Nov. 14, 2007
Four Notre Dame women’s soccer players – senior forward Amanda Cinalli, junior forwards Kerri Hanks and Brittany Bock, and junior left back Elise Weber – are among the 54 players currently on the ballot for the annual Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, which is presented to the nation’s top player. Notre Dame joins North Carolina (4) and Penn State (4) as the teams with the most players now under consideration for the prestigious award.
Members of the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) are in the process of submitting their votes that will determine the 15 women’s semifinalists for the Hermann. After another round of voting, three finalists then will be announced in early December and those individuals will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club for the Hermann Trophy ceremony on Jan. 11.
Elise Weber’s impressive debut season at outside back has been recognized by her inclusion on the Hermann Trophy ballot.
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The 54 names on the current ballot include players who were on the preseason watch list (Hanks and Cinalli among them) and others who have been nominated during the course of the season, namely Bock and Weber. Notre Dame similarly had the most players on the updated Hermann Trophy ballot during the 2006 season (Hanks, former midfielders Jen Buczkowski and Jill Krivacek, and current junior center back Carrie Dew).
Hanks (Allen, Texas) last season became the youngest player by class year – male or female – ever to receive the Hermann Trophy. She was the nation’s first player to reach double-digit goals and assists during the 2007 season, with only three players joining her in that distinction (from the 313 other Division I teams). Hanks is riding a 12-game point streak and currently ranks sixth nationally with 41 total points, on 13 goals and 15 assists (second-most in the nation). She recently became the third Division I women’s soccer player ever to reach 50 career goals and 50 assists prior to her senior season (now 63 goals and 52 assists).
Bock (Naperville, Ill.) – named the BIG EAST Conference 2007 co-offensive player of the year – joins Hanks to form one of the nation’s top-scoring tandems. All but two of Bock’s 27 points this season (12G-3A) have come during Notre Dame’s current 13-game unbeaten streak, in 12 games played (11G-3A). She was named the national player of the week in back-to-back weeks during a midseason stretch that saw her post matching nine-point weekends (4G-1A): first at Syracuse (3G) and St. John’s (1G-1A) and then at home versus Georgetown (2G) and Villanova (2G-1A).
Weber (Elk Grove, Ill.) has emerged as one of the nation’s top outside backs while totaling two goals and seven assists, as a starter in all 21 games this season. The transfer from Wisconsin owns one of the top point totals (11) of any defender in the BIG EAST while also compiling one of the most noteworthy offensive seasons ever by a Notre Dame defensive player. Despite being relegated to third team all-BIG EAST honors for the 2007 season, Weber is one of only 12 defenders on the current Hermann Trophy ballot (UConn’s Brittany Taylor is the only other BIG EAST defender on the list).
Amanda Cinalli (jumping) and Kerri Hanks (right) already had been included on the Hermann Trophy 2007 preseason watch list.
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Cinalli (Maple Heights, Ohio), slowed by a midseason hamstring injury, has totaled three goals and four assists in 2007 while appearing in 16 of the 21 games. The four-year starter has led the way for Notre Dame’s current senior group that has helped the Irish total 87 wins during the 2004-07 seasons (tying them with North Carolina as the nation’s winningest senior class for the current season). Cinalli (34G-30A) joins Hanks and Bock (36G-19A) in giving Notre Dame three players with 30-plus career goals, making the 2007 squad the first Irish team since 1999 with that distinction.
In addition to the Notre Dame quartet, the other BIG EAST players on the updated Hermann Trophy ballot include UConn’s Taylor and M/F Megan Schnur, two West Virginia players (F Ashley Banks and M Amanda Cicchini), Villanova goalkeeper Jillian Loyden and Marquette forward Allison Mallams.
Notre Dame’s 2007 opponents (including those from the preseason) include 17 other players who are on the Hermann ballot: the four from UNC (midfielders Yael Averbuch, Tobin Heath and Allie Long, plus defender Jessica Maxwell), four more from Penn State (M Sheree Gray, G Alyassa Naeher, D Denay Riley and F Katie Schoepfer), three Florida players (M Ameera Abdullah, F/M Stacy Bishop and D Lauren Hyde), two each from Virginia (D Nikki Krzysik and F Jess Rostedt) and Stanford (D Rachel Buehler and F Kelley O’Hara), Oklahoma State midfielder Yolanda Odenyo and Santa Clara forward Meagan Snell.
Note that full updated bio. capsules for Notre Dame’s four Hermann Trophy candidates will be posted later this week on und.com (as a separate release).