KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Senior Naomi Girma is one of 59 NCAA Women's Division I college soccer players named to the 2021 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List.
The Hermann Trophy is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the nation's National Player of the Year as determined by the voting of Division I coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.
Girma, the 2019 Pac-12 Defender of the Year, missed the 2020-21 season due to injury. The 2020 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year was a 2019 All-America first team selection and earned College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors after helping to guide Stanford to the national title in 2019.
A Cardinal player has claimed three of the last four MAC Hermann trophies, with Andi Sullivan taking the award in 2017, followed by Catarina Macario becoming a back-to-back winner in 2018 and 2019. Kelley O'Hara became the first Stanford player to win the MAC Hermann Trophy at the conclusion of the 2009 season. O'Hara was followed by Christen Press (2010) and Teresa Noyola (2011) to bring Stanford's total to six winners.
Florida State's Jaelin Howell earned the honor for the 2020-21 season.
Fifteen players become Hermann Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 30 following completion of Division I All-America voting. Then on Dec. 8, the top three players from a final round of voting are named 2021 finalists. The 2021 winner is revealed on Jan. 7, 2022, at a ceremony at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo.
