Six teams in the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Elite Eight have a total of eight players representing them among the 15 semifinalists for the 2009 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor in intercollegiate soccer. The nation’s top two teams in the NSCAA national rankings, Akron and Wake Forest, lead the pack with two players each.

Representing the No. 1-ranked Zips are sophomore forward Teal Bunbury (Prior Lake, Minn.) and junior midfielder Anthony Ampaipitakwong (Carrollton, Texas), while the Demon Deacons have a pair of juniors on the list: midfielder Corben Bone (Plano, Texas) and defender Ike Opara (Durham, N.C.).

Rounding out the list of players from Elite Eight teams are Zach Loyd (North Carolina/Verdigris, Okla.), Kyle Nakazawa (UCLA/Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), Tony Tchani (Virginia/Norfolk, Va.) and Garrett Webb (Drake/Prairie Village, Kan.). Harvard senior forward Andre Akpan (Grand Prairie, Texas) makes his third appearance among the semifinalists.

Division I college head coaches with current membership in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) will vote to determine the 2009 MAC Hermann Trophy recipient. Three finalists for the award will be announced on Friday, Dec. 11. They will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis for a news conference on Friday, Jan. 8, 2010, where the winner will be announced. A dinner and formal presentation of the award will follow the news conference that evening.

Men’s 2009 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Semifinalists

Andre Akpan, F, Sr., Harvard, Grand Prairie, Texas
Started all 19 games for the Crimson…has 12 goals and six assists (through 11/30) for a team-high 30 points…scored four game-winning goals…making his third appearance among MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists…Harvard’s all-time leading scorer with 127 points, including a program record 33 assists.

Anthony Ampaipitakwong, M, Jr., Akron, Carrollton, Texas
Started all 22 games for the Zips…has eight goals and five assists (through 11/30) for 36 points, ranking third on the team…half of his goals this season are game-winners…a first-team All-MAC selection…had three goals in Akron’s first two NCAA tournament games, including both in a 2-0 second-round win over South Florida.

Corben Bone, M, Jr., Wake Forest, Plano, Texas
Played in 22 games for the Demon Deacons…has two goals and 12 assists (through 11/30) for 16 points, good for fourth on the team…tallied one game-winning goal this season…the ACC Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year…ranks second on Wake’s career assists list with 37.

Teal Bunbury, F, So., Akron, Prior Lake, Minn.
Started all 22 games for the Zips…scored 17 goals and added five assists (through 11/30) to lead the team with 39 points…tied for the team lead with five game-winning goals…the 2009 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year…scored 14 goals in a 12-game span, including game-winners against Florida Atlantic, Virginia Tech, Buffalo and Penn State.

Ryan Kinne, M, Jr., Monmouth, Naugatuck, Conn.
Started all 22 games for the Hawks…had 10 goals and seven assists for a team-leading 27 points…credited with a third of the team’s game-winning goals (six)…the Northeast Conference Player of the Year…two-time All-NEC first-team selection.

Zach Loyd, D, Sr., North Carolina, Verdigris, Okla.
Started 15 games for the Tar Heels…scored two goals and had as many assists (through 11/29) for six points…anchored a North Carolina defense that posted 11 shutouts and allowed only 11 goals (0.52 per game) all season…an All-ACC first-team selection despite playing center back for the first time in his career due to injuries on the team.

Danny Mwanga, F, So., Oregon State, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Started all 18 games for the Beavers…scored 14 goals and added two assists for a team-leading 30 points, more than double the next teammate…had five game-winning goals…is the first OSU player to be named Pac-10 Player of the Year… led the conference in five statistical categories: points, points per game, goals scored, goals per game and game-winning goals.

Kyle Nakazawa, F, Sr., UCLA, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
Started all 19 games for the Bruins…has 12 goals and seven assists (through 11/30), more than double the next best on the team…has a third of UCLA’s game-winning goals (four) this season…first-team All-Pac-10 selection after finishing second in goals and points and fourth in assists in the conference.

Conor O'Brien, M, Sr., Bucknell, Mt. Sinai, N.Y.
Started all 23 games for the Bison…had 11 goals and nine assists for 31 points, good for the team lead…tallied seven game-winning goals in a 17-win season…the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year…a three-time All-Patriot League selection…had points in 11 consecutive games this season, a school record.

Ike Opara, D, Jr., Wake Forest, Durham, N.C.
Played in 15 games for the Demon Deacons…has three goals and two assists (through 11/30) for eight points this season…the ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year…has contributed to 23 shutouts in the past two years, including nine this season.

Colin Rolfe, F, So., Louisville, Canton, Mich.
Started 19 of 20 games for the Cardinals…had 10 goals and two assists for a team-leading 22 points…logged four game-winning goals…a unanimous All-Big East first-team selection…notched two goals in a 4-0 win against Indiana on Oct. 25…was the conference Rookie of the Year in 2008.

Toni Stahl, M, Sr., Connecticut, Tuusula, Finland
Started 18 games for the Huskies…had three assists for three points…was named the Big East Midfielder of the Year…in a defensive role, he helped the team to 12 shutouts and allowed only 10 goals all season, an 0.53 goals-against average…a three-time first-team All-Big East selection.

Tony Tchani, M, So., Virginia, Norfolk, Va.
Started 19 of 20 games for the Cavaliers…had seven goals and two assists (through 11/25) for 16 points, good for second on the team…posted two game-winning goals and assisted on another…has 15 goals and five assists in his Virginia career…a second-team All-ACC selection after claiming Rookie of the Year honors in 2008.

Bobby Warshaw, M, Jr., Stanford, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Started all 20 games for the Cardinal…had six goals and an assist for 13 points, which led Stanford’s balanced offensive attack despite playing a more defensive role…had a third of the team’s game-winning goals with four…an All-Pac-10 first team selection…has led Stanford in scoring each of his three years.

Garrett Webb, F, Sr., Drake, Prairie Village, Kan.
Started all 23 games for the Bulldogs…has 13 goals and five assists (through (11/30) for a team-leading 31 points…tallied three-game winning goals…the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year…a three-time All-MVC first-team selection…had back-to-back multiple-goal games to close the regular season.

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