Aug. 12, 2010

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Three A-10 men's soccer standouts - Fordham's Ryan Meara, Ben Arikian of Massachusetts and Mike Roach of Saint Louis -- have been named to the 2010 Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List as announced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The recipients are selected by NCAA Division I coaches who are members of the NSCAA.

Meara, Fordham's second player in two years to be selected to the annual preseason list, was recently named United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (USL/PDL) Goalkeeper of the Year and was a 2010 preseason All-Conference pick after garnering 2009 NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic and Atlantic 10 First team honors. Meara played all but nine minutes last season (1767:45), posted a 9-7-3 record, a 1.02 goals against average, and 7.5 shutouts. In league play, Meara led the Rams to a 6-1-2 mark, posting a 0.85 goals against average, 4.5 shutouts, and a better than .800 save percentage.

Arikian, who was named to the Watch List for the second-straight season, was recently named to the College Soccer News 2010 Preseason All-America second team as well as the A-10's preseason All-Conference team. He is also a two-time All-Region First Team pick, a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection, and was named the 2008 A-10 Midfielder of the Year. Arikian has played in 63 career matches at Massachusetts scoring nine goals while adding 17 assists for 35 points. He has five career game-winning goals. Last season, he factored into four game-winning goals either scoring or setting up the go-ahead tally. In 2008, Arikian scored or assisted the game-winning goal in eight of UMass' 10 wins.

Roach, who is the league's top returning scorer, was recently named a third-team College Soccer News 2010 Preseason All-America pick and a preseason All-Conference selection. He accumulated 24 points (11 goals, 2 assists) in 17 games last year and his 0.65 goals per game ranked 12th in the nation, while his 1.41 points per game were 23rd nationally. A second-team All-Conference selection in 2009, Roach was named Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship after helping the Bills seize the league title.

A total of 30 different schools and six countries are represented on the list, including players from the United States, Ghana, France, New Zealand, Scotland and Zimbabwe.

Voting for the MAC Hermann Trophy is conducted in late November, when a field of 15 semifinalists is reduced to three finalists. Those three will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, where a news conference will be held to announce the winner, followed by a banquet to honor the three finalists.