PDL Feature
Thursday, December 6, 2012
For the fifth consecutive season, the MAC Hermann Trophy will be won by a former PDL standout, with Reading United’s Ryan Finley and Jose Gomez and the New Orleans Jesters' Patrick Mullins being nominated for the most prestigious award in NCAA Division I Soccer on Thursday. The award winner will be announced on Friday, January 11 in St. Louis.
Finley, who appeared in eight games this past summer for Reading, helping them reach the PDL Playoffs, had a standout fall for Notre Dame, leading the Fighting Irish to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the Big East Championship. Finley scored almost a goal per game this fall, finding the back of the net 21 times in 22 games, finishing second in the nation in both goals and points (46).
Named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 12 goals, Finley had six game-winning goals for the Irish. The most notable of those came in the Big East Championship Game, where his overtime winner lifted his side past Georgetown 3-2 to earn Notre Dame its third Big East championship.
Gomez also appeared for Reading this summer, and has been the creative force for Creighton in its return to the College Cup this weekend. The attacking midfielder had already been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, before he scored two goals to lead the Bluejays to the MVC Championship, taking Tournament MVP honors.
Mullins, who scored 12 goals in the past two seasons for the Jesters, had a standout fall for Maryland, leading his side to its first College Cup since 2008. The junior forward, who many have tipped to be offered a Generation adidas contract from MLS prior to the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, has scored a team-high 16 goals, and a career-high eight assists.
Named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Mullins has scored seven game-winning goals this fall. This past weekend, he was again among the scorers as the Terrapins clinched their berth at the College Cup with a 3-1 victory against Louisville.
The PDL has become a proving ground for the top college players in the nation, with 111 of the players selected in the past three MLS SuperDrafts having spent time in the league. The past four winners of the MAC Hermann Trophy, and seven of the past nine, have all spent time in the top amateur league in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean
Finley, Gomez or Mullins are now set to follow the Carolina Dynamo’s Marcus Tracy (2008), the Rochester Thunder’s Teal Bunbury (2009), the Cleveland Internationals’ Darlington Nagbe (2010) and Reading United and the Carolina Dynamo’s Andrew Wenger (2011) in claiming the award.