TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced the first set of 2002 A-League seasonal awards today, honoring players who led the league statistically and were selected to the All-League teams.
In one of the most amazing half-season performances, Portland Timbers forward McKinley Tennyson recorded 39 points the latter half of the year on his way to a league-leading total of 42 (18 goals and six assists) to capture the 2002 A-League Scoring Championship.
Through the first 15 games of the 28-game season, Tennyson had tallied just one goal, a penalty kick, and one assist. At 4-8-3, the Timbers were facing a disappointing sophomore campaign that looked to finish without a postseason birth.
Then on July 4th at Portland’s PGE Park, Tennyson flipped the switch. The 6-2 forward from Indianapolis went on an eight-game point scoring streak, tallying at least two goals in seven of the club’s next eight matches with four strikes in the eighth, a 6-1 spanking of the El Paso Patriots. The Timbers were 6-2 over the eight-game run, boosting their record to 10-10-3 and putting them in prime position to reach the playoffs.
Tennyson’s league-leading 18 goals was matched by teammate Fadi Afash and Montreal’s Eduardo Sebrango, creating a three-way tie for the Goal Scoring Championship.
It was the 2001 D3 Pro League Most Valuable Player that kept the Timbers afloat during the first half of the season despite missing the first five matches to injury, a stretch in which Portland was 0-5 and Tennyson’s penalty kick conversion was its only score.
Upon his return, the former Utah Blitzz striker lit up the scoreboard with at least one goal in six of the next seven matches. He continued his consistent performance when Tennyson turned his season around and finished the year with a goal in 13 of his 22 games played on the year.
Since finishing third in scoring as a Vancouver 86er (now Whitecaps) in 1999, Sebrango has led a quiet, but excellent existence in the A-League, leading the Rochester Raging Rhinos to the A-League Championship in 2000 and the Hershey Wildcats to the A-League final in 2001. After racking up 18 goals and 10 assists for 46 points in 1999, Sebrango only managed 14 goals and five assists total in the next two years before returning to Canada to join the Impact.
Sebrango’s 18 goals helped the Impact return to prominence, competing with Rochester for the division title. In the end, Montreal came up one short in wins after finishing tied in points with the Rhinos for the season. The two will meet, however, this week in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Assist table also finished with a tie atop the list. Minnesota’s John Menyongar and Seattle’s Leighton O’Brien led the league with 11 assists on the year.
Minnesota’s 5-4 striker added an extra element to his game in his third season in the A-League, helping Minnesota return to the postseason after a year’s absence. The Liberian native more than doubled his previous two-year total of nine assists with his performance in 2002. Combined with his 10 goals, Menyongar also finished as the team’s leading scorer, edging Johnny Torres (12 goals, five assists) by two points.
O’Brien helped lead the Sounders to the A-League regular season title at 23-4-1. The club’s 2001 Team MVP also scored 13 goals to finish third on the scoring table with 37 points, three shy of teammate Brian Ching, who finished second with 16 goals and eight assists.
The Northwest duo of Seattle and Portland placed two players each in the top four of the league’s scoring table with Tennyson, Ching, O’Brien and Afash, respectively.
While offense dominated the Western Conference, defense was doing likewise in the Eastern. The top three goalkeepers in goals against average were the Eastern Conference with Charleston Battery netminder Dusty Hudock capturing his second Goalkeeper of the Year award with the league-leading GAA of 0.60.
Hudock won the first A-League Goalkeeper of the Year award five years ago for a GAA of 0.67 with the Seattle Sounders in 1997. Only one other player in A-League history has won the Goalkeeper of the Year award twice. Seattle’s Marcus Hahneman won the award in back-to-back seasons in 1994 (0.57) and 1995 (1.00). Two years later, the award returned to Seattle via Hudock.
The seventh-year goalkeeper could go down as one of the best in A-League history. The 6-2 forward has finished in the top 10 in goals against average each year since 1997 with no single season worse than his 2001 mark of 1.22. The only time Hudock was over that mark was in his first season with Seattle in 1994 in which he recorded a 1.30 average over six games.
Over his A-League career, Hudock has compiled a 0.97 goals against average, 58 shutouts and a record of 101-53-8.
In his fourth season with the Battery this year, Hudock helped lead Charleston, 19-3-6, to the regular season Eastern Conference title with a record of 16-2-5, playing in his fewest number of games in a season, 24, since his debut season. His record was second only to Seattle’s Preston Burpo, who was 20-4-0.
Hudock also led the league in shutouts with 13, three more than Rochester’s Pat Onstad and Montreal’s Greg Sutton, who also finished second and third in GAA, respectively.
Hudock By the Numbers
Year Team Games Minutes GAA GAA Rank W L T Shutouts
2002 Charleston 24 2,264 0.60 1 16 2 5 13
2001 Charleston 25 2,333 1.20 5 14 9 1 7
2000 Charleston 27 2,428 1.22 6 17 7 2 6
1999 Charleston 27 2,482 1.09 8 15 12 - 6
1998 Seattle 28 2,523 1.00 5 18 10 - 10
1997 Seattle 28 2,568 0.67 1 18 10 - 15
1994 Seattle 6 555 1.30 - 3 3 - 1
Totals 165 15,153 0.97 - 101 53 8 58
2002 Scoring Champion: McKinley Tennyson, Portland Timbers – 42 Points (18 goals, 6 assists)
2002 Goal Scoring Champions: Fadi Afash, Portland Timbers; McKinley Tennyson, Portland Timbers; Eduardo Sebrango, Montreal Impact – 18 goals
2002 Assist Leaders: John Menyongar, Minnesota Thunder; Leighton O’Brien, Seattle Sounders - 11 Assists
2002 Goalkeeper of the Year: Dusty Hudock, Charleston Battery - 0.60 Goals Against Average
The previously mentioned statistical leaders headlined the A-League All-League Teams also announced today. The two All-League Teams, voted on by the teams, saw plenty of representation from the regular season conference champions. Four Seattle players were honored with three making the First Team. Along with Hudock, two Charleston defenders were selected. Every playoff team landed a representative on the two teams, which also saw an even 11-11 split between the two conferences. The Pacific led the divisions with the most players represented at eight.
A-League 2002 All-League Teams
All-League, First Team All-League, Second Team
Pos. Player Team Pos. Player Team
G Dusty Hudock Charleston G Preston Burpo Seattle
D Gabriel Gervais Montreal D Craig Demmin Rochester
D Destin Makumbu Milwaukee D Linval Dixon Charleston
D Mark Watson Charleston D Mark Schulte Minnesota
M Andrew Gregor Seattle M Mauro Biello Montreal
M Leighton O’Brien Seattle M Luis DaGama El Paso
M Brian Piesner Atlanta M Jose Gomez Charlotte
M Lenin Steenkamp Rochester M Steve Kindel Vancouver
F Brian Ching Seattle F Fadi Afash Portland
F Eduardo Sebrango Montreal F Josh Henderson Richmond
F McKinley Tennyson Portland F John Menyongar Minnesota
USL will announce the Rookie, Defender and Coach of the Year awards next Tuesday, September 17.
The following A-League clubs have recently announced their team awards for the 2002 season.
Charleston Battery – 2002 Fan Awards
MVP - Dusty Hudock
Newcomer of the Year - Mark Watson
Defender of the Year - John Wilson
Offensive Player of the Year - Paul Conway
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Player of the Year – Derek Potteiger
Rookie of the Year – Joey Worthen
Unsung Hero – David Wright
Iron Men (2,000+ minutes) – Michael Green, Randy Dedini, Joey Worthen
Team Scoring Leader – David Flavius
Most Game-Winners – Thiago Martins
Rochester Raging Rhinos
Most Valuable Player Award - Pat Onstad
Community Service Award - Pat Onstad and Mali Walton
Leadership and Dedication Award - Carlos Zavala
Toronto Lynx
MVP – Theo Zagar
Offensive Player of the Year – Niki Budalic
Defensive Player of the Year – Joe Mattacchione
Public Relations Award – Robbie Aristodemo
Gerald Barnhart - USL Public Relations - Tampa, FL - 813.963.3909 - fax 813.963.3807
