The 2016 MAC Hermann Trophy winners were announced on Friday at the Missouri Athletic Club’s annual banquet to present college soccer’s top individual awards, based on voting by NCAA Division I coaches in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Wake Forest University senior midfielder Ian Harkes (Fairfax, Va.) and West Virginia University senior defender Kadeisha Buchanan (Brampton, Ontario) received the MAC Hermann Trophy – a 10-pound crystal soccer ball – as NSCAA National Players of the Year in NCAA Division I men’s and women’s soccer.
Harkes captained the Demon Deacons to a berth in the NCAA College Cup Final, scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime of the national semifinals, during a standout season in which he was named ACC Midfielder of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP and NCAA Tournament Offensive Most Outstanding Player. He is the second member of the Harkes family to be honored by the MAC after his father, John Harkes, was the MAC Player of the Year in 1987. It marks the first time a father and son have won college soccer’s top award.
Runners-up for the men’s award were Florida Gulf Coast University junior forward Albert Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain) and University of Maryland sophomore forward Gordon Wild (Cologne, Germany).
Buchanan, a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist a year ago, also captained her school to the NCAA College Cup Final and was named the NCAA Tournament Defensive Most Outstanding Player. A four-time NSCAA All-American and four-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Buchanan anchored the Mountaineer defense to 18 shutouts, most in NCAA Division I, in 2016. She is a member of the Canadian Women’s National Team, earning Best Young Player accolades at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Runners-up for the women’s award were University of Southern California senior midfielder Morgan Andrews (Milford, N.H.) and Stanford University junior midfielder Andi Sullivan (Lorton, Va.).
The MAC Hermann Trophy has been awarded annually since 1967 to the sport’s most outstanding student-athletes, with the list of past recipients including Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Claudio Reyna. World Cup champion Christen Press received the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2010 and returned to the Missouri Athletic Club on Friday as a distinguished guest for the banquet.