An eye catching central midfielder with an eye for goal, Ian Harkes has been recognized as the top player in the nation at the collegiate level, winning the 2016 MAC Hermann Trophy. Harkes is the son of longtime U.S. national team midfielder John Harkes. The senior Harkes also won the award in 1987 while playing for the Virginia Cavaliers.
Ian Harkes wins the award after a productive season for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Deacs’ season culminated in an NCAA national championship run where they lost to Stanford on penalties. Harkes scored the golden goal in a 2-1 semifinal victory over Denver to get Wake to the final. He finished the season with five goals and four assists, capping off his collegiate career with nine goals and 18 assists.
Harkes won the award after beating out competition from Florida Gulf Coast’s Albert Ruiz and Maryland’s Gordon Wild. Ruiz and Wild were two of the top three goal-scorers of Division 1 in 2016. The former bagged an impressive 22 goals, while the latter scored an also impressive 17 goals. While there is no doubt Ruiz and Wild will be a bit disappointed, they still have the chance to get their hands on the MAC Hermann Trophy. Ruiz is a junior and Wild is only a sophomore and they will surely be high on predictors’ lists for the Hermann next season.
The next step for Ian Harkes will be at the pros. He played for the D.C. United academy in his formative years and it has been reported that D.C. will offer him a Homegrown contract. Although they have yet to agree on a deal, you can imagine it won’t be too long before Ian is donning the black and red jersey that his dad John also wore twenty years ago.
