Luis Silva had a banner senior season for UCSB, scoring 17 goals and dishing off 14 assists. His 44 points ranked third in the nation. (Photo by Vince Agapito)
UCSB senior midfielder Luis Silva has been named a semifinalist for the 2011 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy. He is the first Gaucho to be named to the list of semifinalists since Chris Pontius in 2008.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The recipients are selected by head coaches of NCAA Division I programs who are members of the National Soccer Coaches Association. Three finalists will be announced on Friday and they will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis for a news conference on Jan. 6, 2012, where the winner will be announced.
While Silva is just the second UCSB player to be named a semifinalist, five Gauchos have previously been named to the 42-person preseason watch list: Sam Garza (2011), Chris Pontius (2008), Andy Iro (2006, 2007), Eric Avila (2007) and Tyler Rosenlund (2005).
Silva had an outstanding senior campaign in which he led UCSB with 44 points (17 goals, 10 assists). He ranks third in the nation in total points, fifth in points per game (2.00), sixth in total goals, seventh in total assists, 10th in goals per game (0.77), and 15th in assists per game (0.45). Silva had at least one point in 14 of the Gauchos’ games and had a goal or an assist in 10 of the last 13 contests.
The senior has already been named the Big West Midfielder of the Year and over the course of the season, he was a four-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week and College Soccer News Team of the Week recipient, he was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Team of the Week three times and Soccer America’s Team of the Week twice.
He is joined on the list of semifinalists by Ashton Bennet (Coastal Carolina), Dom Dwyer (South Florida), Ethan Finlay (Creighton), Evans Frimpong (Delaware), Chandler Hoffman (UCLA), Brian Holt (Creighton), Enzo Martinez (North Carolina), Darren Mattocks (Akron), Billy Schuler (North Carolina), Mark Sherrod (Memphis), Yannick Smith (Old Dominion), Casey Townsend (Maryland), Andrew Wenger (Duke) and Gysai Zardes (Cal State Bakersfield).
UCSB ended the season with an overall record of 15-7-1, made its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced to Third Round for the sixth time in program history.
