Aug. 17, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Greg Dalby (Poway, Calif./Poway), a senior midfielder on the Notre Dame men’s soccer team, has been named to the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List. The trophy is presented annually to the top male Division I soccer player in the United States. The 25-man watch list was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
This marked the third straight season that Notre Dame has placed at least one student-athlete on the Hermann Watch List and the second consecutive year in which Dalby has been named to the list. In 2004, Irish goalkeeper Chris Sawyer and defender Jack Stewart were tabbed with the honor.
Dalby, a team co-captain, is just one of three athletes on the 2006 watch list that were semifinalists for the award one season ago. Joining him with that distinction are Randi Patterson of UNC-Greensboro and Michael Videira of Duke. Two other BIG EAST athletes, Connecticut defender Julius James and South Florida forward Rodrigo Hidalgo, join Dalby on the list.
With key players leaving school early to compete professionally, either in Major League Soccer or overseas, the talent on this year’s watch list is spread geographically, by position and by class. There are 13 seniors, nine juniors and three sophomores, and only three schools (Clemson, North Carolina and UNC-Greensboro) have two players on the list.
A list of 15 semifinalists for the Hermann Award will be announced in early November, with the three finalists announced in late November. The trio will be invited to St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 2, for the announcement of the winner at a press conference to be held in conjunction with the Men’s College Cup. The winner is determined through voting of NCAA Division I members of the NSCAA.
This is not the first preseason honor for Dalby as he heads into his final campaign in an Irish uniform. He was selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team along with classmate Ian Etherington (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral). Dalby was also named to the College Soccer News Preseason All-America first team.
Two other Irish players have garnered preseason accolades. Freshmen Justin Morrow (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) have been listed among the `100 Freshmen To Watch’ according to College Soccer News.
The Fighting Irish have also been tabbed as the No. 15 team in the nation according to the NSCAA/adidas preseason rankings and they are 16th in the College Soccer News preseason poll.
Notre Dame opens the regular season on Friday, Aug. 25 with a showdown against UAB in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Alumni Field. The match is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. (ET), following a match-up between No. 12 Indiana and No. 8 Creighton. The Irish will battle Creighton during the second day of the tournament on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2:00 p.m.
2006 M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY MEN'S WATCH LIST
Player Position Class School HometownRyan Anderson F Jr. Missouri State St. Charles, Mo.Andrew Boyens D Sr. New Mexico Dunedin, New ZealandByron Dacy F So. Creighton Omaha, Neb.Greg Dalby M Sr. Notre Dame Poway, Calif.Charlie Davies F Jr. Boston College Manchester, N.H.John DiRaimondo M Sr. Saint Louis St. Louis, Mo.Willy Guadarrama F Jr. Campbell Cedar Park, TexasTally Hall K Jr. San Diego State Gig Harbor, Wash.Michael Harrington D Sr. North Carolina Greenville, N.C.Rodrigo Hidalgo F Jr. USF West Palm Beach, Fla.Justin Hughes K Sr. North Carolina Wake Forest, N.C.Andy Iro D Jr. UCSB Liverpool, EnglandJulius James D Jr. Connecticut Maloney Gardens, TrinidadScott Jones M Sr. UNC-Greensboro Dallas, TexasStephen King M Jr. Maryland Medford, N.J.Phil Marfuggi K Sr. Clemson Manalapan, N.J.Jay Needham D Sr. SMU Fort Worth, TexasJosh Tudela M Sr. Indiana Evansville, Ind.Simon Omekanda F Sr. Penn State Rochester Hills, Mich.Randi Patterson F Sr. UNC-Greensboro Hackensack, N.J.Yannick Reyering F So. Virginia Mettingen, GermanyDane Richards F Sr. Clemson Montego Bay, JamaicaSinisa Ubiparipovic F Sr. Akron Mentor, OhioMichael Videira M Jr. Duke Milford, Mass.Sal Zizzo M So. UCLA San Diego, Calif.