GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman senior midfielder Isabella Gutierrez has been named to the 2021 Women's Hermann Trophy Watch List, an award presented annually to the top women's soccer student-athlete in the country.

Gutierrez, a native of Statesboro, Ga., was one of 59 student-athletes selected to the watch list and the only from a Southern Conference school.

The reigning SoCon Player of the Year, Gutierrez is a preseason all-conference selection heading into the 2021 season opener on Friday at Presbyterian. She tallied four goals and added three assists last season as Furman captured its seventh SoCon Women's Soccer Championship in program history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time. She netted the game-winning scores in the Paladins' 1-0 victories over The Citadel and UNC Greensboro to become the first Furman player since Stephanie DeVita in 2014 to earn league player of the year honors.

The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the nation's National Player of the Year as determined by the voting of Division I coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.
 
Fifteen players become Hermann Trophy semifinalists on November 30 following completion of Division I All-America voting following the fall season. Then on December 8, the top three players from a final round of voting are the 2021 finalists. The 2021 winner is revealed on January 7, 2022, at a ceremony at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo.