STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford redshirt junior center back Tanner Beason was named one of 15 semifinalists for the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy it was announced Tuesday.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual intercollegiate award administered by United Soccer Coaches and presented annually at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. This year's trophy presentation and banquet will take place Friday, Jan. 4.
Three from the group of 15 will be named finalists in mid-December following a vote of NCAA Division I coaches.
The MAC Hermann Trophy, the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer, has been awarded annually since 1967. In 2015, two-time Stanford All-American and 2016 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year Jordan Morris became the first Cardinal men's player to win the honor.
Beason, who was not on the award's preseason watch list, has played himself into contention with a brilliant junior campaign. Vital to the Cardinal's run to a fifth consecutive outright league title, Beason was voted both the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, the first in conference history to receive both honors. He led the Pac-12 in both goals (6) and points (15) in conference matches and has career-high totals of seven goals and five assists this season.
The Winston-Salem, N.C. native has started all 66 career games on the Cardinal's back line. Stanford has posted a 0.49 goals against average since his redshirt freshman season in 2016, has finished in the top four nationally that category the past two years and is currently sixth this season (0.514). The Cardinal has also posted 41 shutouts in Beason's 66 appearances (62.1 percent) and is in the midst of a run of 14 consecutive postseason shutouts spanning 1,414:20 of match time, both NCAA records.
A two-time All-Pac-12 first team selection and two-time College Cup All-Tournament Team pick, Beason has led Stanford to a 46-8-12 (.788) overall record the past three years.
The Cardinal continues its quest for a fourth consecutive national championship when it hosts Akron in a quarterfinal on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. Friday's match against the Zips will be the first quarterfinal at Stanford since 2002. The Cardinal has advanced to its past three College Cups with road victories in the round of eight, with wins at Wake Forest in 2015 and 2017 and Louisville in 2016.
