Jen Buczkowski and fellow senior Jill Krivacek comprise one of two midfielded pairs from the same team among the 33 players currently being considered for the Hermann M.A.C. Trophy.

Four Irish Women's Soccer Players - Most From Any Team - Currently Under Consideration For Prestigious M.A.C Hermann Trophy

Nov. 1, 2006

Four Notre Dame women’s soccer players – the most from any team – currently are under consideration for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, which annually honors the nation’s top player. Senior midfielder Jen Buczkowski and sophomore forward Kerri Hanks were among the original 25 players named to the M.A.C. Hermann preseason watch list and they now have been joined by two of their Irish teammates – senior defensive midfielder Jill Krivacek and sophomore center back Carrie Dew – among a group of 33 players on the current ballot. The list typically is pared down to 10-15 players by mid-November and three finalists then are announced before the awarding of the trophy in early December.

The BIG EAST Conference features the most players (7) among the 33 candidates and six of those players are members of teams that will compete in Friday’s BIG EAST semifinals. In addition to the four Notre Dame players, West Virginia forward Deanna Everett and Marquette goalkeeper Laura Boyer are preparing for their respective semifinal games. Connecticut defender Nikki Cross, who joined Buczkowski and Hanks on the preseason list, is the seventh BIG EAST player on the current ballot.

UCLA (3) and Portland (3) join Notre Dame as the only teams with more than two players on the current M.A.C. Hermann Trophy ballot while three other teams (North Carolina, Florida State and William & Mary) have two players among the elite candidate list. The 33 candidates include seven from BIG EAST Conference schools, plus six from the Atlantic Coast Conference, five from the Pacific-10, four out of the West Coast Conference, three from the Big 12, and two each from the Southeastern Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association. The BIG EAST and ACC lead the way with players from four different teams on the updated candidate list.

Dew is one of nine defenders among the 33 candidates, which also includes 11 midfielders, 10 forwards and three goalkeepers. Buczkowski and Krivacek join the Portland duo of Megan Rapinoe and Angie Woznuk as the only midfield pairs from the same team on the M.A.C. Hermann ballot.

Notre Dame is the only team with at least one forward, midfielder and defender on the updated candidate list while UCLA’s three candidates include a forward, midfielder and goalkeeper.

Buczkowski and Hanks both were among the final-15 “semifinalists” for the 2005 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy and were two of just four players from that final-15 who returned this season (others are UNC forward Heather O’Reilly and Nebraska midfielder Brittany Timko, currently both seniors).

Hanks and Dew are among the youngest players among the 33 players on the current ballot, which includes six other sophomores and UCLA freshman forward Lauren Cheney.

The six candidates from the ACC include O’Reilly, UNC sophomore midfielder Yael Averbuch, FSU junior forward Sel Kuralay and senior midfielder India Trotter, Virginia junior midfielder Becky Sauerbrunn and Boston College senior defender Lauren Georges. The five from the Pac-10 include Stanford senior defender Rachel Buehler, USC sophomore forward Amy Rodriguez and the three UCLA players (Cheney, junior midfielder Danesha Adams and junior goalkeeper Val Henderson).

The WCC is represented by the three Portland players (Rapinoe, Woznuk and junior defender Stephanie Lopez) and Santa Clara senior defender Marian Dalmy. The Big-12 candidates include Timko, Kansas senior defender Holly Gault and Texas A&M junior defender Ashley Pistorious.

The other players on the ballot include: Tennessee senior midfielder Ali Christoph, Vanderbilt senior goalkeeper Tyler Griffin, the pair of William and Mary sophomores (midfielder Danielle Collins and forward Claire Zimmeck), Penn State senior midfielder Ali Krieger, Yale senior defender Christina Huang, Hofstra defender Sue Weber and UNC-Greensboro defender Shannon Donovan.

Dew and Notre Dame sophomore midfielder Brittany Bock spent the better part of eight months earlier this year training and competing with a U.S. Under-20 National Team squad that included five of the players currently being considered for the Hermann (UCLA’s Adams, Cheney and Henderson, plus USC’s Rodriguez and Portland’s Lopez.

(Note that each Buczkowski, Hanks, Krivacek and Dew all are leading candidates for BIG EAST season honors, to be announced Thursday (Oct. 2) at the BIG EAST tournament banquet. Updated bio. capsules on all four Irish players will be posted Thursday night on und.com, with the BIG EAST awards release.)