Sam Garza, UCSB’s leading goal scorer last season, has been placed on the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy Watch List for the 2011 season. The junior forward becomes the fifth Gaucho in program history to be named to the prestigious list.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The recipients are selected by head coaches of NCAA Division I programs who are members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Garza is one of 42 players on the list.
Garza follows in the footsteps of former UCSB standouts Chris Pontius (2008), Andy Iro (2006, 2007), Eric Avila (2007) and Tyler Rosenlund (2005), who each were placed on the list during their collegiate careers.
The Highland Village, Texas native is the defending Big West Co-Offensive Player of the Year and returns for his junior season after leading the Gauchos with nine goals and 24 points in 2010. Additionally, College Soccer News named him a Second Team Preseason All-American late last week.
A total of 35 different schools and seven countries are represented on the Hermann watch list, including players from the United States, Australia, Brazil, England, Ghana, New Zealand and Sweden.
Voting for the MAC Hermann Trophy is conducted in late November, when a field of 15 semifinalists is reduced to three finalists. Those three will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, where a news conference will be held to announce the winner, followed by a banquet to honor the three finalists.
To view the list in its entirety, click here.
Garza and the Gauchos open the 2011 campaign with an exhibition match against Westmont this Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium.
