more players on the All-Academic Team.
 
The UMass Lowell Hockey team was earlier honored by the University as the men's recipient of the Bob Griffin Award as the team with the highest grade point average, 3.21.