Northwestern University Athletics
Roth Named to Hermann Trophy Watch List
8/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 12, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Senior midfielder David Roth (St. Louis, Mo./Chaminade) is one of 29 players nationwide named to the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List, the most prestigious individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The trophy is awarded annually to the top male and female Division I soccer players in the country and is the official National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Player of the Year award for Division I competition.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection and a freshman All-Big Ten pick in 2004, Roth helped the Wildcats to their best season in school history last year as Northwestern came within one win of advancing to the NCAA College Cup. He was one of 11 players named to the 2006 Soccer America Men's College MVP team, which is the equivalent of a first-team All-America honor.
"This is a tremendous honor for Dave," Lenahan said. "He is just a great energy source for the program. He leads the nation in high-fives and slow claps to get things going and just loves to play soccer and be around his teammates. That enthusiasm is infectious for the rest of us. Dave's soccer has really developed from strictly a one vs. one guy, to now a guy who really knows how to manage and manipulate the game."
The St. Louis native led the Wildcats with 21 points last season on eight goals -- four of those game-winners -- and five assists. He finished second in the Big Ten in points per game and fourth in goals and assists per game. His biggest goal of the season came in the upset win at perennial NCAA power Saint Louis in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the Wildcats prevailed 1-0.
Roth, one of two Big Ten players to make the list, is already Northwestern's all-time leader with 25 assists and is tied for seventh with 51 total points entering his senior year. As a freshman in 2004, Roth tied a Big Ten record and set the NU single-season mark with 14 assists -- good for fourth-best in the NCAA ranks that year.
Players are selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List by a committee of Division I coaches who are NSCAA members. In November, the list will be narrowed to 15 semifinalists. Three finalists will be named in early December in conjunction with the NCAA Division I College Cup and will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club on Friday, Jan. 11, 2008. The winner of the 2007 award will be announced during a nationally televised news conference that evening.
