Albert Named Hermann Trophy Finalist

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The United Soccer Coaches in conjunction with the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) announced its three women finalists for the 2022 Hermann Trophy – which is the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer, awarded annually since 1967. Notre Dame sophomore midfielder Korbin Albert was named one of the finalists to attend the banquet in St. Louis on Jan. 6. The other two finalists also hail from the ACC – Florida State’s Jenna Nighswonger and Duke’s Michelle Cooper

Albert could join a very prestigious list of Irish Hermann Trophy award winners in Cindy Daws (1996), Anne Makinen (2000) and Kerri Hanks – the latter won it twice in 2006 and 2008. Note, Jen Renola won the NSCAA Player of the Year award in ’96 before it merged with the MAC. The last Hermann Trophy finalist was Melissa Henderson in the 2010 season.

Let’s first start with Albert’s incredible stats – career-high 16 goals (ranked 8th in the country), a career-best 37 points (ranked 9th in the country), six game-winners (ranked 5th in the nation) and doing all of that in the nation’s top-rated conference. Albert was sensational down the stretch, scoring 14 goals over the last 12 games.

In fact, her 16 total goals were the most from a midfielder this past season. Furthermore, nine of her goals came against top-25 opposition. All of that led to her being named the ACC Midfielder of the Year.

And what’s special about Albert’s goals were the variety of them – of her 13 non-PK goals, 10 came from outside the box, with three coming via direct free-kick. Furthermore, of those 13, seven were delivered by her left foot and six from her right.

She also helped place Notre Dame’s name back in the national conversation. The Irish earned a top-five national ranking, earned its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament since 2008 and was one win shy of qualifying for the College Cup. The Irish finished 17-3-3 with six wins against top-25 teams, which included Virginia and Florida State.