Baylor goalkeeper Azul Alvarez has landed on the 2026 Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List, a recognition announced Wednesday afternoon by the Intercollegiate Women’s Soccer Organization for Coaches in partnership with United Soccer Coaches.
Alvarez has been a constant in goal for the Bears all season. The Austin native has started and played every minute of Baylor’s 11 matches, piling up 35 saves while posting a .761 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average. She owns all nine of Baylor’s wins this season and now has 33 career victories, including 31 in the green and gold.
She is one of just three goalkeepers on the midseason list, joining Wake Forest’s Valentina Amaral and Virginia’s Victoria Safradin. Alvarez is also one of four Big 12 players honored, along with Colorado twins Faith and Hope Leyba and Texas Tech’s Taylor Zdrojewski.
The Hermann Trophy, presented each year by the Missouri Athletic Club, is college soccer’s top individual award. It recognizes the National Player of the Year as voted on by Division I head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.
The award carries the name of Robert Hermann, the late St. Louis businessman and soccer executive who founded the National Professional Soccer League, the first professional soccer league in the United States, which later became the North American Soccer League.
Hermann was inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.
This year’s midseason watch list was put together by members of the Division I Women’s All-America Committee, chaired by Jennifer Rockwood, and trimmed from 62 preseason names to 30 players based on first-half performance in the 2026 season. Of those 30, 24 were already on the preseason list and six are new additions.
Fifteen players will be named Hermann Trophy semifinalists on Dec. 4 after NCAA Division I All-America voting wraps up. Head coaches will then vote again to narrow that group to three finalists, and the 2026 winner will be revealed Jan. 8, 2027, at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis.
Baylor, now the Big 12’s highest-ranked team at No. 9, returns to conference play Friday night against Kansas at Betty Lou Mays Field. The match is part of the annual Gold Rush and Vamos Osos Hispanic Heritage Celebration promotions, with free admission and free gold T-shirts available while supplies last.
In Other News...
Arizona State Faces A Real Test Against Baylors Biggest Strength
Baylor heads into its road game at Arizona State with the kind of matchup that can tilt early if the defense wins at the line of scrimmage. The Bears are coming off a win over Colorado, and this trip offers another chance to lean on what has been their biggest strength, especially against an ASU passing attack led by Cutter Boley, whose numbers have made him one of the more difficult quarterbacks to slow down this season.
On the other side, Baylor's offense also has its own questions to sort through, with Lagway still limited as a runner after injury. Last season's game against Arizona State is part of the backdrop here, but this one feels different because the pressure points are clearer: Baylor needs its defensive front to bother Boley and its offense to do enough without leaning on Lagway's legs the way it might prefer. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Faces Its First Real Test In A Big 12 Road Stage
Arizona State will get Baylor on the road in Tempe in a Big 12 matchup that carries an early-season feel of a measuring stick for both programs. The Sun Devils enter at 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Baylor brings a 3-1 mark and the same league record, setting up a game that should say something about where each team stands in the conference race.
Baylors defense has been a point of emphasis, especially for the pressure it can create and the depth it has shown through the first month. With both coaches already weighing in on the matchup and recent performances, the trip to Arizona figures to test how well the Bears can handle a road stage that tends to reveal more than a home date ever does. [Read more 🡒]
Noelle Sather Is Already Changing Baylors Big 12 Outlook
Noelle Sather has wasted little time getting back into the groove for Baylor soccer. Fresh off her run at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the sophomore was named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week after scoring in each of her first two matches back, including the game-winner against the Cowgirls and another goal against Cincinnati.
Her quick return gives Baylor an immediate lift as conference play takes center stage, and it also adds another name to a Big 12 weekly awards list that featured other honorees around the league. With Kansas up next on the schedule, Sathers form is giving the Bears a timely boost as they try to shape their place in the conference race. [Read more 🡒]