STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford's Tanner Beason was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first in conference history to receive both honors.
He is among seven Cardinal to receive All-Pac-12 recognition, joining forward Amir Bashti and goalkeeper Andrew Thomas on the first team.
Beason, a redshirt junior and management science and engineering major from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a team captain and a first-year starter in central defense. Beason started at left back the previous two seasons before replacing the graduated Tomas Hilliard-Arce in the middle alongside Adam Mosharrafa.
Beason was vital to Stanford's run to a fifth consecutive Pac-12 outright title. The Cardinal (11-3-4) begins NCAA tournament play Sunday at 5:30 p.m. against UC Irvine or Grand Canyon in a quest for its fourth consecutive national crown.
This is the fourth consecutive year a Stanford player has received Player of the Year honors, following Jordan Morris (2015) and Foster Langsdorf (2016, 2017). Stanford never has failed to win the Defender of the Year award since it was created in 2014, with Beason following Brandon Vincent (2014, 2015) and Hilliard-Arce (2016, 2017).
Beason helped Stanford lead the conference in goals allowed (11), goals-against average (0.57), and shutouts (10). The Cardinal is No. 7 nationally in shutout percentage (.556, 10 in 18 matches) and No. 8 in GAA.
This is Beason's second appearance on the All-Pac-12 first team. This is the first for Bashti and Thomas.
Bashti, a senior science, technology, and society major, leads the Cardinal in goals (7), assists (6), and points (20). Thomas, a redshirt freshman and first-year starter, had a conference-leading 0.55 GAA and 9 shutouts. This is the first all-conference selection for each.
Here is a complete list of Stanford's All-Pac-12 honorees:
Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Tanner Beason
First team
Amir Bashti, sr., Forward/Midfield
Tanner Beason, RS jr., Defense
Andrew Thomas, RS fr., Goalkeeper
Second Team
Jared Gilbey, jr., Midfield
Zach Ryan, RS fr., Forward
Honorable Mention
Logan Panchot, so., Midfield/Defense
Charlie Wehan, so., Forward