USL News Release
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. – United Soccer Leagues has announced the finalists for the 2011 PDL Honors. The awards for Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defender of the Year and Coach of the Year will be presented, along with the award for Goalkeeper of the Year, at Friday’s awards ceremony at the 2011 PDL Championship Presented by Umbro in Bremerton, Washington.
Two teams are in the running for multiple awards – the Michigan Bucks and the Thunder Bay Chill. Michigan leads the way with three finalists, including MVP candidate Mitch Hildebrandt, Coach of the Year finalist Gary Parsons and Defender of the Year finalist Stewart Givens.
When the Chill face the Kitsap Pumas in a semifinal Friday night, two of the Coach of the Year finalists – Thunder Bay’s Tony Colistro and Kitsap’s Peter Fewing - will go head to head. Thunder Bay’s other finalist is Wilson Rodrigues Neto who is up for Defender of the Year.
Other nominees include 2011 PDL scoring and assist champion Milton Blanco of the Fresno Fuego, an MVP finalist, as well as Orange County Blue Star sniper Chandler Hoffman, also an MVP finalist.
Votes for the Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards are submitted by PDL team management. Rookie of the Year finalists are determined by All-Conference voting, while the Defender of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year are chosen based on total All-Conference votes.
2011 PDL Award Finalists
MVP Finalists
Milton Blanco, Fresno Fuego
Mitch Hildebrandt, Michigan Bucks
Chandler Hoffman, Orange County Blue Star
Rookie of the Year Finalists
Albert Edward, River City Rovers
Brian Holt, Reading United AC
Jake Keegan, Westchester Flames
Coach of the Year Finalists
Tony Colistro, Thunder Bay Chill
Peter Fewing, Kitsap Pumas
Gary Parsons, Michigan Bucks
Defender of the Year Finalists
Dillon Barna, Ventura County Fusion
Stewart Givens, Michigan Bucks
Wilson Rodrigues Neto, Thunder Bay Chill