The 2002 Goalkeeper of the Year went to Dusty Hudock of the Charleston Battery who netted a 0.60 Goals Against Average for the season.
congrats to Dusty, He's had a great season and is one hell of a guy to boot Mark Watson also made the A-league first team and Linval "Rudi" Dixson is on the second team. These guys are a major reason Charleston is going to take the Championship, a strong defense. And with Conway finding his grove at the right time They have all the promise to be on fire throught the playoff race.
As a Kickers fan I have to like the way my team has already been written off, as speculation about Battery / Rochester matchups, etc., skips over the minor inconvenience of the Kickers. Last year when much the same Kickers team finished top of the A-league regular standings, they didn't get by their first match after the bye, and if the Battery are looking ahead as much as their fans are, they'll go out the same way. Charleston's defense looks strong but Jeffrey and Henderson have been more and more dangerous as a tandem, and the Kickers have good offense (and pace) coming out of the midfield as well. A little complacency and they'll be down 2-0 just like Atlanta was in Atlanta.
I guess we'll see how things set after tonights match up. But the Battery have been solid on defense all year. I don't think any team in the playoffs right now can be written off, but if the Battery are on their game, they will be more than a handful for the rest of the competiton. In fact, the only way I see them losing is because of a string of mistakes or bad luck. Mikey