KANSAS CITY, Mo. – High Point University men's soccer student-athlete Daniel Lugo has been named to the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List for the second straight season as announced by the United Soccer Coaches organization on Friday afternoon. He is one of 30 DI men's soccer players honored.
 
Lugo joins MD Myers as the only HPU men's soccer players to be recognized in back-to-back seasons. Overall, he is the fifth Panther selected to this distinguished watch list and the first since 2021. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the Division I men's soccer equivalent to the Heisman Trophy Winner for Division I football.

Lugo returned for his senior season after becoming the program's second-highest draft pick (29th overall) when the Vancouver Whitecaps selected him in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft in December of 2025.

This year, Lugo has scored a team-high eight goals and 16 points through 10 games. The 6-foot-2 forward has two multi-score games, netting five goals over the past two games to lead the Panthers. He was named the Big South Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and TopDrawerSoccer's No. 2 Player in the nation to begin 2026. 

The Hermann Trophy is presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club and is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the National Player of the Year as determined by voting of Division I head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches. It is named in honor of the late Robert Hermann, the legendary St. Louis, Mo., businessman and soccer executive who founded the National Professional Soccer League, the first pro soccer league in the United States which became the North American Soccer League. He was inducted in the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.

The 2026 midseason watch list was compiled by members of the Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List Committee. A total of 15 players will be named 2026 Hermann Trophy semifinalists on December 4 at the conclusion of NCAA Division I All-American voting. From that list, head coaches will cast votes, and three players will be named finalists. The 2026 recipient will be announced January 8, 2027, in a ceremony at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis, Mo.