Duke forward wins Hermann Trophy, given to nation’s best Division I soccer players
Having already decided to end her college career early, Duke’s Michelle Cooper landed her sport’s biggest amateur honor on the way to her pro career.
Cooper was named the Hermann Award winner Friday night during a banquet in St. Louis, where she became the first Duke’s women’s soccer player to win the award.
She called it the “cherry on top” of her college career.
“It means a lot to me,” Cooper said. “I’m really excited and honored to be the first female player from Duke to win. I hope that the girls below me are able to continue on and make it to this beautiful ceremony.”
As a sophomore this season, Cooper scored 19 goals and collecting 11 assists for 49 points. The forward is the only player in the nation to finish among the top 10 in all three categories: She was second in goals, second in points and ninth in assists.
She scored or assisted on 10 game-winning goals this season.
Cooper attended the awards banquet along with two other finalists, Notre Dame’s Korbin Albert and Florida State’s Jenna Nighswonger.
For Cooper, hearing her name called as a winner was special because of so many past Hermann winners who she’s looked up to over the years.
“It was surreal,” Cooper said. “It’s crazy to think that I’ve won the same award as my idols, Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm and Crystal Dunn.”
All three are former North Carolina players, with Lilly winning in 1991, Hamm in 1992 and 1993, and Dunn in 2012.
Cooper announced last month she would forgo her final two years of eligibility at Duke to turn professional. She won the ACC offensive player of the year award this season, was a first-team, all-ACC selection and a first-team all-American while helping the Blue Devils go 15-5-3 and reach the NCAA tournament quarterfinals.
Duke midfielder Peter Stroud was among three finalists for the men’s Hermann Award, which went to Creighton’s Duncan McGuire.
It was the first time since 2017 that a school had a finalist for the men’s and women’s award in the same season.
While Cooper is the first Duke women’s soccer player to win a Hermann, Duke’s men’s program has produced winners seven times. They include Joe Ulrich (1982), Mike Jeffries (1983), Tom Kain (1985) and, in 1986, current Duke coach John Kerr won as a player. Jay Heaps won in 1998, Ali Curtis won in 1999 and 2000, followed by Andrew Wenger in 2011.
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 7:41 PM.