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Wake Forest's Tracy is Hermann Trophy winner
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Published: January 10, 2009
Marcus Tracy, a senior soccer player at Wake Forest, won the prestigious Hermann Trophy last night.
Along the way he made history by becoming the first Wake Forest player to win the award in its 41-year history. The Hermann Trophy, which is voted on by college coaches, is considered the biggest individual award in Division I soccer.
Tracy's teammate, Sam Cronin, a former star at Mount Tabor, and Akron's Steve Zakuani were also finalists. Tracy and Zakuani were at the ceremony last night at the Missouri Athletic Downtown Club in St. Louis. Cronin wasn't there because he was at the MLS Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The MLS Draft will be held on Thursday.
"I am extremely honored and humbled to know that a contingent of Division I coaches have named me as the top player in college soccer," Tracy said in a statement.
Tracy, from Newton, Conn., gave credit to his teammates, and said that without the team success the award wouldn't have been possible.
"It was an absolute privilege to have represented Wake Forest over my four-year career," he said, "and I wish the program and my teammates nothing but success in the years ahead."
No Wake Forest player had ever been among the finalists, so to have two is something Coach Jay Vidovich was proud of.
"It's great to have two guys out of three in the finals," Vidovich said. "I've been here since 1986 as an assistant and I don't recall ever having anybody in the final three so that's satisfying."
One of the biggest traits that Vidovich's program has displayed is incredible teamwork, which is why Vidovich isn't enamored with individual awards. The Deacons led the nation in scoring last season, going 21-2-1 and scoring a school-record 81 goals.
"I'm sure both Marcus and Sam would trade the Hermann Trophy for two more wins and another national championship," Vidovich said. "I mean you look at both of those guys with what they gave us in the midfield with Sam and how many goals Marcus created for us up front and they both just had incredible careers."
The Deacons lost to North Carolina 1-0 in the semifinals of the College Cup, and were denied a shot of repeating as national champions.
"These two guys are at different stages in their careers," Vidovich said. "Marcus has signed to play in Denmark and Sam is preparing for the MLS Draft at the combine."
Tracy, 22, is expected to fly to Denmark this weekend and sign a contract after passing a physical, according to Vidovich. Tracy was expected to be one of the top picks in next week's MLS Draft, but will instead take his talent to Europe.
Tracy played in 77 games for the Deacons and along with Cronin was part of three straight teams that played in the College Cup. Tracy scored 30 goals in his career with a career-best 13 this past season. He also added 23 assists (10 this season) and had seven game-winning goals as one of the premier strikers in college soccer.
"I'm ecstatic for Marcus," Vidovich said. "For him to achieve this award is an unbelievable tribute to what he's done during his college career."
Cronin, a midfielder and captain for the Deacons the past two seasons, started a school-record 98 straight games and had 17 career goals with 19 assists. Cronin and Tracy were part of a senior class that was the most successful in school history as it compiled a four-year record of 74-15-9.
In 2007 Tracy was the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the College Cup in Cary as the Deacons won the school's first national championship in soccer. In that College Cup he scored both goals in a 2-0 win in the semifinals against Virginia Tech.
The women's winner was Kerrin Hanks of Notre Dame, who beat out Casey Nogueria of North Carolina and Christina DiMartino of UCLA.
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.
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