The Sports Inquirer

Release from the ACC:

Six Atlantic Coast Conference men’s soccer student-athletes have been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s All-America Teams, as announced Friday.

North Carolina senior forward Andy Craven and Syracuse junior goalkeeper Alex Bono, two of the three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, are joined on the first team by Notre Dame’s Patrick Hodan, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year.

North Carolina senior defender Boyd Okwuonu, Notre Dame senior midfielder Nick Besler, and Virginia senior midfielder Eric Bird were named to the second team.

The six All-Americans were among 20 from the league that were named to NSCAA All-Region squads last week.

NSCAA All-America Teams

First Team

Andy Craven, Sr., F, North Carolina

Patrick Hodan, Jr., M, Notre Dame

Alex Bono, Jr., K, Syracuse

Second Team

Boyd Okwuonu*, Sr., D, North Carolina

Nicholas Besler, Sr., M, Notre Dame

Eric Bird*, Sr., M, Virginia

*indicates repeat selection

Florida State’s Dagny Brynjarsdottir, Virginia’s Morgan Brian, Craven, and Bono have been selected as finalists for the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy.

Along with Brynjarsdottir and Brian, UCLA’s Sam Mewis rounds out the three women’s finalists. On the men’s side, UCLA’s Leo Stolz joins Craven and Bono as finalists.

This marks the second straight year that four of the six finalists have come from the ACC.

The ACC has swept the MAC Hermann Trophy awards each of the last two years and five times overall (1989, 1993, 1998, 2012, 2013). ACC men have claimed soccer’s top honor 17 times, while the women have done so 11 times.

The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual intercollegiate award administered by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and presented annually at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. This year’s trophy presentation and banquet will take place Friday, Jan. 9, 2015.

NCAA Division I coaches that are NSCAA College Services members voted for their top choices from the list of 15 men and 15 women named semifinalists in early December. Soccer fans were also encouraged to vote for their favorite player on the MAC’s website hosted by LockerDome. The six semifinalists were the top vote-getters from the combined NSCAA coaches and weighted fan votes.