Chris Toth Named MASL Goalkeeper Of The Year

The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) announced the winners of their 2017-2018 Major Awards, including Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Defender of the Year and Rookie of the Year. The announcement was made at the annual Ron Newman Cup Championship Press Conference. Two players returned from last year’s Major Awards roster, Franck Tayou (Soles de Sonora) and Chris Toth (San Diego Sockers). The rest of the group earned their first career awards in their category.

Goalkeeper of the Year – San Diego Sockers’ Chris Toth earns his second straight Goalkeeper of the Year award. Splitting time with Boris Pardo, Toth made every minute count while he was in the net. Toth was one of only two goalkeepers to record a shut-out in 2017-2018. He was first or second in nearly every statistical category throughout the season.

Most Valuable Player (MVP) - In some sports, the MVP award is hotly debated, should it go to the player who is most valuable to his team or the player who puts together the best overall performance throughout the season. For the third straight season, Soles de Sonora’s Franck Tayou puts that debate to rest. His 71 goals scored in the regular season smashed the previous all-time MASL record of 56 (that he set last year) and accounted for nearly a third of Sonora’s goals throughout the season.

Coach of the Year –Mariano Bollella was tapped early in the offseason to lead the Monterrey Flash in their return to the MASL. Bollella put together a roster that was talented and selfless and the results were immediately apparent. The Flash were the last unbeaten team, racking up 17 straight wins before suffering their first loss. The key to Bollella’s strategy is coupling a lock-down defense with a high-powered offense. The Flash’s +69 Goal Differential were second in the league.

Defender of the Year – The St Louis Ambush saw measurable improvement on the field throughout the season. Robert Acosta, in his first season with the Ambush, was a big part of that. Acosta played in all 22 games for the Ambush. In his second pro season, he jumped from only 8 blocked shots last year to a league-leading 49 in 2017-2018.

Co-Rookies of the Year – In a first for the MASL, the voting for the Rookie of the Year was tied. With both players equally deserving, both Philip Lund of the Tacoma Stars and Edgar González of the Monterrey Flash have been named Co-Rookies of the Year. While some say that it takes 2-3 seasons for an outdoor player to adjust to the arena game, Both of these players took to the game like each had been playing for years. Combined they amounted to 43 goals and 13 assists.