Savannah McCaskill and Mikayla Krzeczowski had stellar seasons last year as they helped South Carolina reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before falling to North Carolina. It was one of just two games the team lost as they failed to drop a result across their first nineteen games before a defeat to Florida in the SEC Tournament.
Now, the senior forward and sophomore goalkeeper are among those on the MAC Hermann Trophy watchlist. A total of thirty women’s players were placed on the watchlist for the award, given to the top male and female college soccer player in the country each year.
McCaskill was one of fifteen semifinalists for the trophy last year after rewriting the record books in 2016. Her 17 goals set a new single-season program high, while her 11 assists were two short of Mindy Sanders’ record of 13 in 1999. She also set program records in shots (122), shots on goal (51), game-winning goals (10), and points (45). McCaskill stands eighteen goals shy of the all-time career program record and needs 30 more to match Kayla Grimsley’s career mark of 119.
Krzeczowski made her mark as a freshman right away: her eleven shutouts were third-most in program history behind Mollie Patton (15) and Canadian national team keeper Sabrina D’Angelo (12). Her 0.43 goals against average was the lowest for any goalkeeper in South Carolina history, putting her part of a defense that allowed a grand total of ten goals all season long.
While it might be hard to top last year’s exploits, the Gamecocks certainly have their sights on doing so. And they have a pair of players in McCaskill and Krzeczowski that can help them get there.