KANSAS CITY, Mo. — High Point University's Daniel Lugo has been named to the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List for the second straight season as announced by the United Soccer Coaches organization on Wednesday afternoon. He is one of 27 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 returns 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. In 2025, his first season at High Point after transferring from North Carolina, Lugo started in 19 of 20 games while scoring 14 goals — with a single-season program-best seven game-winning scores — and assisting on five for a team and conference-leading 33 points in 1,191 minutes played. 

The Floridan racked up the accolades in one season as he was voted the 2025-26 Big South Conference Male Athlete of the Year, the Big South Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, Big South Newcomer of the Year, Big South Tournament MVP, Big South First-Team All-Conference, United Soccer Coaches All-American, MAC Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List, TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year Finalist, and a member of the TDS Best XI First Team as the No. 4 player in the nation. 

To start 2026, Lugo has been ranked the TDS No. 2 player in the nation after being tabbed on the TDS Preseason Best IX First Team and Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. He now is named to the overall MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List after being a forward to watch.

All-time High Point MAC Hermann Trophy Candidates
2011, Karo Okiomah
2017, Siggi Benonyddon
2020-21, MD Myers (Semifinalist)
2021, MD Myers
2021, Sebastian Chalbaud
2025, Daniel Lugo
2026, Daniel Lugo

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 watch list was compiled by members of the Division I Men's All-America Council from a list of returning 2025 All-Americans and First Team All-Region players. 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.