Chivas USA claimed two MLS year-end awards Tuesday, as defender Jonathan Bornstein was named the Gatorade Rookie of the Year and Bob Bradley was named MLS Coach of the Year.
Bornstein, an unheralded fourth-round pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, ran away with the rookie award.
The UCLA product, who also played three years of college soccer at Cal Poly Pomona, scored six goals - more than any other rookie - and tallied four assists. He logged 2,878 minutes, more than any other field player in the league, and did so at every position on the field apart from goalkeeper. It was this versatility that helped Bornstein become an ever-present in Bradley's lineup.
Bornstein was named the MLS Player of the Week for Week 17 after torching the Colorado Rapids for two goals in a 3-3 draw in Denver, and he earned MLS Player of the Month honors for July after scoring four goals while playing three different positions during the month. Bornstein beat out Chivas USA teammate Sacha Kljestan and Real Salt Lake's Mehdi Ballouchy for the award.
With this year's honor, Bradley becomes the first man to win the Coach of the Year award twice. He also won with the Chicago Fire in their inaugural campaign in 1998, a year in which the Men in Red captured both MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup.
This year, Bradley took the reins of a Chivas club that had finished dead last in MLS in 2005 with a 4-22-6 record, matching the league's single-season mark for fewest wins set by the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 2001; that season was cut short due to the events of Sept. 11.
Bradley led a massive turnaround for the Red-and-White, bringing in veterans like Ante Razov and Jesse Marsch to complement the club's Mexican-born stars and surrounding those key players with a slew of talented youngsters. The club finished with a 10-9-13 record this season, a 25-point improvement over 2005, and earned its first-ever playoff berth.
The winningest coach in MLS history, Bradley has never failed to lead his teams to the playoffs in his nine-year career in the league. He won the Coach of the Year award ahead of D.C. United's Peter Nowak and the Fire's Dave Sarachan.
The MLS Coach of the Year and the Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners were determined by equal voting from the media, MLS players and MLS coaches and general managers. All first-year players in MLS without previous professional experience are eligible for the Gatorade Rookie of the Year award.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
