Nov. 30, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior All-America forwards Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas/Allen) and Brittany Bock (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) are among 15 semifinalists for the 2008 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, which is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I women’s soccer player. Notre Dame is one of three teams to have multiple semifinalists for this year’s award, with Hanks being the lone previous recipient still in contention for the ’08 Hermann Trophy.
A three-time All-American (twice on the first team) and the 2006 Hermann Trophy recipient (the first sophomore to garner the honor), Hanks makes the Hermann Trophy semifinalist (final-15) roster for the fourth consecutive year and is poised to become only the fourth multiple winner of the award, as well as the first (male or female) to do so in non-consecutive years. The three multi-year Hermann Trophy recipients are North Carolina’s Mia Hamm (1992-93) and Cindy Parlow (1997-98), and Portland’s Christine Sinclair (2004-05), with Hamm and Parlow going on to successful careers with the U.S. National Team and Sinclair currently playing for the Canadian National Team (alongside former Irish All-Americans Candace Chapman and Melissa Tancredi).
Notre Dame is one of only two programs to field three or more different recipients of the prestigious Hermann Trophy, with Cindy Daws (1996) and Anne Makinen (2000) joining Hanks in this elite sorority. The 2008 Hermann Trophy winner is selected by a vote of Division I head coaches who are current members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The list of 15 semifinalists will be pared down to the three finalists, who will be revealed on Dec. 12. All three finalists then will be invited to a news conference on Jan. 9, 2009, at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, where the winner will be announced, with a presentation banquet to follow.
The 2008 BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a seven-time national team of the week selection by a combination of Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer, as well as one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, Hanks has 19 goals and 15 assists (53 points) this season, making her one of just two 15G-15A players in the nation along with Cynthia Morote-Ariza of Loyola-Chicago. In addition, Hanks stands as one of two players (along with Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Jade West) to rank among the top 10 on this year’s NCAA statistical charts in average goals (0.83 per game), average assists (0.65) and average points (2.30). What’s more, she is one-half of the most prolific goalscoring tandem in the nation with 36 goals, along freshman forward Melissa Henderson (who has 17). All of this comes despite the fact she missed two games (the semifinals and title game of the BIG EAST Championship) due to injury.
A two-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and four-time first-team all-BIG EAST Conference pick in her career, Hanks has blazed trails seldom seen in the history of NCAA Division I women’s soccer. With 83 goals and 73 assists to date, she is the only player ever to record at least 73G-73A in her career, a feat not even Hamm was able to pull off during her days at UNC (103G-72A in 1989-90, 1992-93). All told, Hanks owns an assortment of 63 school and NCAA records and currently ranks among the top 13 in NCAA history for career goals (tie-13th), assists (tie-2nd), assists per game (7th, 0.72) and points (8th, 239). She joins Hamm and Carin Jennings (UC Santa Barbara, 1983-86) as the only players in D-I history to rank in the top 13 on the NCAA’s all-time goals, assists and points lists.
Hanks has led the nation in assists during each of the past two years (22 in 2006; 21 in 2007), and she’s currently four helpers behind Morote-Ariza for the top spot again this year. In ’06, she joined Hamm as the only players ever to finish a season as the national leader in both goals (22) and assists (22) and became just the 11th Division I player to post 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season. Incidentally, should she be selected for All-America honors this season, Hanks would be the 23rd four-time All-American in Division I history and the fourth in Notre Dame annals, joining Holly Manthei (1994-97), Jen Grubb (1996-99) and Anne Makinen (1997-2000).
Bock emerged as one of the nation’s top offensive threats last season, showing tremendous versatility with her play on both the forward and midfield lines. One of the Irish co-captains this year, Bock has provided the perfect running mate for Hanks on the Irish front line the past two seasons. After leading the BIG EAST (and ranking 11th in the nation) with 16 goals last season, the powerful front-liner has proven to be equally adept as a playmaker, ranking second on the team and sixth in the conference with nine assists. She’s also seventh in the BIG EAST in points per game (1.11) and total points (21, 6G-9A), and she’s the 15th Notre Dame player to be a two-time first-team all-conference selection. The All-American stands 12th in school history with 46 goals and she and Hanks have combined for 129 goals in their brilliant careers, ranking second in the Irish record books for combined goals by classmates.
In 2007, Bock earned first-team All-America honors and joined Hanks and recently-graduated forward (and current volunteer assistant coach) Amanda Cinalli as Hermann Trophy semifinalists. She also was the BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year, and she earned top billing from the league’s coaches once again as the ’08 BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Bock is one of 17 players in school history with 100 career points (46G-29A), ranking 15th all-time with 121 points. She also is a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, having garnered first-team honors earlier this month (after being a third-team choice last year), and she joins Hanks as one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
Hanks and Bock will be back on the pitch Friday at 4:30 p.m. (ET), when top-ranked Notre Dame (25-0-0) takes on No. 5 Stanford (22-1-1) in the NCAA Women’s College Cup semifinals from WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The game will be televised to a national audience by ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com.
— ND —