Nov. 6, 2002

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest junior midfielder Brian Carroll was selected as one of 15 finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Award, given to the nation's top male and female soccer player.

Carroll, a junior from Springfield, Va., has started all 17 of Wake Forest's games this fall and has helped the Deacons to unprecedented regular season success. The Deacons are undefeated at 13-0-4, captured the first regular season ACC title in school history and are the nation's consensus number one team this week.

"Brian's leadership has been a major key to our growth as a program and our success this year," head coach Jay Vidovich said. "He has a great engine up and down the line and is an excellent two-way player."

"I feel honored to be on the list. The Hermann Trophy is something I hadn't even thought about and is something I won't think about again until after the season," Carroll said. "As a team, we're focused on accomplishing our team goals."

Carroll has three goals and five assists from his flank midfield position. Two of his three goals have come against Atlantic Coast Conference competition including a one goal, one assist effort against Virginia earlier this fall. That performance propelled Carroll to ACC Player of the Week honors.

Carroll, a Soccer America preseason All-American, has spent each of the last two summers with the U.S. National Teams in his age group. This past summer, Carroll competed on the U-23 National Team in Italy, England and Portugal alongside MLS stars DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey among others. On August 1, Carroll scored two goals against the Bolton Wanders, an English side.

The winners of the M.A.C.'s Hermann Trophy will be decided by a vote of current NSCAA members at the NCAA Division I level. Winners will be announced at a news conference in Dallas, Texas, on Dec. 12 in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Men's College Cup and the announcement of the NSCAA/adidas All-America teams for intercollegiate play. The winners will be honored at a dinner at the M.A.C. in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 10, 2003.

Past winners of the Hermann Trophy include U.S. National Team superstars such as Claudio Reyna, Brad Friedel, Alexi Lalas and Tony Meola.

M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Finalists: