The PDL announced its 2012 regular season honors today,
handing out the awards for Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year,
Defender of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Coach of the Year. The
announcements were made at the awards ceremony for the 2012 PDL
Championship, which will see the Carolina Dynamo race Forest City London at
7 p.m. ET tonight at Macpherson Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Thunder Bay Chill’s Sullivan Silva added the league’s Most Valuable
Player award to his Scoring Champion award after he helped lead his side to
the Heartland Division title with 13 goals and six assists. Silva also
shared the PDL’s Goal-Scoring Champion award with Reading United’s Deshorn
Brown as he played a role in almost half his side’s goals this season.
Adam Grinwis scooped both the Rookie of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year
awards after a standout season that saw him record a miniscule 0.444
goals-against average and record five shutouts in nine games. Grinwis did
not concede more than one goal in any regular-season contest for the PDL’s
regular season champion.
Grinwis was joined by Bucks teammate Kevin Cope, who claimed Defender of the
Year honors after a season that saw him appear in all but one of the Bucks’
regular season contests. The former Chicago Fire PDL standout continued his
stellar form with Michigan, scoring four goals in addition to his defensive
duties.
With two of his players also taking awards, Bucks coach Gary Parsons was
named Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season as he presided
over not only the Bucks’ third PDL regular season title, but also a
remarkable run in the U.S. Open Cup that saw the side reach the fourth round
of the competition, defeating Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire 3-2 in the
third round.
2012 PDL Award Winners
MVP
Sullivan Silva, Thunder Bay Chill
Rookie of the Year
Adam Grinwis, Michigan Bucks
Coach of the Year
Gary Parsons, Michigan Bucks
Defender of the Year
Kevin Cope, Michigan Bucks
Goalkeeper of the Year
Adam Grinwis, Michigan Bucks
PDL
The top developmental men’s league in North American, the PDL features 73
teams within four conferences across the United States and Canada. The PDL
season consists of 16 regular season matches for each team, eight home and
eight away, and provides elite collegiate players the opportunity to taste a
higher level of competition while maintaining their eligibility. In addition
to league play, PDL teams compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as
various exhibitions. The PDL has proven to be an important stepping-stone
for top professionals now playing throughout the world.
