STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford senior defender Brandon Vincent was one of 30 NCAA men's soccer student-athletes selected as a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® it was announced Thursday.
To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2015 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in December.
A two-time team captain, Vincent is slated to be featured in FUEL Soccer Magazine's fall issues. The publication, put together with the help of U.S. Youth Soccer, will highlight his leadership attributes in its “Are You Ready” profiles under the heading “Team Leader.”
Academically, the senior is of 23 Stanford student-athletes majoring in economics, owns a 3.3 GPA and has twice been a Pac-12 all-academic selection.
Vincent, the only Pac-12 representative on the men's candidate list, is one of the most accomplished players in collegiate soccer and led the Cardinal to its best season in a decade a year ago. In addition to receiving first team All-America honors, he was also the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Pac-12 first team selection and earned his second consecutive Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention nod. Precipitated by a move to left back prior to the season, Vincent exploded offensively while championing Stanford's stout defense. He led the team and was tied for 13th in the conference with six goals after entering 2014 with just one goal in his first 38 career matches.
Defensively, Vincent anchored Stanford's Pac-12 championship defense in 2014, which allowed just 17 goals, its lowest total since 2007, and led the conference with a 0.85 goals against average. The Cardinal topped the league in goals against average for the first time since 2002 and finished 38th in the nation in that category.
Heading into 2015, Vincent is on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Best XI First Team and the Preseason All-Pac-12 squad. In early August, he was one of 28 collegians called by U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Andi Herzog to Carson, California for the first College Identification training camp and scored the United States' third goal in its 3-1 win over Club Tijuana's Segunda Premier Team, a result which wrapped up the camp on August 7.
No. 16 Stanford (1-1-0) begins its home schedule against Northeastern on Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. It's the first of three straight matches at Cagan Stadium, ahead of Pac-12 Networks broadcasts on Sunday, September 6 against VCU ( 3 p.m.) and Thursday, September 10 against San Jose State (6 p.m.). Season tickets, mini plans and single-game seats are available by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or calling 800-STANFORD.
