The University of Notre Dame duo of sophomore forward Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas) and junior forward Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La.) are the recipients of the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, presented to the top female and male players in NCAA Division I soccer. This marks the first time since the M.A.C. began awarding both a men’s and women’s award in 1991 that players from the same school have won the award in the same year. Hanks and Lapira share more in common than playing for the Fighting Irish. They each led the nation in goal scoring this season. The winners were decided by a vote of NCAA Division I soccer coaches who are current members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
  
Hanks is the first sophomore to claim the top individual honor in women’s soccer. Heading into Notre Dame’s NCAA semifinal match, Hanks was leading the country in both goals (22) and assists (20). She has a chance to join UNC great Mia Hamm as the only Division I players to lead in goals and assists in the same season. Hanks was selected the Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

With 136 career points (50 goals, 36 assists), Hanks has totaled more points over the course of her first two seasons than all but two previous players in the 25-year history of Division I women’s soccer. With her average of 2.7 points per game, Hanks is on pace to rank among the top career scorers in women’s soccer history.
Hanks already owns or shares an assortment of Notre Dame scoring records. She is the only Irish player to total more than 20 goals in multiple seasons and is the first player in school history to register four career hat tricks prior to her junior season. Hanks becomes the third Notre Dame player to win the women’s award, joining Anne Makinen (2000) and Cindy Daws (1996).

The first runner-up was University of North Carolina senior forward Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick) and fellow Tar Heel teammate sophomore midfielder Yael Averbuch (Upper Montclair, N.J.) was the second runner-up.

Lapira (Lake Charles, La.) led all NCAA Division I men’s scorers in points with 50 and goals with 22 as he became the first player in Notre Dame men’s soccer history to win college soccer’s top honor. This marks the second year in a row that a Louisiana native who led the nation in goal scoring has won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy. The University of Maryland’s Jason Garey (Gonzalez, La.) won the award in 2005.

Lapira was selected as the Big East Offensive Player of the Year and was also a unanimous choice on the all-conference first team. He tallied seven multiple-goal games this season. He had a seven-game goal streak at one point, which included a stretch of five straight two-goal efforts. Lapira’s top performance was a four-goal effort in a 5-4 overtime win at No. 8 Indiana. He was named the National Player of the Week twice by College Soccer News, Top Drawer and Soccer Times.

Lapira continued his stellar play into the NCAA Tournament as he scored the game-winner in both Irish victories en route to the program’s unprecedented run to the quarterfinals. He tallied the lone goal in wins over UIC and Maryland in the second and third round, respectively. His goal against the Terrapins occurred in the double-overtime to knock off the defending NCAA champions. Lapira also notched an assist in the quarterfinals, which ended Notre Dame’s season with a 15-6-2 record.

The top runner-up vote getter was Boston College junior forward Charlie Davies (Manchester, N.H.) followed by Southern Methodist University senior midfielder Jay Needham (Fort Worth, Texas).

An exhibition dedicated to the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy featuring all former recipients of both the M.A.C. and Hermann trophies, the current winners, a replica of the Irish crystal trophy and the original Hermann Trophy is on display at the National Soccer Museum in Oneonta, N.Y. Additional information about the soccer Hall of Fame can be found at www.soccerhall.org.

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