Six NCAA Division I Players Named
Soccer News: Three male and three female NCAA Division I athletes have been selected as finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy.
The men’s finalists are Georgetown senior forward Brandon Allen (Old Bridge, N.J.), Creighton junior forward Fabian Herbers (Ahaus, Germany), and Stanford senior forward Jordan Morris (Mercer Island, Wash.).
The women’s finalists are West Virginia junior defender Kadeisha Buchanan (Brampton, Ontario), Penn State senior midfielder Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica), and Virginia senior defender Emily Sonnet (Marietta, Ga.).
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual intercollegiate award administered by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and presented annually at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. This year’s trophy presentation and banquet will take place Friday, 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 on the MAC’s website hosted by LockerDome. The six semifinalists were the top vote-getters from the combined NSCAA coaches and weighted fan votes.
Some of the biggest names in American soccer history have won the award prior to going on to international stardom – including Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Claudio Reyna, Alexi Lalas and Tony Meola.
For more information about the history of the MAC Hermann Trophy and a list of past winners, visit the MAC Hermann Trophy page. For news and highlight reels from previous MAC Hermann presentations, visit www.machermanntrophy.org.
Men’s Finalists’ Bios
Brandon Allen
Georgetown
Senior Forward
Old Bridge, N.J.
Unanimous First Team All-BIG EAST … Became the program leader in career goals with 50 and also ranks third in career points … Led the Hoyas with 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points … Went 5-for-5 on penalty kicks … Tallied five game winners … Started all 20 games for the Hoyas … Ranked second in the league in points, third in goals and fourth in assists … Had two goals and one assist in Radford victory … Scored two goals in the win over Seton Hall … Scored a point in seven-consecutive games to close out the season … Team won the BIG EAST Regular Season and the BIG EAST Tournament … Squad has been on a 17-game unbeaten streak and 14-game win streak … Two-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week … Two-time BIG EAST Honor Roll … Two-time CollegeSoccerNews Team of the Week … Preseason All-BIG EAST…NSCAA named him 2015 First Team All-American and First Team All-Great Lakes Region.
Fabian Herbers
Creighton
Junior Forward
Ahaus, Germany
Herbers, the nation’s leading point scorer, recorded a point in 20 of Creighton’s 23 matches, helping the Bluejays to one of the best seasons in program history. Creighton, which topped the NSCAA Top 25 poll for a program-best eight consecutive weeks (Sept. 8-Oct. 27), got off to a 15-0-0 start this season, marking the best start for a Creighton team since 1993 (19-0-0) and best start by any team since Akron began 23-0-0 in 2009. The only player in NCAA Division I to rank among the nation’s top ten for goals (15) and assists (17), Herbers was unanimously selected as the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, marking the second-consecutive season in which he earned the accolade. He scored a point in each of the Bluejays’ first ten matches, becoming the first player in program history to do so since the program was relaunched in 1990. Former Creighton star and current MLS All-Star Ethan Finlay had a run of nine-straight such games in 2010. Herbers led Creighton with five game-winning goals, and was a perfect 4-for-4 on penalty kicks this season, becoming the first player in program history to convert four penalty kicks in a single season since Mike Tranchilla did so in 2002. With his two assists in Creighton’s national quarterfinal match versus Akron, Herbers set a new program record for single-season assists (17), surpassing Richard Mulrooney’s mark of 16 set in 1996 and 1998. His 47 points were fourth-most in Creighton single-season history. In just three seasons at Creighton, Herbers’ 85 career points rank fourth among active players in NCAA Division I.
Jordan Morris
Stanford
Junior Forward
Mercer Island, Wash.
NSCAA First Team All-American … NSCAA All-Far West Region First Team … Pac-12 Player of the Year … Stanford’s third-ever Pac-12 Player of the Year and first since 2001 … All-Pac-12 First Team … Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team … Has a career-high 11 goals in 16 appearances for Stanford in 2015 … Leads Stanford in goals (11) and points (25) … In his last 12 games with the Cardinal, has 10 goals, three assists and 23 points … Ninth in the country in game-winning goals (5), 12th in goals per game (0.69) and 13th in points per game (1.56) … Earlier this season, scored in five straight matches, becoming just the second Stanford player to do that since 1987 … Missed five collegiate matches due to responsibilities with U.S. Soccer … Split time between the senior team, making six appearances with the MNT in 2015, while also earning 11 caps with the U-23s, scoring six goals and tallying four assists … With the USMNT, scored against Mexico on April 15 and assisted on the game-winning goal against the Netherlands on June 5 … A Type 1 diabetic, also lent his support to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) “T1D Looks Like Me Campaign” for National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) in November.
Women’s Finalists’ Bios
Kadeisha Buchanan
West Virginia
Junior Defender
Brampton, Ont.
The three-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Buchanan started all 23 of the Mountaineers’ games at center back. The WVU backline recorded a program single-season record 15 shutouts, the third-best total in the NCAA, and allowed only 11 opponent goals all year, also a team record. WVU put together a program-record nine-match shutout streak this year (Aug. 28 – Sept. 25). One of three team captains, Buchanan played between two freshmen defenders for the majority of the season and assisted in the newcomers’ development. She tallied five points (1 G, 3 A), including the team’s game-winning goal at No. 15 Ohio State on Sept. 11. A three-time NSCAA All-American and three-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree, Buchanan led the Mountaineers to their fourth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title. The squad advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, only the second appearance in program history, and accumulated 19 victories, the most wins in program history. The Mountaineers were ranked in the top 10 nationally each week but two this season and hit a program-high No. 2 twice. Buchanan also was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team and the Big 12 All-Academic Second Team and earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week accolades twice.
A member of the full Canadian National Team, Buchanan started all five of Canada’s matches at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and was named the tournament’s Best Young Player and to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 All-Star Squad. Additionally, she was one of 10 players shortlisted for the 2015 Ballon d’Or Award as the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.
Raquel Rodriguez
Penn State
Senior Midfielder
San Jose, Costa Rica
Rodriguez started all 27 matches in the Nittany Lion midfield. On the year she tallied 18 points, which included six goals and six assists. Rodriguez capped off her Nittany Lion career on the field as she scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over the Duke Blue Devils in the 2015 Women’s College Cup Final. Her goal in the College Cup Final was the 23rd of her career and her ninth career game-winning goal. She also scored the game-winning goal in back-to-back matches for the Blue and White (Oct. 11 – Indiana and Oct. 15 – Purdue). Out of the 27 matches in 2015, Rodriguez played the full-time nine times, including a 0-0 draw against then-No. 21 Duke in late August.
Rodriguez brought home NSCAA All-America First Team and All-Great Lakes First Team honors, All-Big Ten First Team plaudits, and for her performance in the Women’s College Cup she was named to the All-Tournament Team and the Most Outstanding Player on Offense. The 2015 year has been a banner year for Rodriguez as she scored the first World Cup goal for the Costa Rican national team in Costa Rica’s World Cup debut on June 9 against Spain. She also made Penn State history by becoming the first Nittany Lion to score in a World Cup, and earned LYG Player of the Match honors.
Not only did Rodriguez excel on the pitch, she also succeeded in the classroom. For her hard work in the classroom, Rodriguez was named to the College Sports Information of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Two first team.
Emily Sonnett
Virginia
Senior Defender
Marietta, Ga.
Named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Named ESPNW National Player of the Year. Helped Virginia record 15 shutouts in 2015 with 14 victories and one scoreless draw. Has played 8,141 minutes in her career, the third most in Virginia history. Two-time All-ACC first team selection (2013, 2015) and a second team selection (2014). Scored three goals and added one assist in 2015. The 15 shutouts is one shy of the single-season record at Virginia. Anchored a defense that allowed only 12 goals on the season for a 0.52 goal against average and only six shots per game. Has been key in the Cavaliers posting 55 shutouts in her career at Virginia. Of the Cavaliers’ 84 wins in her last four seasons, 54 have been shutouts for a .643 shutout percentage with Sonnett anchoring the back line. Sonnett was named a first team NSCAA All-American this season, marking the second time she has earned NSCAA All-America honors after being named a third-team selection in 2014 when she was also named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the College Cup. She is a three-time NSCAA first team All-Southeast Region selection. Sonnett earned her first cap with the USWNT against Brazil as a part of the Victory Tour in Orlando, Fla., on October 25, 2015.
