It's a telling fact about the state of college soccer in 2019 that we didn't already have a thread for this. Anyway, the MAC Hermann committee announced the 15 semi-finalists for this year's award. Josh Bauer Jr D New Hampshire Bedford, N.H. Tanner Beason Sr. D Stanford Winston-Salem, N.C. Joe Bell Jr M Virginia Wanaka, New Zealand Matthew Bentley Sr F Missouri State London, England Miguel Berry Sr. F San Diego Poway, Calif. Blake Bodily Jr M Washington Eagle, Idaho Anders Engebretsen Sr F Saint Mary's (Calif.) Oslo, Norway Cal Jennings Sr F UCF Roswell, Ga. Henry Kessler Jr D Virginia New York, N.Y. Bruno Lapa Sr M Wake Forest Curitiba, Brazil Philip Mayaka Fr. M Clemson Nairobi, Kenya Aaron Molloy Sr M Penn State Dublin, Ireland Eddie Munjoma Sr D SMU McKinney, Texas Dylan Nealis Sr D Georgetown Massapequa, N.Y. Robbie Robinson Jr F Clemson Camden, S.C.
Here's a look at each player's resume. Josh Bauer, (redshirt) Jr. D, New Hampshire - Bedford, NH The center back scored 4 goals and 5 assists and anchored a defense that helped UNH post the third-best GAA in college soccer, lose only two games and make the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Chances of making the final three: - Low Tanner Beason, (redshirt) Sr. D, Stanford - Winston-Salem, NC Beason missed eight games, which will likely hurt his chances, but he still scored 4 goals (3 on PKs) and an assist while helping Stanford, which is still alive in the NCAA Tournament, post the sixth-best defense in the country. Chances of making the final three: - Fair Joe Bell, Jr. M, Virginia - Wanaka, New Zealand The Kiwi was the ACC midfielder of the year on the nation's top team and is still alive in the NCAA Tournament. He doesn't have the flashiest numbers - 4 goals (all on PKs) and 4 assists but he's one of the best two-way mids in college soccer and besides winning, he's helped the Cavs have the stingiest defense in college soccer. Chances of making the final three: Good Matthew Bentley, Sr. F, Missouri State - London, England In his first season in D-I, the West Virginia Wesleyan transfer scored 13 goals and 4 assists and helped the Bears enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated. But, they lost their conference final in PKs and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, both of which hurt Bentley's case. Chances of making the final three: None Miguel Berry, Sr. F, San Diego - Poway, CA In the regular season, Berry posted strong numbers, scoring 17 goals (which was tied for the most in D-I heading into the NCAA Tournament) and eight assists and was the West Coast Conference co-player of the year. But the Toreros failed to make the NCAA Tournament (44 RPI), which really dampens Berry's chances. Chances of making the final three: Poor Blake Bodily, Jr. M, Washington - Eagle, ID A wide midfielder, Bodily was named the Pac-12 player of the year after he led the Huskies to a Pac-12 title with 12 goals and six assists and now they're a win from their first College Cup. Chances of making the final three: Good Anders Engebretsen, Sr. F, Saint Mary's - Oslo, Norway The WCC co-player of the year has the numbers - 16 goals, 8 assists, and the regular season wins (conference title) to make a good case but the Gaels were upset (handily) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which really hurts here. Chances of making the final three: Fair Cal Jennings, Sr. F, Central Florida - Roswell, GA Jennings' 18 goals (none on PKs) is tied for the most in D-I and he led his team to the Sweet 16, where he scored a goal before losing in overtime. If this were a cumulative award over two seasons, Jennings, who scored 20 a year ago, would be the front-runner and that this season isn't a fluke might factor in some votes. Chances of making the final three: Strong Henry Kessler, Jr. D, Virginia - New York, N.Y. The 6-4 center back only scored one goal but he's helped UVa post 15 shutouts and allow just seven goals while being tops in the RPI and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is a tough award for a CB with few goals to win but Kessler has as good a case as any. Chances of making the final three: Fair Bruno Lapa, Sr. M, Wake Forest - Curitiba, Brazil The playmaker has scored nine goals and three assists to lead the balanced Demon Deacons into the quarterfinals. While his numbers are solid, they aren't as good as a year ago (10/9) and that might hurt his case. Chances of making the final three: Fair Philip Mayaka, Fr. M, Clemson - Nairobi, Kenya Let's start with this: No freshmen has ever won the Hermann (and only one sophomore - Teal Bunbury - has won it in the past 30 years). And while Mayaka has had a strong season, freshman with better numbers like Conor Casey and Jack Harrison didn't win it so it's hard to see Mayaka breaking that trend with just two goals and eight assists. Still, Mayak's case goes beyond individual numbers; a year ago Clemson scored 23 goals all season and had a losing record. This year they've scored 69 goals and counting, which leads D-I, and are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a game from the College Cup and Mayaka is a big reason for the turn-around. Chances of making the final three: Poor Aaron Molloy, Sr. M, Penn State - Dublin, Ireland Molloy's stats - nine goals and six assists - were good but not great and Penn State was upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which when combined with modest numbers makes for a tough case. Chances of making the final three: Poor Eddie Munjoma, Sr. D, Southern Methodist - McKinney, TX Munjoma's numbers as a fullback this season - 12 goals, 7 assists - are similar to what fullback Andrew Gutman's were when he won the award last year. SMU is second in the nation in scoring (3.05) and 10th in GAA (0.67) and is a game from the College Cup, all of which bolster Munjoma's case. Chances of making the final three: Strong Dylan Nealis, Sr. D, Georgetown - Massapequa, NY Nealis anchors the nation's second best defense (0.45) per while scoring 4 goals and 5 assists and leading his team to the QFs and only losing once all season. Again, it's a tough for a defender without gaudy stats, but Nealis has a good case. Chances of making the final three: Fair Robbie Robinson, Jr. F, Clemson Camden, SC Robinson's 18 goals are tied for the most in D-I and he's added nine assists for good major to lead the highest scoring team - 3.29 per - while helping them to the quarterfinals. It's a text-book example of what the voters look for. Chances of making the final three: Strong Right now, I'd go with Robinson, Munjoma and Jennings as the leading candidates to be finalists but I suspect this weekend's games will influence the voters and you could see Bell, Nealis, Bodily or Lapa squeeze in if they put up good numbers and win.
Lapa hasn't been the best midfielder (Parente), attacker (Chol), or overall player (DeShields) on the Wake team this year; his spot on this list is almost entirely due to reputation/voter inertia. Unless he scores a hat trick against UCSB, I don't see him making it. I'm guessing they probably won't pick two ACC players given that the country feels pretty balanced this year, so it will be interesting to see if they pick Bell or Robinson. Like you, I think nod right now is to Robbie, but I think you can make a case for either. Still hurts to see where Tanner is from with him playing across the country.
My choices but I think it is wide open behind Robinson 1 Robinson (Clemson) 2 Bodily (Washington) 3 Munjoma (SMU)
Joe Bell had two goals tonight to lead UVa over SMU and to a birth in the College Cup, both of which will help his Hermann candidacy. Also helping his Hermann case was Tanner Beason, who scored Stanford's goal and led a defense that limited Clemson, the highest scoring team in D-I, to one goal over 120 minutes to help Stanford advance to the Cup in PKs. Robbie Robinson and Philip Mayaka were kept off the scoresheet (and Robinson missed a PK in the shootout) for Clemson and Eddie Munjoma wasn't involved in the scoring of either SMU goal and was part of a D that allowed three goals.