Aug. 17, 2011
Old Dominion University's Gideon Asante (Sunyani, Ghana), a sophomore forward is among 42 players on the 2011 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List. The Monarchs are in two pre-season polls. ODU is 26th in College Soccer News and 34th in TopDrawerSoccer.com.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The recipients are selected by head coaches of NCAA Division I programs who are members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Five other schools each placed two players on the list: Connecticut, Creighton, Duke, Fordham and SMU. The University of Louisville, the No. 1 team in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Pre-Season Rankings, had two players on the list: senior forward Colin Rolfe (Canton, Mich.), the lone returning Hermann Trophy finalist from the 2010 season, and senior defender Austin Berry (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Of the 42 players, five were semifinalists for the award in 2010: Tony Cascio (Connecticut/Gilbert, Ariz.), Ethan Finlay (Creighton/Marshfield, Wis.), Antoine Hoppenot (Princeton/Princeton, N.J.), Arthur Ivo (SMU/Braganca, Brazil) and Andrew Wenger (Duke/Lititz, Pa.).
Monmouth, who will be in this year's ODU-Stihl Soccer Classic (Sept. 9 and 11) has three players on the list.
A total of 35 different schools and seven countries are represented on the list, including players from the United States, Australia, Brazil, England, Ghana, New Zealand and Sweden.
Asante scored four goals with two assists last year and was named Second Team All-CAA, First Team All-South Atlantic Region and CAA All-Rookie team.
Voting for the MAC Hermann Trophy is conducted in late November, when a field of 15 semifinalists is reduced to three finalists. Those three will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, where a news conference will be held to announce the winner, followed by a banquet to honor the three finalists.
2011 Men's MAC Hermann Trophy Watch ListPos.Name ClassSchoolDRJ AllenSr.MonmouthMCarlos AlvarezSr.ConnecticutMGideon AsanteSo.Old DominionKJames BelshawJr.DukeDAustin BerrySr.LouisvilleDThomas BrandtSr.PennsylvaniaMAndrew BullsSr.UMBCFBrendan Burgdorf Jr.MMichael Bustamante Sr.Boston UniversityMCody CalafioreJr.TempleFTony CascioSr.ConnecticutFJuan CastilloSo.SMUDMarcello CastroJr.Sacred HeartDJustin ChavezSr.TulsaMWarren Creavalle Sr.Central FloridaDRoger DownesSr.Loyola MarymountFEthan FinlaySr.CreightonDShaun FosterSo.HofstraDRaymon GaddisSr.West VirginiaFSam GarzaJr.UC Santa BarbaraFBryan GaulSr.BradleyMMax HamiltonSr.MonmouthFAntoine Hoppenot Sr.PrincetonMArthur IvoSr.SMUKMatt LampsonJr.Ohio StateMEnzo MartinezJr.North CarolinaKRyan MearaSr.FordhamFKaro OkiomahSr.High PointDTyler PolakSo.CreightonMJosey PortilloSr.Florida Gulf CoastMTim RichardsonSr.FordhamDCharles Rodriguez Sr.CharlotteMKelyn RoweSo.UCLAFColin RolfeSr.LouisvilleDKevin StrunkSr.LehighFChris ThomasJr.ElonFCasey TownsendSr.MarylandDAnthony VasquezSr.MonmouthFPatrick WallenJr.San DiegoDAndrew WengerJr.DukeFChris WheelerJr.Mount St. Mary'sFGyasi ZardesSo.CSU-Bakersfield