FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Diego Fagundez was voted the 2013 New England Revolution Team MVP, as announced by the team in a pregame ceremony prior to tonight’s regular-season home finale against the Columbus Crew at Gillette Stadium. Captain Jose Goncalves was also honored with the Best Defender award, while Matt Reis was recognized as the team’s humanitarian of the year.
The MVP award was determined by a fan vote, while the defensive award was voted on by the team’s beat media.
Fagundez, 18, is the youngest Revolution MVP in team history. Entering tonight’s game with a team-high 12 goals and co-leading the squad with seven assists, the Leominster, Mass.-bred teenager is an emerging superstar in Major League Soccer. He enters the weekend tied for fifth in goals scored in the league and is tied for MLS’ all-time leading goal scorer as a teenager. Fagundez is also the only teenager in league history to score 10 or more goals in a season.
Goncalves, 28, is in his first season with the Revolution after joining the club on loan from Swiss side FC Sion in January. Goncalves is the only player on the team to start each of the squad’s first 33 games, and he is one of only three field players in MLS to play every minute of the season this year. Both of his goals this year have been game-winning strikes, and he has helped the Revs lower their team goals against average from 1.29 in 2012 (tied for ninth in MLS) to 1.13 (fourth in MLS) in 2013 with a league-best 13 shutouts.
Reis, 38, won his third consecutive Revolution Humanitarian of the Year award. On April 15, 2013, Reis was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the first blast hit. His father-in-law, John Odom, was critically injured in the explosion, and Reis’ fast thinking saved Odom’s life so he could be rushed to Boston Medical Center. In August, Reis raised almost $125,000 at his third-annual Matt Reis Charity Golf Challenge, which he donated to the John Odom Recovery Fund. Reis also volunteered extensive time in 2013 to fundraise for The One Fund Boston, as well as Boston Children’s Hospital, among other charities.
