Virginia senior goalkeeper Chantel Jones named to Preseason Hermann Trophy List

As the college pre-season is wrapping up and teams are receiving their first rankings players to watch this upcoming season are being recognised.

Virginia senior goalkeeper Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) was named to the 2011 Women’s MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, announced this week by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Jones was one of 42 players named to the list, which honors early candidates for the award annually given to the nation’s top player.

 Jones was a fourth-team All-American last season, becoming the first Cavalier goalkeeper to be named an All-American. She enters this season with a school-record 33 career shutouts, two shy of the ACC career record. Last season she had a 0.67 goals against average and 10 shutouts.

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. 6, 2012, where a news conference will be held to announce the winner, followed by a banquet to honor the three finalists.

The Cavaliers, ranked No. 10 in the preseason NSCAA poll, open the season on Friday as they host No. 13 West Virginia. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium and it is the second game of a soccer doubleheader. The Virginia men’s team concludes its preseason schedule as it hosts George Mason in the first game at 5 p.m.