Final USL-1 Awards announced USL News Release Friday, September 28, 2007 SEATTLE, WA – United Soccer Leagues announced the final award winners for the 2007 USL First Division season, honoring the Defender of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player at the USL-1 Championship Banquet. The USL-1 Final between Seattle and Atlanta is Saturday at 10:00 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel. In a quixotic twist, a representative from each of the semifinalist clubs make up the four award winners as voted on by the league’s coaches and general managers. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER : Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders) COACH OF THE YEAR: Gavin Wilkinson (Portland Timbers) ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jay Needham (Puerto Rico Islanders) Drafted by DC United, the Hermann Trophy finalist out of Southern Methodist University joined the Islanders despite being drafted in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft by DC United and became a fixture in the back line for the club. He was one of three players, along with fellow defender and All-League selection Marco Velez, on the club to log over 2,000 minutes on the season. He also provided a goal and two assists. He went on to help lead the Islanders to the semifinals before being eliminated in a penalty kick tiebreaker by Seattle after a 3-3 series draw on aggregate. The sixth-seed Islanders stunned the third-seeded Montreal Impact 5-3 on aggregate in the quarterfinals to register their first playoff series win. He is the second player from Puerto Rico to receive the honor in three years, following goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, who won the honor two years ago. DEFENDER OF THE YEAR: David Hayes (Atlanta Silverbacks) ==== Reference: http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/206808.html
Congratulations to Jay Needham (Rookie of the Year) and Marco Velez (second team All USL). Both had great seasons. Now onward and upward to Trinidad an Tobago for the Caribe Cup. The fun never ends!!!