ST. LOUIS, MO. - (December 12, 2002) - Senior midfielder Aly Wagner of Santa Clara University and junior forward Alecko Eskandarian of the University of Virginia are the winners of the 2002 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, presented to the top male and female players in NCAA Division I soccer. The winners were decided by a vote of current National Soccer Coaches Association of America members at the NCAA Division I level.

This year’s honorees have the distinction of being the first to receive the newly-unified award. This summer’s announcement of the unification of the M.A.C. Award and Hermann Trophy completed the merging of NCAA Division I soccer’s three top honors. In 1999, the M.A.C. and NSCAA came together to create a single award recognizing the top Division I players.

Wagner won the award convincingly. Christie Welsh of Penn State, winner of the 2001 Hermann Trophy and the Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year award, was the runner-up, followed by Catherine Reddick of North Carolina and Christine Sinclair of Portland.

Wagner, a senior midfielder from San Jose, Calif., helped lead the Broncos to last Sunday’s 2002 College Cup title match, where they lost in overtime to Portland 2-1. She missed seven games with SCU this season while helping the U.S. Women’s National Team to the Gold Cup title and a berth in next year’s Women’s World Cup in China. Wagner’s rise to college soccer’s top honor has not been a meteoric one. She has battled through several injuries throughout her career and persevered.

Wagner is the second player from Santa Clara to win Player of the Year honors. Mandy Clemens captured the Hermann Trophy and M.A.C. award in 1999. Wagner was a finalist for both the M.A.C. and Hermann Awards in 2000 and 2001.

Last season, Wagner helped lead Santa Clara to their first national championship. She scored the lone goal in the title match to give the Broncos a 1-0 victory over North Carolina.

In addition to her accomplishments on the field, Wagner has excelled in the classroom where she carries a 3.44 GPA in combined sciences. She recently was named to the Verizon Academic All-District team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Eskandarian edged Pat Noonan of Indiana by four points to win the men’s award. Noonan was also runner-up for the M.A.C. award in 2001. Finishing third in the balloting was Diego Walsh of Southern Methodist University and fourth was Mike Tranchilla of Creighton.

Eskandarian, a junior midfielder from Montvale, N.J., established himself as the most prolific goal scorer in the storied soccer history of the University of Virginia. In 2002, he scored a school-record 25 goals in 20 games. His 25th goal came in the second round of the NCAA tournament against William and Mary. The season ended for the Cavaliers that day with a heart-breaking loss on penalty kicks.

Eskandarian has posted 113 career points, sixth best all-time at Virginia. He has scored 50 goals, placing him fourth all-time at UVA. His 16 game-wining goals, rank him third on the Cavaliers career list.

Eskandarian becomes the fifth player from the University of Virginia to be recognized as college soccer’s Player of the Year. He joins John Harkes, Tony Meola, Claudio Reyna and Mike Fisher as Cavaliers who have been honored by the M.A.C.

Wagner and Eskandarian will be honored at a dinner Friday, Jan. 10, 2003, at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. Bruce Arena, head coach of the U.S. men’s soccer team and former Virginia coach, will be the featured speaker at the dinner. The winners also will be recognized as part of the NSCAA All-America Luncheon, to be held Saturday, Jan. 18, as part of the 2003 NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

An exhibition dedicated to the new award 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 will be unveiled in 2003 at the National Soccer Museum in Oneonta, N.Y. Additional information about the soccer Hall of Fame can be found at www.soccerhall.org.

All-Time Hermann Trophy Award Winners

MEN Year: Player, College
1967: Dov Markus, Long Island University
1968: Manuel Hernandez, San Jose State
1969: Al Trost, Saint Louis University
1970: Al Trost, Saint Louis University
1971: Mike Seerey, Saint Louis University
1972: Mike Seerey, Saint Louis University
1973: Dan Counce, Saint Louis University
1974: Farrukh Quraishi, Oneonta State University
1975: Steve Ralbovsky, Brown University
1976: Glenn Myernick, Hartwick College
1977: Billy Gazonas, Hartwick College
1978: Angelo DiBernardo, Indiana University
1979: Jim Stamatis, Penn State University
1980: Joe Morrone, Jr., University of Connecticut
1981: Armando Betancourt, Indiana University
1982: Joe Ulrich, Duke University
1983: Mike Jeffries, Duke University
1984: Amr Aly, Columbia University
1985: Tom Kain, Duke University
1986: John Kerr, Duke University
1987: Bruce Murray, Clemson University
1988: Ken Snow, Indiana University
1989: Tony Meola, University of Virginia
1990: Ken Snow, Indiana University
1991: Alexi Lalas, Rutgers University
1992: Brad Friedel, UCLA
1993: Claudio Reyna, University of Virginia
1994: Brian Maisonneuve, Indiana University
1995: Mike Fisher, University of Virginia
1996: Mike Fisher, University of Virginia
1997: Johnny Torres, Creighton University
1998: Wojtek Krakowiak, Clemson University
1999: Ali Curtis, Duke University
2000: Chris Gbandi, University of Connecticut
2001: Luchi Gonzalez, Southern Methodist University

WOMEN Year: Player, College
1988: Michelle Akers, University of Central Florida
1989: Shannon Higgins, University of North Carolina
1990: April Kater, University of Massachusetts
1991: Kristine Lilly, University of North Carolina
1992: Mia Hamm, University of North Carolina
1993: Mia Hamm, University of North Carolina
1994: Tisha Venturini, University of North Carolina
1995: Shannon MacMillan, Portland University
1996: Cindy Daws, University of Notre Dame
1997: Cindy Parlow, University of North Carolina
1998: Cindy Parlow, University of North Carolina
1999: Mandy Clemens, Santa Clara University
2000: Anne Makinen, University of Notre Dame
2001: Christie Welsh, Penn State University

All-Time Missouri Athletic Club Award Winners

MEN Year: Player, College
1986: John Kerr, Jr., Duke University
1987: John Harkes, University of Virginia
1988: Ken Snow, Indiana University
1989: Tony Meola, University of Virginia
1990: Ken Snow, Indiana University
1991: Alexi Lalas, Rutgers University
1992: Claudio Reyna, University of Virginia
1993: Claudio Reyna, University of Virginia
1994: Todd Yeagley, Indiana University
1995: Matt McKeon, Saint Louis University
1996: Mike Fisher, University of Virginia
1997: Johnny Torres, Creighton University
1998: Jay Heaps, Duke University
1999: Sasha Victorine, UCLA
2000: Ali Curtis, Duke University
2001: Luchi Gonzalez, Southern Methodist University

WOMEN Year: Player, College
1991: Kristine Lilly, University of North Carolina
1992: Mia Hamm, University of North Carolina
1993: Mia Hamm, University of North Carolina
1994: Tisha Venturini, University of North Carolina
1995: Shannon MacMillan, University of Portland
1996: Cindy Daws, University of Notre Dame
1997: Cindy Parlow, University of North Carolina
1998: Cindy Parlow, University of North Carolina
1999: Mandy Clemens, Santa Clara University
2000: Anne Makinen, University of Notre Dame
2001: Christie Welsh, Penn State University

All-Time NSCAA Division I Players of the Year
(Note: The M.A.C. and NSCAA merged their awards in 1999.)

MEN Year: Player, College
1996: Mike Fisher, University of Virginia
1997: Daniel Hernandez, Southern Methodist University
1998: Dema Kovalenko, Indiana University

WOMEN Year: Player, College
1996: Jennifer Renola, University of Notre Dame
1997: Sarah Whalen, University of Connecticut
1998: Danielle Fotopoulos, University of Florida