USL News Release
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced Wednesday the winners of its Premier Development League 2006 Season statistical awards, honoring the Scoring Champion, Goal Scoring Champion, Goalkeeper of the Year and Assist Leader.
Boulder Rapids Reserve forward John Cunliffe took the league’s Scoring Championship honor with 41 points on the season from 18 goals and five assists. The English striker from Fort Lewis College has seen tremendous success through three years of college play but had his breakout year in the PDL this season after registering just two goals and four assists last year in six games with Boulder.
Cunliffe finished tied with Freddie Moojen of the Augusta Fireball for the Goal Scoring Championship with their league-leading 18 goals this season.
Moojen finished tied for the Goal Scoring Championship last season with 18 goals while also claiming the Scoring Championship with 43 points while playing for the Cocoa Expos. In his first season with Cocoa in 2004, the Brazilian, who is headed to Clemson after two years at Lincoln Memorial University, registered 10 goals and three assists for a three-year tally of 46 goals in the PDL.
Current PDL finalist Michigan Bucks midfielder Nate Jafta got off to an excellent start in his PDL career by finishing the season as the Assist Leader in his first campaign, netting 11 over the course of the season. Heading into his second season at Lindsey Wilson College, the South African scored seven goals and had three assists as a freshman last year before joining one of the perennial powerhouses in the PDL.
Eric Reed captured the Goalkeeper of the Year honor for a league-low goals against average of 0.62 this season. Headed into his senior season at UCLA, the three-year Bruin starter helped guide the Southern California Seahorses to the regular season division title for the first time, posting a record of 12-3-0 over the course of his 15 games played in his third year with the club. Reed has improved each year, going 6-6-2 in 14 games for a GAA of 2.46 in his first season to a mark of 9-3-1 in 13 games with a GAA of 1.10 in his second year with the Seahorses.
The PDL Championship, featuring Assist Leader Nate Jafta, is scheduled for this Saturday, August 12 with the Michigan Bucks visiting the Laredo Heat at 9:35 ET. The game will be broadcast at 11:30 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel following the Real Madrid friendly versus Real Salt Lake.
The PDL All-Conference and All-League Teams will be announced Thursday followed by the Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year, U19 Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors on Friday.
