Jordan Morris With Shannon Boxx (center)
A player from each of the 2015 NCAA championship title teams has been named the 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy winners: junior forward Jordan Morris of Stanford and senior midfielder Raquel Rodriguez of Penn State.
The Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy is presented to the best female and male players in NCAA Division I soccer. The winners were decided by a vote of NCAA Division I soccer coaches that are current College Services members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Morris is the first-ever Stanford men’s player to earn the MAC Hermann Trophy. He was named the Most Outstanding Player at the College Cup after leading the Cardinal to the program’s first NCAA title with a two-goal performance in the championship in December. Stanford routed Clemson, 4-0, extending the school’s streak of at least one NCAA team championship to 40 year (an ongoing record) while earning its 108th NCAA team title and 129th overall.
Morris’ two goals were the first multi-goal effort for a player in a title game since Seth George in 1997 (UCLA).
The Pac-12 Player of the Year, Morris had a career-high 13 goals in 18 appearances for Stanford in 2015. In his final 14 games with the Cardinal, the junior had 12 goals, three assists and 27 points. He finished fifth in the country in game-winning goals (6), fifth in goals per game (0.72), seventh in total goals (13) and 12th in points per game (1.61).
The junior missed five collegiate matches this season due to responsibilities with U.S. Soccer. He split time between the senior team, making six appearances with the U.S. Men’s National Team and earning 11 caps with the U-23s, scoring six goals and tallying four assists. With the USMNT, Morris scored against Mexico on April 15 and assisted on the game-winning goal against the Netherlands on June 5. A Type 1 diabetic, he also lent his support to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) “T1D Looks Like Me Campaign” for National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) in November.
Runners-up for the men’s award were Georgetown senior forward Brandon Allen (Old Bridge, N.J.) and Creighton junior forward Fabian Herbers (Ahaus, Germany).
Rodriguez is the second Penn State women’s player to earn the MAC Hermann trophy, with the first being Christine Welsh in 2001. Rodriguez started all 27 matches in the Nittany Lion midfield, tallying 18 points on six goals and six assists. She capped off her collegiate career by scoring the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over the Duke Blue Devils in the 2015 Women’s College Cup final. Her goal in the College Cup Final was the 23rd of her career and her ninth career game-winning goal. Out of 27 matches in 2015, Rodriguez played the full-time nine times, including a 0-0 draw against then-No. 21 Duke in late August.
Rodriguez brought home NSCAA All-America First Team and All-Great Lakes First Team honors, All-Big Ten First Team plaudits, and for her performance in the Women’s College Cup she was named to the All-Tournament Team and the Most Outstanding Player on Offense. The 2015 year has been a banner year for Rodriguez as she scored the first World Cup goal for the Costa Rican national team in the country’s World Cup debut on June 9 against Spain. She also made Penn State history by becoming the first Nittany Lion to score in a World Cup, and earned LYG Player of the Match honors.
Not only did Rodriguez excel on the pitch, she also succeeded in the classroom. For her hard work in the classroom, Rodriguez was named to the NSCAA Women’s NCAA Divisions I and II Scholar All-America First Team and the NCAA Divisions I & II Women’s Scholar Player of the Year.
Runners-up for the women’s award were West Virginia junior defender Kadeisha Buchanan(Brampton, Ontario) and Virginia senior defender Emily Sonnet (Marietta, Ga.).