Jack Maher named to MAC Hermann Trophy watch list

On Thursday the Missouri Athletic Club and United Soccer Coaches announced the watch lists for the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy. IU defender Jack Maher was among the 36 players on the list for the men’s award.

“It didn’t take long for Jack Maher to establish himself as one of the top players in the college game,” IU head coach Todd Yeagley said in a press release. “We are excited to see Jack continue to elevate his game as he enters his second year with the program. Jack is on his way to becoming one of the finest IU players to wear the jersey.”

Maher was the only sophomore named on the watch list and one of four Big Ten players in the group, which also includes Michigan State’s Giuseppe Barone and Patrick Nielsen as well as Michigan’s Jack Hallahan. This is the 12th time a Hoosier has been named to the watch list. Andrew Gutman won the award last year, two years ago Grant Lillard finished as the runner-up and in 2016 Tanner Thompson was a semifinalist.

As a freshman, Maher started all 24 matches for the Hoosiers as an integral part of one of the best defenses in the nation. He was named first-team Freshman Best XI by Top Drawer Soccer, was a member of the College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Over the Summer Maher was called into the United States Men’s National Team’s U-23 training camp.

The MAC Hermann Trophy Watch Lists are compiled by members of the United Soccer Coaches Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I All-America Committees. Fifteen semifinalists will be named near the end of the season based on voting by NCAA Division I coaches and three finalists will inevitably be placed on the ballot.

Maher and the Hoosiers officially open their 2019 campaign on Aug. 30 when they host Pittsburgh as a part of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.