UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –Ally Schlegel and Penelope Hocking have been named to the 2022 MAC Hermann Watch List announced Thursday by the United Soccer Coaches.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is awarded annually since 1967 and honors the United Soccer Coaches National Players of the Year in NCAA Division I men's and women's soccer based on voting conducted by NCAA Division I coaches.
This marks the third watchlist for Schlegel and Hocking during the preseason as both were also named to the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch – Forwards list and to the Big Ten Players to Watch list.
Redshirt senior Schlegel is no stranger to the MAC Hermann Watchlist having made her debut on the list in 2020-21 and advanced to the semifinalist stage after a successful sophomore season.
That season she led the Nittany Lions with 11 goals, six assists and 28 points and was named Big Ten Forward of the Year as she led the conference in scoring and points for the second consecutive season.
Schlegel enters her fourth season with the Nittany Lions in 2022 after posting a team-high ten goals in 2021 and being named to the All-North Region Second Team and All-Big Ten Second Team.
Hocking is a fifth year transfer out of USC who was also a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann trophy in 2020-21 as a junior. That season she earned Pac-12 Forward of the Year and All-Pac-12 First Team honors after posting ten goals to lead the conference.
A two-time All-American, Hocking arrives at Penn State for her fifth year of collegiate competition.
In program history, two Nittany Lions have won the MAC Hermann Trophy: Christie Welsh was the program's inaugural winner in 2001 and Raquel Rodriguez was the program's most recent winner in 2015.
In total, the Nittany Lions have had 18 semifinalists, finalists or winners of the MAC Hermann award.
15 women's players become Hermann Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 30 following completion of Division I All-America voting following the fall season.
Then on Dec. 7, the top three players from a final round of voting are the 2021 finalists. The 2022 winner is revealed on Jan. 6, 2023, at a ceremony at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo.
