Moving swiftly past the surprising decision to leave New York Red Bulls II 'keeper Ryan Meara off the shortlist for 2016 Goalkeeper of the Year, USL has included a candidate from NYRB II in every other category of its major end-of-season awards.
The 2016 shortlists were announced on October 19.
The II team's Aaron Long is up for Defender of the Year, competing with Amer Didic (who plays for fellow USL Cup finalist Swope Park Rangers, and Richmond Kickers' Hugh Roberts.
Brandon Allen is in the running for two awards: Rookie of the Year and the league's MVP award.
The Rookie category also includes Vancouver Whitecaps 2's Alphonso Davies, and former NYRB U-23s player (now with Rochester Rhinos) Joe Farrell. Davies is the star of that particular field, still 15 (he'll find out if he is USL's Rookie of the Year the day after his 16th birthday), reportedly having attracted attention from Manchester United and Liverpool this season.
USL's 2016 MVP will be either Allen, Charlotte Independence's Enzo Martinez, or FC Cincinnati's Sean Okoli (the league's Golden Boot winner).
And the league's Coach of the Year will be chosen from NYRB II's John Wolyniec, FC Cincinnati's John Harkes, and Swope Park Rangers' Marc Dos Santos.
The Awards will be announced over the course of the week of October 31, starting with Goalkeeper of the Year. On November 1, Defender of the Year will be revealed. Woly will learn if his season has impressed the voters (a combination of USL team management and selected media) on November 2. Rookie of the Year will be announced on November 3. MVP will be declared on November 4.