McCoy Tabbed Semifinalist for MAC Hermann Trophy

DURHAM, N.C. – One of the best to ever wear the Duke shirt saw her stellar senior season nationally recognized Tuesday, as Kayla McCoy was tabbed a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy.

McCoy is the fifth Blue Devil in program history to be named a semifinalist for the honor, which is given to the top NCAA Division I women's soccer player in the nation. This is the third-straight year a Blue Devil has been named a semifinalist, as McCoy joins Imani Dorsey (2017), Rebecca Quinn (2017) and Christina Gibbons (2016). Natasha Anasi, who was named a semifinalist in 2012, was the first player in Duke history to receive the distinction.

A native of Lincolnwood, Ill., McCoy turned in an outstanding senior campaign in 2018, helping lead the No. 4 seed Blue Devils to their 24^th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and ninth as a national seed. Behind her team-high 12 goals and 32 points, along with eight assists, McCoy spearheaded Duke's eighth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.

Eight of McCoy's scores came in ACC play, which topped the league and helped Duke to a second-place finish in the league. The forward recorded a point in all but six matches, highlighted by her fifth-career four-point game (two goals vs. Wake Forest) and a trio of three-point performances. She recorded five game-winning goals, one coming against No. 11 Boston College to secure Duke's second-place ACC finish in the ACC and the other in the NCAA Tournament First Round against Rutgers.

McCoy's dominance led her to receive All-ACC First Team honors, making her the 11^th player in program history to earn the honor multiple times.

The Lincolnwood, Ill., native also left a mark on the Blue Devil record books, finishing third with 15-career game-winning goals, fourth with 38 scores and 92 points and fifth with five multi-goal performances. She was also one of the most decorated Blue Devils in NCAA Tournament history, finishing second in program history in postseason play with 18 points, third with seven goals and tied for seventh with four assists.

As a member of the winningest senior class in program history, McCoy has led Duke to a pair of College Cup showings (2015 & 2017) in her career, along with an NCAA Quarterfinal showing in 2016 and this year's Round of 16 appearance.

Off the field, McCoy has been a stud in the classroom and in the community in her time at Duke. The cultural anthropology major and chemistry minor currently sports a 3.76 GPA and became the eighth player in DWS history to be named CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team multiple times. Along with being named a United Soccer Coaches Second Team Scholar All-American last year, McCoy is Senior CLASS Award finalist and has been named to the ACC Honor Roll all three seasons and is a two-time member of the ACC All-Academic Team

McCoy's excellence doesn't stop at the field and the classroom, as she participated in the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program—a collaborative service initiative between Duke and Stanford—in the summer of 2018, traveling to South Africa for a month to assist in teaching academics, sports and life skills to the local children. McCoy has also worked with Bull City Fit the last two years, a community-based wellness program located in Durham, N.C., that offers free activity sessions during the evenings and weekends that encourage and promote active living.

The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer and has been awarded annually since 1967. Three men's finalists and three women's finalists will be named on Dec. 7 in conjunction with the Men's College Cup semifinals in Santa Barbara, Calif. The 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy banquet will be held at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Jan. 4, 2019 to formally announce this year's winners. For more information about the history of the MAC Hermann Trophy, visit MACHermannTrophy.org.

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