STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford All-Americans Jordan Morris and Brandon Vincent have been tabbed as potential contenders for the 2015 Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) announced Wednesday.
Thirty men and 28 women from NCAA Division I schools made the watch lists, which are compiled by the NSCAA Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I All-America Committees, based on analysis of returning All-America and All-Region players, as well as any prominent newcomers.
Along with Jane Campbell and Andi Sullivan on the women’s side, Stanford is the only institution in the country with multiple players named to both the men’s and women’s MAC Hermann Trophy Watch Lists.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in NCAA soccer presented annually to one male and one female athlete. The winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, at the trophy presentation banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
Stanford is the only team in the country returning multiple NSCAA/Continental Tire First Team All-Americans in 2015 in Morris and Vincent.
Morris, who has capped five times for the U.S. Men’s National Team, has become the face of college soccer in the past year. In November 2014 he became the first active collegian since 1995 to appear for the USMNT when he came on in the 76th minute in a friendly against Ireland in Dublin. On April 15, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas, Morris started and scored for the United States against Mexico, becoming the first college player to score for the USA since September 1992.
A 2014 MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist as a sophomore, Morris started all 15 games in which he played last season for Stanford tallying four goals, 14 points and a team-high six assists.
Vincent returns to The Farm for his senior campaign after captaining the Cardinal to its best season in a decade in 2014. In addition to receiving first team All-America honors, he was also the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Pac-12 first team selection and earned his second consecutive Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention nod. Precipitated by a move to left back prior to the season, Vincent exploded offensively while championing Stanford’s stout defense. He led the team and was tied for 13th in the conference with six goals after entering 2014 with just one goal in his first 38 career matches.
On Monday, the Cardinal received its highest preseason ranking in 12 years when it came in at No. 8 in the NSCAA Preseason Top 25.
Stanford is coming off a historic season in 2014, including the program’s first league title since 2001, a No. 1 NSCAA ranking, its most wins (13) since 2002 and its best winning percentage (.763) since 2001. The team went 13-3-3 overall and 6-1-3 in conference to advance to its second consecutive NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinal hosts exhibitions against CSU Bakersfield (August 17) and Santa Clara (August 22) before starting the 2015 season on the road at UC Santa Barbara on Friday, August 28. Stanford’s regular-season home opener takes place the following Friday (September 4) against Northeastern at 7 p.m.
Season tickets, mini plans and single-game seats are available by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or calling 800-STANFORD.
Near the end of the collegiate regular season, NCAA Division I coaches whose programs are current NSCAA College Services members will vote on their top choices and the lists will be narrowed down to the top 15 players. College soccer fans will also have the opportunity to participate in the selection process, by voting for their favorite semifinalist in November at the MAC Hermann Trophy website, managed by LockerDome.
From that pool of 30, six finalists (three men, three women) will be chosen for the award. The winners will be announced in January.