STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford's All-American tandem of junior forward Jordan Morris and senior left back Brandon Vincent were named two of 15 semifinalists for the 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy, it was announced Tuesday.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual intercollegiate award administered by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), and presented annually at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. This year's trophy presentation and banquet will take place Friday, Jan. 8.
Three from the group of 15 will be named finalists in mid-December following a vote of NCAA Division I coaches. Soccer fans can also let their collective voice be heard by voting for their favorite player on the MAC's website hosted by LockerDome.
Morris and Creighton junior forward Fabian Herbers are the only holdovers from last season's semifinal list. Stanford's star has put together a season befitting of his stature in 2015. The Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 All-Academic second teamer has 10 goals in 15 appearances for Stanford this season. He leads the Cardinal with career highs in both goals (10) and points (23). Morris is ninth in the country in game-winning goals (5), 15th in goals per game (0.67), 14th in points per game (1.53) and earlier this season scored in five straight matches, becoming just the second Stanford player to do that since 1987.
On Sunday night, Morris' brace against No. 14 Ohio State led Stanford to a 3-1 win and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. It was his second career multi-goal effort and first since Sept. 27, 2013 at UC Santa Barbara. Stanford (16-2-2) meets No. 1 Wake Forest (17-2-2) at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. ET with the winner earning a trip to the College Cup.
Morris missed five collegiate matches this season due to responsibilities with U.S. Soccer. He 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, Morris scored against Mexico on April 15 and assisted on the game-winning goal against the Netherlands on June 5. A Type 1 diabetic, he also lent his support to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF) “T1D Looks Like Me Campaign” for National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) in November.
Vincent, the 2015 Pac-12 Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year, has anchored Stanford's back line over the past four years, starting in each and every one of his 77 appearances. The two-time captain has also claimed back-to-back Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors and is the only person to ever win the award, which was instituted last season.
Third on the team in goals (5) and fifth in points (11), Vincent's defensive work has championed a Stanford unit that is 11th in the nation in goals against average (0.67) and 21st in shutout percentage (0.45). In August, he was called by U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Andi Herzog for the first College Identification Training Camp. Vincent scored the third goal for the U.S. in its 3-1 win over Club Tijuana's Segunda Premier Team, which wrapped camp on August 7.
The Cardinal senior is also one of 10 men's finalists for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer. That award is given to a NCAA Division I senior student-athlete who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Academically, the senior owns a 3.3 GPA and has twice been a Pac-12 all-academic selection. One of 23 Stanford student-athletes majoring in economics, Vincent will graduate two quarters early, finishing his studies at the end of the fall session.
Stanford was the only team in the country that welcomed back multiple 2014 NSCAA/Continental Tire First Team All-Americans this season in Morris and Vincent.
