A pair of New Yorkers were named among the 15 men’s finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the United Soccer Coaches and the Missouri Athletic Club have announced Tuesday.

Massapequa, N.Y. native Dylan Nealis, a senior defender at Georgetown University, and New York City native Henry Kessler, a University of Virginia defender, were chosen.

The semifinals were based on voting by NCAA Division I men’s soccer coaches.

The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer and has been awarded annually since 1967. Andrew Gutman (Indiana) and Catarina Macario (Stanford) received the award for outstanding intercollegiate performances last year.

Three finalists will be named for the award Friday, Dec. 13 in conjunction with the Men’s College Cup in Cary, N.C. The 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy banquet will be held at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis Jan. 3 to announce this year’s winners.

The three women’s finalists will be announced this Friday. For more information about the history of the MAC Hermann Trophy, visit MACHermannTrophy.org.

 

NAME CLASS POS SCHOOL HOMETOWN
Josh Bauer Jr D New Hampshire Bedford, N.H.
Tanner Beason Sr. D Stanford Winston-Salem, N.C.
Joe Bell Jr M Virginia Wanaka, New Zealand
Matthew Bentley Sr F Missouri State London, England
Miguel Berry Sr. F San Diego Poway, Calif.
Blake Bodily Jr M Washington Eagle, Idaho
Anders Engebretsen Sr F Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Oslo, Norway
Cal Jennings Sr F UCF Roswell, Ga.
Henry Kessler Jr D Virginia New York, N.Y.
Bruno Lapa Sr M Wake Forest Curitiba, Brazil
Philip Mayaka Fr. M Clemson Nairobi, Kenya
Aaron Molloy Sr M Penn State Dublin, Ireland
Eddie Munjoma Sr D SMU McKinney, Texas
Dylan Nealis Sr D Georgetown Massapequa, N.Y.
Robbie Robinson Jr F Clemson Camden, S.C.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.