Three Rowdies up for USL End of the Year Awards
November 4, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
The USL Championship announced on Wednesday the finalists for the league’s End of the Year awards, with the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Leo Fernandes, Aaron Guillen, and Jake LaCava nominated for MVP, Defender of the Year, and Young Player of the Year respectively.
Award winners will be announced between Tuesday, Nov. 8 and Thursday, Nov. 10 prior to the 2022 USL Championship Final on Sunday, Nov. 13 (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, SiriusXM FC).
Leo Fernandes – MVP Finalist
In his sixth season with the Rowdies, Fernandes had a career-best campaign with 28 combined goals and assists (19 goals, 9 assists) while notching 54 chances created and a +11.13 Goals Added mark for Tampa Bay’s league-leading attack.
Other MVP Nominees: Hadji Barry (Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC), Aaron Molloy (Memphis 901 FC)
Aaron Guillen – Defender of the Year Finalist
For the third straight year, Guillen led the Rowdies in minutes played, only missing 25 minutes of the regular season campaign. Guillen ranked fourth among defenders with 211 recoveries while posting a duel success rate of 66.8 percent, an aerial duels success rate of 68.3 percent, and a passing accuracy rate of 84.6 percent on 1,653 passes, second most among defenders in the league.
Other Defender of the Year Nominees: Mitchell Taintor (San Antonio FC), Sean Totsch, (Louisville City FC)
Jake LaCava – Young Player of the Year Finalist
LaCava proved to be an integral piece of Tampa Bay’s high-powered attack this season since joining on loan from Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls. The 21-year-old notched 12 goals and five assists on a shot conversion rate of 23.5 percent for the league’s highest-scoring attack.
Other Young Player of the Year Nominees: Michee Ngalina (Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC), Joshua Wynder (Louisville City FC)
The 2022 USL Championship Awards were voted on by team management and a league-wide media panel that included representation from every USL market.
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