Four soccer players named MAC Hermann semifinalists

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Four Pac-12 student athletes - three male and one female - have been named semifinalists for the prestigious soccer Missouri Athletic Club (MAC)’s Hermann Trophy, as announced by the organization today. On the men’s side, three of the fifteen candidates are from Pac-12 teams: Steve Birnbaum of California, Taylor Peay of Washington and Leo Stolz of UCLA. Abby Dahlkemper of UCLA is the sole Pac-12 representative on the women’s semifinalist roster.

Birnbaum, a senior captain for the Bears, is an honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic recipient. He is also a finalist for the College Soccer News Golden Boot Award. Peay is a senior on the Huskies roster and anchored UW on its journey to the Pac-12 Championship. The Husky was also a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week and once a NSCAA National Player of the Week. Stolz, the lone Pac-12 junior on the semifinalist list, is this season’s Pac-12 Player of the Year and leads the Pac-12 in three separate statistical categories. All three are first-team All-Pac-12 selections. 

A first-team All-Pac-12 honoree for the third-consecutive season, Dahlkemper was also named Capital One Academic All-District second team and is the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named a first-team All-American. 

The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual intercollegiate award in soccer and is presented annually during a  banquet on Friday, Jan. 10, 2014 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. The top three vote-getters for each gender will be announced as finalists Thursday, Dec. 12.