Hermann Trophy To Be Presented Friday
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Jan. 7, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia senior defender Emily Sonnett (Marietta, Ga.) is one of three women’s finalists for the 2015 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, which will be presented to the top men’s and women’s collegiate soccer player on Friday (Jan. 8) at the club in St. Louis.
The women’s finalists are Sonnett, Kadeisha Buchanan of West Virginia and Raquel Rodriguez of Penn State. A live stream of the press conference announcing the winners will be streamed online at machermanntrophy.org at 7 p.m. ET.
The winners are determined by a vote of Division I coaches who are members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Named the ESPNW National Player of the Year and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Sonnett helped Virginia post a 19-1-3 record on the season and a 9-1 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Cavaliers claimed the ACC regular-season title for the second time in the last three seasons with the lone loss coming in double-overtime to then No. 6 Notre Dame.
With Sonnett anchoring the back line, the Cavaliers posted 15 shutouts through 23 matches, including 14 shutout victories and one scoreless draw. Throughout her career on the Cavalier back line, Virginia has posted 54 shutouts in 84 victories as the Cavaliers posted shutout wins 64 percent of the time. In 2015, the Cavaliers allowed only 12 goals through 23 matches and allowed six shots per game.
Sonnett was named a first team NSCAA All-American and a first team All-ACC selection. She earned her first cap with the US Women’s National Team against Brazil as part of the USWNT Victory Tour in Orlando, Fla., on October 25.
The Cavaliers’ Morgan Brian won the Hermann Trophy in the previous two seasons. Five Virginia players have received the crystal ball as the nation’s top player, as Brian joined the four Cavalier men to be named Hermann Trophy winners: Tony Meola (1989), Claudio Reyna (1993), Mike Fisher (1995 and 1996) and Alecko Eskandarian (2002). Virginia is one of three schools to produce both a men’s and women’s Hermann Trophy winner, along with Notre Dame and Penn State.