STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford senior defender Brandon Vincent was one of 10 men’s soccer student-athletes selected as finalists for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer it was announced Monday.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 men’s candidates and 30 women’s candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 23. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2015 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup® championships in December.
A two-time team captain, Vincent was featured in FUEL Soccer Magazine’s fall issues. The publication, put together with the help of U.S. Youth Soccer, highlighted his leadership attributes in its “Are You Ready” profiles under the heading “Team Leader.”
Academically, the senior is of 23 Stanford student-athletes majoring in economics, owns a 3.3 GPA and has twice been a Pac-12 all-academic selection.
Vincent, the only Pac-12 representative on the men’s candidate list, is one of the most accomplished players in collegiate soccer and has led the Cardinal to its most successful two-season stretch in a decade. Stanford is currently ranked third in the nation, eighth in the official NCAA RPI and sits at the top of the Pac-12 table with the country’s 11th-best defense by goals against average (0.61)
Stanford (11-1-2, 4-0-2) hasn’t lost since a season-opening setback at UC Santa Barbara, is unbeaten in 13 straight and has won 11 in that stretch. The Cardinal has only had one better run in program history, when it went 20 straight without a loss from Oct. 25, 1996 to Oct. 26, 1997. Stanford is also unbeaten in its last 14 conference matches dating back to last season, going 9-0-5 over that span.
Offensively, Vincent is third on the team with four goals in 2015, and has 10 over Stanford’s last 30 matches after scoring just once in his first 41 career games.
In addition to receiving first team All-America honors as a junior, Vincent 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.
This season, Vincent is on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Best XI First Team and the Preseason All-Pac-12 squad. In early August, he was one of 28 collegians called by U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Andi Herzog to Carson, California for the first College Identification training camp and scored the United States’ third goal in its 3-1 win over Club Tijuana’s Segunda Premier Team, a result which wrapped up the camp on August 7.
Stanford hosts San Diego State (6-6-2, 1-5-0) at Cagan Stadium tonight beginning at 7 p.m. in a match televised on the Pac-12 Networks.