AMHERST, Mass. - Zack Simmons has been named one of 16 finalists for the UMBRO/Soccer News Net Player of the Year Award as announced on Wednesday. Online fan voting accounts for 40 percent of the total points towards the award. The fan voting starts on Wednesday, Dec. 26 and runs through Thursday, Jan. 3. Simmons is one of four players to represent programs in the Northeast.

This is the latest honor for Simmons who was a key component in UMass' historic College Cup run in the NCAA Tournament this year.

He was named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team and to the NSCAA/adidas All-America Third-Team for his play in the NCAA Tournament.

Being named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team made him the first player in school history to earn such honors, while the All-America honor was the first for a UMass soccer player since Jeff Deren in 2002. Simmons became the first UMass goalkeeper since Edward McGrath in 1948 to be recognized as an All-American. He is the 15th player in the program's 75-year history to earn All-America honors.

Earlier this year, he was named the Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP and earned spots on the A-10 All-Tournament Team, the A-10 All-Conference First-Team, was named the A-10 Men's Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year, was tabbed the UMass Fall Male Scholar-Athlete, and earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second-Team honors.

The Minutemen finished the season at 17-8-1 which was a school record for wins. The berth to the NCAA College Cup was a first for the UMass soccer program which celebrated its 75th anniversary of intercollegiate competition this year. It was just the second NCAA Tournament appearance all-time.

The editors of each of the six sites in the Soccer News Net network nominated up to three local players for the award, each of which will be eligible for the Umbro regional player of the year award. The nominations included athletes playing at colleges within each site's coverage area, as well as athletes from the area playing collegiately elsewhere in the country.

Three additional at-large selections rounded out the nominations.

Fans from across the country will be able to vote for the top collegiate player. Voting will begin on Wednesday December 26 and run through Thursday January 3. Voting will be conducted on Big Apple Soccer (www.bigapplesoccer.com), ChicagoLand Soccer News (www.chicagolandsoccernews.com ), LA Soccer News (www.lasoccernews.com), New England Soccer News www.newenglandsoccernews.com), Philly Soccer News (www.phillysoccernews.com) and Dallas Soccer News. (www.dallassoccernews.com)

Online fan voting will account for 40% of the total toward the award. The remaining 60% of the vote will be cast by the editorial staffs of the six web sites, as well as from sponsor Umbro.