The finalists for the NCAA Division I Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy were announced Friday.
The men’s finalists for the top individual award in college soccer are Georgetown senior forward Brandon Allen, Creighton junior forward Fabian Herbers and Stanford senior forward Jordan Morris. The women’s finalists are West Virginia junior defender Kadeisha Buchanan, Penn State senior midfielder Raquel Rodriguez and Virginia senior defender Emily Sonnet.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual intercollegiate award administered by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and is presented annually at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. This year’s trophy presentation and banquet will take place Jan. 8, 2016.
NCAA Division I coaches that are NSCAA College Services members voted for their top choices from the list of 15 men and 15 women named semifinalists in early December. Soccer fans were also encouraged to vote for their favorite player. The six semifinalists were the top vote-getters from the combined NSCAA coaches and weighted fan votes.
Morris, a member of the Seattle Sounders Academy and a US international, was named NSCAA First Team All-American, to the NSCAA All-Far West Region First Team and the Pac-12 Player of the Year after notching a career-high 11 goals in 16 appearances for Stanford this season.
Morris is also the only finalist still alive in this year’s College Cup, whose Stanford team will take on Akron in one of two semifinal matches Friday night at Sporting Kansas City’s Sporting Park (8:30 pm ET; ESPNU, WatchESPN).
Allen was unanimous First Team All-Big East and became Georgetown’s leader in career goals with 50 after scoring 12 this year, along with seven assists. He was also recently invited to the 2016 adidas MLS Player Combine.
Herbers was the nation’s leading point scorer, recording a point in 20 of Creighton’s 23 matches to lead the Blue Jays to one of their best seasons in program history. Herbers was the only Division I player to rank in the nation’s top 10 for goals (15) and assists (17) to unanimously win Big East Offensive Player of the Year.
Buchanan, a Canadian international, is the three-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Rodriguez started all 27 matches in the Penn State midfield this year and tallied six goals and six assits. She capped her career by scoring the only goal in the Nittany Lion’s 1-0 victory over Duke in the 2015 Women’s College Cup final.
Sonnett was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in helping Virginia record 15 shutouts in 2015. She also recently received her first US women’s national team cap, against Brazil on Oct. 25, during the team’s victory tour.
