North Carolina women’s soccer landed two players on the 2026 MAC Hermann Trophy Mid-Season Watch List on Wednesday, with Summer Denigan and Bella Devey both earning spots on the 30-player group unveiled by United Soccer Coaches and the Intercollegiate Women’s Soccer Organization for Coaches.
Denigan arrives on the list with a résumé that already includes major national recognition. Last season at Georgia, the midfielder finished as a MAC Hermann Semifinalist and a First Team All-America selection.
She entered this year on the Preseason MAC Hermann Midfielders Watch List and was ranked No. 4 in the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Top 100 Rankings. For the Tar Heels, she has stayed right in the middle of everything, posting eight goals, four assists and 20 points.
Devey’s rise has been even more eye-catching. The sophomore has turned in a breakout season and now sits third in the NCAA and second in the ACC in total goals with 12.
She has scored multiple goals in four different matches, including a first-half hat trick early in the season. Her play has already brought plenty of recognition: she was named Preseason All-ACC, earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice and made the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week in August.
The Hermann Trophy is college soccer’s top individual award, given to the National Player of the Year by head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.
This mid-season watch list was put together by members of the Division I Women’s All-America Committee, who selected the top performers from the first half of the season. The group was trimmed from 62 preseason names down to 30, with 24 players carried over and six newcomers added, including Devey.
The next step comes on December 4, when 15 players will be named semifinalists after All-America voting wraps up. Coaches will then vote again to narrow the field to three finalists.
The 2026 winner will be announced January 8, 2027, at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis, Mo.
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For the Tar Heels, Brizzis addition is less about splash than about fit, because a player who has seen that many programs usually brings a sense of pace, adaptability and perspective. His final college stop gives North Carolina another layer of insurance and another voice in a guard group that will need to absorb Malones system fast. The bigger question now is how that experience translates once the games begin and where Brizzi fits in a rotation that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
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