Senior forward Christie Welsh of Penn State could become the fifth repeat winner of the Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious of the collegiate player-of-the-year awards.
Welsh, who captured the Hermann and Missouri Athletic Club awards as a junior, could join U.S. women's national team stars Mia Hamm and Cindy Parlow (both North Carolina), U.S. national team captain Claudio Reyna (Virginia) and former Indiana University standout Ken Snow as the only Hermann repeat winners.
The trophy this year is called the MAC Hermann Trophy, after Missouri Athletic Club and Hermann officials joined forces earlier this year.
Santa Clara midfielder Aly Wagner — Soccer America's Player of the Year for 2001 — Washington goalkeeper Hope Solo and Nebraska forward Christine Latham are the other repeat finalists among the 15 women announced Wednesday.
Three men's finalists from 2001 — forwards Pat Noonan (Indiana), Alecko Eskandarian (Virginia) and Mike Tranchilla (Creighton) — head the list of men's finalists.
Also on the men's ballot are Noonan's Hoosier teammate, Ryan Mack, David Stokes of defending champion North Carolina and Brian Carroll of No. 1 Wake Forest.
Completing the 15-player men's list are Ryan Coiner (San Diego), Ryan Futagaki (UCLA), Sumed Ibrahim (Maryland), Nate Jaqua (Portland), Roger Levesque (Stanford), Jordan Quinn (South Carolina), Damani Ralph (Connecticut), Diego Walsh (SMU) and Chris Wingert (St. John's).
Three North Careolina players are among the women's finalists: forward Alyssa Ramsey, midfielder Susan Bush and defender Catherine Reddick. Kim Patrick, a former Tar Heel now at Tennessee, also is on the list.
The other women's finalists are Marcia Wallis of top-ranked Stanford, Lauren Orlandos and Christine Sinclaur of Portland, Michigan's Abby Crumpton, Rutgers' Carli Lloyd, UCLA's Nandi Pryce and Texas's Kelly Wilson.
The Hermann Trophy will be decided by a vote of current NSCAA members at the NCAA Division I level. The winners will be announced on Dec. 12 in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Men's College Cup in Dallas.