KANSAS CITY, Mo. (SMU) – SMU Men's Soccer senior captain
Slade Starnes was included in the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Semifinalist list as announced on Tuesday.
The
MAC Hermann Trophy is the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer and has been awarded annually since 1967 and Starnes was named one of 15 players in contention to win the honor.
Starnes made the list for the first time after leading the Mustangs to their first ACC Championship title. SMU won the ACC Championship tournament, where Starnes was named tournament MVP.
The Dallas native was named Second Team All-ACC after the regular season, where he earned two ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors (Sep. 30 and Oct. 28).
The Mustangs' defense, with Starnes at its core, locked down UVA to no shots on target in the ACC championship match. He and the Mustangs' backline have contained opponents to an average of only 9.0 shot attempts per game through the 2025 season, limiting five teams (Boston College, Cal, LMU, Oral Roberts and Virginia) to five shot attempts or less.
This marks the fourth consecutive season that SMU has been represented in the Hermann Trophy Semifinalist list.
Fans are encouraged to vote. Go to
machermanntrophy.com for the men's semifinal ballot.
2025 Men's MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalists
| Pos |
Name |
Class |
School |
Hometown |
| M |
Richie Aman |
Sr. |
University of Washington |
Hanover, N.H. |
| F |
Palmer Ault |
Sr. |
Indiana University |
Noblesville, Ind. |
| F |
Mitchell Baker |
So. |
Georgetown University |
Melbourne, Australia |
| F |
Marcus Caldeira |
Sr. |
West Virginia University |
Mississauga, Ont. |
| F |
Junior Diouf |
Fr. |
Grand Canyon University |
Thies, Senegal |
| M |
Ransford Gyan |
So. |
Clemson University |
Sunyani, Ghana |
| K |
Niklas Herceg |
So. |
University of Vermont |
Alsdorf, Germany |
| M |
Diego Hernandez |
Jr. |
Furman University |
Mesquite, Texas |
| D |
Lasse Kelp |
Sr. |
University of Maryland |
Bonn, Germany |
| D |
Nikola Markovic |
So. |
NC State University |
Gatineau, Que. |
| F |
Donovan Phillip |
Jr. |
NC State University |
Castries, Saint Lucia |
| D |
Agustin Resch |
Sr. |
Seton Hall University |
Arata, Argentina |
| F |
Nick Simmonds |
Fr. |
University of Virginia |
Midlothian, Va. |
| D |
Slade Starnes |
Sr. |
SMU |
Dallas, Texas |
| M |
Zach Zengue |
So. |
Georgetown University |
North Oaks, Minn. |
