USC's Savannah DeMelo, Penelope Hocking Named to Hermann Trophy Watch List

LOS ANGELES – The 2021 MAC Hermann Trophy preseason watch list was released this week, and USC women's soccer stars Savannah DeMelo and Penelope Hocking were named to the list.
 
Both players are no stranger to the Hermann Trophy radar, with Hocking being named a semifinalist for the award last season and DeMelo being on the watch list each of the last three seasons.
 
Hocking heads into her senior year with a long list of accolades. She was named the Pac-12 forward of the year and a First-Team All-American last season, and has been an All-Pac-12 honoree each of the last three years. Hocking is poised to rewrite the USC record books, currently sitting 2nd all-time in goals with 42 (leader: 48), 3rd in career points with 100 (leader: 135), 2nd in game-winning goals with 13 (leader: 21), tied-10th in assists with 16 (leader: 39) and 6th in career shots with 207 (leader: 252).
 
DeMelo enters the 2021 season as a 5th-year senior, looking to close out a career that has already seen her earn All-Pac-12 honors three times and All-American recognition once. DeMelo is currently tied for 6th on the USC career assists list with 21 (leader: 39) and owns the 6th best single-season assist total in program history with 10 helpers in 2018.
 
The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is college soccer'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.
 
Fifteen players become Hermann Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 30 following completion of Division I All-America voting following the fall season. Then on Dec. 8, the top three players from a final round of voting are the 2021 finalists. The 2021 winner is revealed on Jan. 7, 2022, at a ceremony at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo.
 
USC has had five semifinalists for the award and one finalist in its history. The Trojans' semifinalists have been; Amy Rodriguez (2008), Kristen Olsen (2009), Ally Prisock (2018), Tara McKeown (2019) and Hocking (2020). USC's finalist was Morgan Andrews in 2016.