Dec. 3, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--Senior forward Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) was named one of 15 student-athletes to the Hermann Trophy Semifinalist list on Thursday by the NSCAA and Missouri Athletic Club. Schoepfer is the first Penn State semifinalist since 2006.
Schoepfer, a candidate for the U.S. Young Female Athlete of the Year, is on the list of 15 semifinalists for the first time in her career. The senior forward out of Connecticut is the first Nittany Lion on the list since 2006 when Ali Krieger was a semifinalist. The last Nittany Lion to reach finalist status it was 2005 when Tiffany Weimer was a runner-up for the Trophy, given to the nation's top player, for the second time.
Schoepfer finished the 2009 year with season bests in points (37) and assists (9) while tallying a Big Ten best 14 goals this season en route to being named the league's Offensive Player of the Year. The 2007 Second Team NSCAA All-American led the team in points as well and currently sits in the top five in most major offensive categories in Penn State history.
Schoepfer capped her career in Happy Valley with 92 appearances in the Blue and White, scoring 48 times and adding 26 assists in four seasons. Her 122 points stands fifth all-time at Penn State, while also placing fifth in goals scored, tied for fourth in game-winning goals (18) and tied for sixth in assists.
Joining Schoepfer on the list is Notre Dame sophomore midfielder Courtney Barg, UCLA senior forward Lauren Cheney and sophomore forward Sydney Leroux, Florida State senior forward Becky Edwards and sophomore forward Tiffany McCarty, North Carolina senior defender Whitney Engen and senior midfielder Tobin Heath, Portland senior forwards Michele Enyeart and Danielle Foxhoven, Virginia junior midfielder Sinead Farrelly, Boston College senior defender Kelly Henderson, USC senior goalkeeper Kristen Olsen, Stanford forwards, junior Christen Press and senior Kelly O'Hara
Three finalists will be named from the group of 15 on Dec. 11 for the prestigious M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Award. Those three will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo. For a press conference and presentation of the award winner on Jan. 8, 2010.
Along with Penn State freshman midfielder Christine Nairn (Bowie, Md.), Schoepfer wase named finalists of the 2009 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Award with fan voting for that two awards ending Dec. 13. Schoepfer and Nairn are one of five candidates for the award handed out yearly by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The other three finalists are Heath of North Carolina, Leroux of UCLA and O'Hara of Stanford.
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--NITTANY LIONS--