(New York, NY) – On the heels of a successful season of Skyline Conference play, the Yeshiva University Men's and Women's Soccer teams have earned the 2008 Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Awards. The honor marks the first time either program has earned the conference's top sportsmanship honor, during their second season of play in the Skyline Conference.

“Earning the Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Award is a great away to top-off a terrific season for both of our soccer programs,” said Director of Athletics Joe Bednarsh. “We saw both programs make tremendous strides this season and close the competitive gap between Yeshiva and the rest of the conference. Most importantly, win or lose, our teams have been recognized for exhibiting the ideals of fair play, team work, and sportsmanship that we hope of all our student-athletes, and I am very proud of every member of our soccer teams and excellent coaching staffs for a job well done. Of all of the honors and awards we could receive, I consider the team Sportsmanship Award and overall Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Trophy to be among the most important. I am very pleased that this academic year is off to a great start with two programs earning the Sportsmanship Award.”

The Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Award is a post-season award for each of the Conference's 17 sports. During the balloting process, each Head Coach offers a sportsmanship rating for the other programs within the conference, and the program with the highest rating receives the Sportsmanship Award. At the end of the academic year, the institution with the highest combined sportsmanship rating receives the Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Trophy for the year. During the 2007-08 academic year, Yeshiva University received the inaugural conference trophy as YU's Women's Tennis, Men's Basketball, and Baseball teams earned the honor.