BATON ROUGE — Before the start of each season, the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis releases its list of the top college soccer players from across the country expected to compete for the right to raise the Hermann Trophy as the National Player of the Year at the end of the season.
It was announced Tuesday that LSU junior All-American Malorie Rutledge is one of 47 student-athletes nationwide to be named to the organization’s prestigious watch list for the 2008 season.
Rutledge, a native of Sharpsburg, Ga., has already been tabbed a preseason favorite to earn first-team all-conference honors for the second straight season as the league’s 12 head coaches announced their preseason All-SEC squad a week ago. The Hermann Trophy is college soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy awarded to the nation’s top college football player each year.
Rutledge enters the season with impressive credentials after not only earning her first career First-Team All-SEC selection a year ago, but also being named an Honorable Mention All-American by Top Drawer Soccer and a First-Team All-Central Region performer by both the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Soccer Buzz Magazine a year ago.
She helped lead the Tigers to their first SEC West title and trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago with four goals and a single-season record 12 assists as a sophomore.
Considered the highest honor in intercollegiate soccer, the recipients of the Hermann Trophy are selected by Division I head coaches who are current members of the NSCAA. A list of 15 semifinalists is selected by the committee in November with three finalists announced during the NCAA Tournament in early December.
The three finalists will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club for a press conference on Jan. 9, 2009, where the winner will be announced with and a presentation banquet to follow.
2008 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List
Marisa Abegg, D, Sr., Stanford
Kristin Arnold, GK, Sr., Texas A&M
Yael Averbuch, M, Sr., North Carolina
Greer Barnes, D, Sr., West Virginia
Brittany Bock, F, Sr., Notre Dame
Kiki Bosio, F., Jr., Santa Clara
Zoe Bouchelle, M, Sr., Penn State
Jenny Bradfisch, GK, Jr., Purdue
Lauren Cheney, F, Jr., UCLA
Amanda Cicchini, M, Sr., West Virginia
Dani Collins, M, Sr., William & Mary
Amanda DaCosta, M, So., Florida State
Gina DiMartino, F, Jr., Boston College
Christina DiMartino, M, Sr., UCLA
Becky Edwards, D, Jr., Florida State
Michelle Enyeart, F, Jr., Portland
Kim Germain, M, Sr., James Madison
Kerri Hanks, F, Sr., Notre Dame
Tobin Heath, M, Jr., North Carolina
Lauren Hyde, D, Jr., Florida
Jaimel Johnson, K, Sr., Tennessee
Nikki Krzysik, D, Sr., Virginia
Stephanie Labbe, GK, Sr., Connecticut
Katie Larkin, F, Sr., BYU
Kelly Lawrence, D, Jr., Indiana
Stephanie Logterman, D, Sr., Texas
Edel Malone, M, Sr., Hofstra
Nikki Marshall, D, Jr., Colorado
Kasey Moore, D, Jr., Texas
Alyssa Naeher, GK, Jr., Penn State
Ashley Nick, M, Sr., Southern California
Casey Nogueira, F, Jr., North Carolina
Yolanda Odenyo, M, Sr., Oklahoma State
Kelley O’Hara, F, Jr., Stanford
Kristin Olsen, GK, Jr., Southern California
Carrie Patterson, F, Jr., Georgia
Lorraine Quinn, M, Sr., Duke
Elli Reed, D, So, Portland
Amy Rodriguez, F, Sr., Southern California
Kylee Rossi, F, Sr., Tennessee
Malorie Rutledge, M, Jr., LSU
Katie Schoepfer, F, Jr., Penn State
Brittany Taylor, D, Sr., Connecticut
Cate Tisinger, F, So., James Madison
Ingrid Wells, M, So., Georgetown
Claire Zimmeck, F, Sr., William & Mary
Emily Zurrer, D, Sr., Illinois