Final USL Second Division Awards announced
Published on August 27, 2005 under United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release
TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues announced Friday evening the Rookie of the Year, Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors for the 2005 USL Second Division season as voted on by the league's coaches and general managers.
Most Valuable Player
Jacob Coggins (Charlotte Eagles)
As was the case with the Scoring and Goal Scoring titles, Coggins is the second player in USL Second Division history to repeat as Most Valuable Player, third to win the honor twice. Luis Orrellana won the award in 1998 and 1999 and Julio-Cesar Dos Santos won in 2000 and 2002.
The 2004 MVP did not dominate in the scoring table as he did with last season's 20-goal, 10-assist campaign, but still managed a league-leading 14 strikes for the Goal Scoring title with four assists to give him the Scoring Championship on 32 points, one better than Harrisburg's Chad Severs, who also finished second in the Goals table with 13.
Coggins was named to the USL Second Division Team of the Week four times this season, earning the Player of the Week honor in Week 14.
Coach of the Year
Bill Becher (Harrisburg City Islanders)
Becher and his staff assembled a 2005 squad that went 12-3-5, came within three points of winning the regular season title, and took the Charlotte Eagles, finalists a year ago, into overtime of their Semifinal playoff series. The City Islanders posted a 10-7-3 record as an expansion team in 2004.
Harrisburg re-tooled the roster for 2005. Once the new personnel settled in, Harrisburg became unbeatable - literally. From May 21 through August 18 (the club's playoff opener with Charlotte), the City Islanders went undefeated in a franchise record 16 consecutive games (12-0-4), the longest such streak in the league this year. Along the way, the City Islanders posted a five-game winning streak and a four-game home winning streak, both club marks.
Harrisburg finished with the league's second-best home record at 8-1-1, and posted the third-best road mark (4-2-4).
Defender of the Year
Josh Rife (Charlotte Eagles)
With players like Jacob Coggins and Dustin Swinehart taking the headlines as top scorers, many may not have noticed the Charlotte defense, led by Rife and Goalkeeper of the Year Chris McClellan, leading the league in defense with the fewest goals allowed on the campaign at 20. The Eagles finished third a year ago.
Rife was an All-League Second Team selection last season and was named to the USL Second Division Team of the Week three times this season for his efforts.
Rookie of the Year
Chad Severs (Harrisburg City Islanders)
Severs was recognized as the league's top rookie after scoring 13 goals and 31 points in a brilliant campaign. The 23-year-old set new team marks in every major offensive category and finished second in the league in both goals and points, one behind Charlotte's Jacob Coggins in both categories. He was also tied for fourth with five assists.
Similar to the rest of the team, Severs started somewhat slow. But once he found his form, no attacker in the league was more consistent or durable. Severs notched 12 goals and 29 points over his final 15 games, including 20 points in his last eight matches. He posted three multiple-goal games and scoring streaks of three and four games.
The tireless front man led the team in games played (19), was tied for first with 18 starts, and tied for fourth with 1,480 minutes played. He posted a streak of 720 consecutive minutes from 6/18 through 7/23.
Severs was named to the USL Second Division Team of the Week a club record six times and was tabbed Player of the Week on July 19.
United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 27, 2005
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