Merchant Marine Academy cancels men's soccer season
KINGS POINT, N.Y. (AP) The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has canceled the fall season of its men's soccer team due to an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and hazing.
Newsday reports (http://nwsdy.li/2u1zONz ) Rear Admiral James Helis, the academy's superintendent, notified the NCAA that it would not participate in the 2017 NCAA men's soccer season.
Helis suspended the team in June amid a probe by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, the academy's overseer.
Seven suspended men's soccer players face campus disciplinary hearings. Prosecutors say they were sexually abusive toward a freshman player on the team bus last September.
The students sued after being barred from graduating. A judge let them participate in June graduation ceremonies but withheld their diplomas, for now.
The student's lawyers have denied the allegations.
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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com