Stanford University junior Mia Bhuta has been named to the 2025 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List, joining 42 other collegiate soccer players across the country. The announcement was made Thursday.
The Hermann Trophy is regarded as the top individual honor in college soccer and is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club. It recognizes the National Player of the Year, with voting conducted by Division I head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches. The award is named after Robert Hermann, a key figure in U.S. soccer history who founded the National Professional Soccer League, which later became the North American Soccer League. He was inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.
Bhuta enters her junior season after being selected for TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Best XI first team and ranked as the No. 6 player on TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Top 100 list. In her sophomore year, she started all 23 matches for Stanford, scoring three goals and providing two assists while playing nearly 1,850 minutes in midfield. Her performance earned her recognition on the United Soccer Coaches All-America fourth team and TopDrawerSoccer’s Best XI second team. She also received United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region first team honors and was named to the All-ACC second team at season’s end.
Stanford has a strong history with the Hermann Trophy; Cardinal players have won three of the last eight awards—Andi Sullivan in 2017, followed by Catarina Macario in both 2018 and 2019. Previous winners from Stanford include Kelley O’Hara (2009), Christen Press (2010), and Teresa Noyola (2011), bringing Stanford’s total to six recipients.
Last year’s winner was North Carolina junior forward Kate Faasse, who led her team to a national championship.
The watch list for this year was created by members of the Division I Women’s All-America Council based on returning All-Americans and First Team All-Region players from last season. On December 2, fifteen semifinalists will be announced following NCAA Division I All-American voting. Head coaches will then vote for three finalists before naming a winner at a ceremony scheduled for January 9, 2026 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
