USL News Release

Thursday, August 6, 2009

TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues announced the top Premier Development League honors for the 2009 season Thursday, honoring the U19 Player of the Year, Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player as voted on by the league’s coaches and general managers.

Most Valuable Player – Aaron Wheeler (Reading)

The 2009 PDL Scoring and Goal Scoring champion adds the league’s top individual accolade to his trophy cabinet this season.

Setting the pace for the rest of the PDL, Wheeler recorded a goal or assist in 12 of 16 matches, finishing the 2009 campaign with 17 goals and three assists en route to the Rage’s first ever Regular Season Championship.

"Before this season we always had trouble scoring goals," said Rage general manager Art Auchenbach. "With Aaron this year it has been different. Aaron is the complete package, his size and determination helped us all over the park this season."

The Towson University senior exploded at the end of June, scoring seven goals over a two-game, five-day span, in wins over Virginia (5-1) and West Virginia (3-1).

Defender of the Year and U19 Player of the Year – Christian Ibeagha (Cary)

The Nigerian born defender spearheaded the Clarets backline to one of the best defensive records in the PDL this season.

During Cary’s June stretch, the 19 year-old was part of a defense that put up six shutouts in seven matches, conceding only two goals over the course of the month. A junior at Duke, Ibeagha appeared in 13 matches during the regular season, tallying one goal while logging 1039 minutes.

"Not very often do you have kids like Christian that can go through the duration of the season without some sort of injury to reduce his playing time," said Clarets assistant coach Henry Gutierrez. "He’s probably been the most durable defender we’ve had all year and that’s a testament to his maturity at such a young age." 

Ibeagha makes history as the first PDL player to unify the two titles in the same season.

Coach of the Year – Casey Mann (Des Moines)

Head coach Casey Mann led the Menace to an 11-1-4 record and their second division title in 2009. Over his five year span at the club, Mann has amassed a 48-19-13 record with Des Moines and won the PDL North American Championship in 2005. The 2009 campaign marked the third season in which Mann has coached Des Moines to double digit victories.