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2004 A-League Defender, Rookie of the Year Finalists announced

September 14, 2004 - USL First Division (USL-1) News Release


TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced Tuesday the top two finalists each for the 2004 A-League Defender and Rookie of the Year Awards to be announced at the A-League Championship Banquet in Montreal Thursday evening.

Gabriel Gervais of the Montreal Impact and Peter Luzak of the Richmond Kickers are the finalists for the Defender of the Year honor.

The 2003 Defender of the Year, Gervais helped lead the Impact to a record year in 2004 as the team broke Rochester's 1998 single season shutout record of 18 with 19 during the regular season. The club went on to record three more in four postseason games for 22 of 32 games on the year. The club's 15 goals allowed tied Rochester's 1998 league record for the fewest in a season of 21 or more games. Gervais was named to the A-League All-League First Team for the third straight season. He played in 26 games and was recently called up for international duty with Canada during the playoffs.

Luzak helped lead his Kickers to the postseason as the second seed in the Eastern Conference as one of the league's top defenses. Richmond finished tied for third in fewest goals allowed (29). In his fifth year with the club, he played every minute of the season (2,663) for Richmond and was named to the All-League First Team for the first time. The defensive mainstay played 22 games in his rookie 2000 season and has only missed three regular season games in the last four years for the club.

Luzak's teammate on the other end of the pitch, forward McColm Cephas, is a Rookie of the Year finalist along with Portland Timbers striker Alan Gordon.

Fresh out of Virginia Commonwealth University, Cephas led the league's second best offense (44 goals) with 24 points on 10 goals and four assists. His outstanding professional debut led to a call up from the Liberian National Team for its recent qualification matches, where he earned his first cap in international play.

Gordon was among the A-League scoring leaders early on, scoring six goals in the club's first five games of the season as the Timbers went on to lead the league in goals with 58. The Oregon State product finished the season as co-Goal Scoring Champion with former MLS standout Dante Washington of Virginia Beach with 17 goals on the year. He was third in points with 35. Also drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS, Gordon was recently loaned to the club for the remainder of the 2004 season.

The finalists for the Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards will be announced Wednesday. All four awards are voted on by the league's coaches and general managers.

The A-League Championship is Saturday, September 18 in Montreal at Claude Robillard Sports Complex and will be broadcast LIVE on Fox Sports World at 7:00 pm ET.



USL First Division Stories from September 14, 2004


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