Indiana University Athletics
O'Rourke Wins MAC Hermann (1-7-05)
1/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
"When you walk through Assembly Hall and see all those great players and know you are going to be alongside them is a great honor," said O'Rourke. "Having your name along with guys like (Pat) Noonan and Todd (Yeagley) is a great honor."
O'Rourke joined a group of Hoosier players that included current assistant coach Todd Yeagley, Brian Maisonneuve, Angelo DiBernardo, Armando Betancourt and Ken Snow. On five occasions, a Hoosier has won the Hermann Trophy and on three occasions, a Hoosier has won the M.A.C. Player of the Year Award. The list of Hermann Trophy winners includes: DiBernardo (1978), Betancourt (1981), Snow (1988, 1990) and Maisonneuve (1994). The list of M.A.C. Award winners includes Snow (1988, 1990) and Yeagley (1994).
The M.A.C. Award and Hermann Trophy were merged into one award prior to the 2002 season. Before that, the honors were both given out as national player of the year awards. The merge of the two honors competed a process of combining the three top honors in collegiate soccer. In 1999, the M.A.C. and NSCAA came together to create a single award to recognize the top Division I player.
The Hoosier captain each of the last two years led Indiana to back-to-back NCAA National Championships. During his Hoosier career, IU went 69-15-9 with four regular season Big Ten championships, two Big Ten Tournament championships and three College Cup Final appearances.
"This is just the cherry on top for Danny and our program," Indiana head coach Mike Freitag said. "Danny has played outstanding from the start of the year to the end. At the College Cup, he was not going to let this team lose. He has been the `heart and soul' of Indiana, and we wish him the best. We love him as a player and a person, and will miss him greatly."
He started 83 matches during his career with the Hoosier defense that posted a 0.60 goals against average including 46 shutouts. In 2004, O'Rourke had two goals and four assists on the offensive end. He assisted on the game-winning goal in IU's come-from-behind national semifinal win over Maryland.
"The national championship this year was the icing on the cake for us," said O'Rourke. "This award is the cherry on top. Winning this award makes this season that much better."
He was a two-time unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection and two-time first team NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region selection. In 2004, O'Rourke was a first team NSCAA/adidas All-American and first team College Soccer News All-American. He was also recently named as one of 11 players to be honored on Soccer America's MVP team.
His excellence also extended over to the classroom during his time at Indiana. O'Rourke was named the NSCAA/adidas Scholar Athlete of the Year for his performance in the classroom and on the field. He was a first team NSCAA Scholar All-American and a third team ESPN Academic All-American. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree while majoring in biochemistry. O'Rourke was a first team CoSIDA Academic All-District V selection each of the last two seasons.
"Four years ago I knew IU soccer was the best for me," said O'Rourke. "I have made lifelong friendships and I hope my teammates carry on the tradition and maybe three-peat next year."
Ryan Pore of Tulsa and Gonzalo Segares of Virginia Commonwealth were the other two men's finalists. The women's winner of the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy was Christine Sinclair of Portland. Heather O'Reilly of North Carolina and Tiffany Weimer of Penn State were the women's finalists for the award.
