Syracuse goalkeeper Alex Bono was named one of 16 semifinalists for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced Tuesday.

The award is given to college soccer’s top player and Bono is the only goalie of all the semifinalists. This season, the junior set Syracuse single-season records with a .55 goals-against average, 12 shutouts and 1,949 minutes played.

“For me, yeah, you can look at this year as personally my best year, but I still won’t take too much credit for it,” Bono said. “Especially for a goalkeeper, it all depends on how the team in front of you is playing. And this year they’ve been so good, it’s hard for me to look bad.”

From Sept. 13 to Oct. 7, the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year didn’t surrender a goal for a total of 537:34. He finished seventh nationally in both goals against average and save percentage.

Bono admitted, though, that watching the NCAA tournament from home while five other semifinalists are still alive may play to his disadvantage.

“They definitely have a leg up,” Bono said. “They have a couple more chances to show what they’ve got.”

Bono can rely on his supporters to get his own leg up, as there’s an option on the award’s website that lets fans cast their vote for one of the 16 semifinalists. Bono said he hasn’t thought of a campaign hashtag yet, but he knows someone who will.

“I’m sure Fergus (Barrie) will do something along those lines,” Bono said of the team’s student manager, who runs the SU men’s soccer Twitter account. “I haven’t figured anything out yet, but Fergus will figure it out.”

Division I coaches that are part of the NSCAA College Services have the chance to vote for the award until Dec. 11. But Bono isn’t worried about who votes, his body of work or anything else that is determining whether he is named one of the three finalists for the nation’s best player.

Said Bono: “I think that I’ve made my case and if it’s meant to be, it’ll come.”

Published on December 2, 2014 at 1:50 pm

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