STANFORD, Calif. – Ousseni Bouda was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year to headline Stanford's eight honorees when the league announced its all-conference awards on Wednesday.
Bouda is the third Cardinal to receive recognition as Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, joining Aaron Kovar (2012) and Bobby Warshaw (2007). The first-year player from Burkina Faso leads Stanford with 15 points this season, is third in goals (5) and fourth in assists (5), all numbers that are in the top 10 in the league.
Bouda, the only freshman on the All-Pac-12 first team, was joined by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Thomas and senior midfielder Derek Waldeck on that first XI. Redshirt senior center back Tanner Beason, senior midfielder Jared Gilbey and junior defender Logan Panchot landed on the All-Pac-12 second team and redshirt sophomore forward Zach Ryan and junior midfielder Charlie Wehan earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention accolades.
A back-to-back, first-team selection, Thomas heads into the postseason 13th in the country in goals against average (0.623) and 15th in solo shutouts (8). In two years as a starter, the London native has already put together 19 clean sheets, good for fourth in school history. His 0.845 career save percentage leads all active players and his 0.625 career goals against average is second.
Waldeck is having a career year with personal bests in goals (3), assists (6) and points (12) in his final season in a Stanford uniform. His 20 career assists are currently 10th in program history just behind Corey Woolfolk (21; 1997-2000) and Walter Kingson (22; 1980-83).
Beason, last year's Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, missed eight matches during conference play due to injury, but returned in the Cardinal's regular-season finale against Cal last Thursday night. The MAC Hermann Trophy candidate has three goals and an assist in 10 games.
Gilbey and Panchot are tied with Waldeck for the team lead, fifth in the Pac-12 and 77th in the country with six assists. Gilbey's 17 career assists are 13th in program history behind Matt Moses (18; 1998 and 2000-01) while Panchot received his first career Pac-12 Player of the Week award on Nov. 5 following three assists on four Cardinal goals in wins over San Diego State and UCLA.
Ryan is tied for the team lead and is fourth in the conference with six goals. On Nov. 7 he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District men's soccer team along with Panchot and Thomas and is now eligible to receive academic All-America distinction in the coming weeks.
Wehan, who had three goals in his first two seasons at Stanford, has that many this season after scoring the winner at UCLA on Oct. 10. As a freshman in 2017, two of his 11 shots were on target (.182) and last season it was seven of 24 (.292). This year, 13 of Wehan's 25 attempts have been on frame, or 52.0 percent.
Stanford begins its NCAA Tournament at home on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's first-round match between LMU and Seattle.
