FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Homegrown Player Scott Caldwell has been selected as the 2015 New England Revolution Santander Most Valuable Player and the club’s Players’ Player of the Year. The Braintree, Massachusetts native was the only Revolution player to appear in all 34 of the club’s regular-season games in 2015, setting career-highs with two goals and five assists while also leading the Revs in minutes played with 2,882.
Caldwell, who originally signed with the Revolution in December 2012, is the second Homegrown Player to be selected as the Revs’ MVP in the last three years, joining Diego Fagundez who was the club’s 2013 MVP.
The Santander Most Valuable Player award, which was presented to Caldwell prior to the Revs’ regular-season home finale on Oct. 17, was determined by an online fan vote while the Players’ Player of the Year award was voted on by the players currently on the Revolution roster.
Caldwell and the Revs will return to action at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night when they face D.C. United at RFK Stadium in the Knockout Round of the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. Should the Revolution defeat D.C. United on Wednesday night, they will advance to the two-leg, aggregate goal Eastern Conference Semifinals against either the New York Red Bulls or Columbus Crew SC. The first leg of that series would be played at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, November 1, while the second leg would be played on the road one week later.
Below is the full list of 2015 Revolution Team Award winners:
- Santander Most Valuable Player – Scott Caldwell
- Players’ Player of the Year –Scott Caldwell
- Defender of the Year – Andrew Farrell
- Humanitarian of the Year – Kelyn Rowe
- Golden Boot – Charlie Davies
- UnitedHealthcare Academy Player of the Year – Justin Rennicks (Under-16s)
Santander Most Valuable Player & 2015 Players’ Player of the Year: Scott Caldwell
Scott Caldwell was selected by Revolution fans as the club’s 2015 Santander Most Valuable Player. An ever-present figure in the center of the New England midfield, Caldwell appeared in all 34 of the club’s regular-season games while playing a team-high 2,882 minutes with the Revs going 14-7-8 when he plays the full 90 minutes compared to 0-5-0 when he either came off the bench or was substituted. In 2015, Caldwell set career-highs with two goals and five assists, including two game-winning assists. Caldwell scored the first goal of his MLS career in a 4-0 home win over Real Salt Lake on April 25 and the Revs were 3-1-2 when Caldwell had a goal or an assist. The Braintree, Massachusetts native was voted the Santander Man of the Month for both May and July while he was twice named to the MLSSoccer.com Team of the Week.
Caldwell was also voted by his teammates as the Players’ Player of the Year this season. A quiet and confident leader, Caldwell was determined by his teammates as “the player who best typifies what it means to be a Revolution player, both on and off the field.” Former Revolution defender A.J. Soares won the first Players’ Player award in 2014.
Defender of the Year: Andrew Farrell
Andrew Farrell was voted the club’s Defender of the Year by local media after anchoring New England’s backline in 2015. After spending the majority of his first two seasons in MLS at right back, Farrell shifted to central defense in 2015, starting 31 times, including all nine of the Revs’ shutouts this season. With disciplined play, Farrell managed to commit just 13 fouls this season despite ranking second on the team with 2,819 minutes played. A finalist for the Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month in April, Farrell was named to MLSSoccer.com’s Team of the Week a joint team-high four times this season.
Humanitarian of the Year: Kelyn Rowe
Kelyn Rowe was named the Revolution Humanitarian of the Year for the second straight season. In 2015, Rowe has continued to promote childhood cancer awareness throughout New England, as an ambassador for the Jessie Rees Foundation, an organization that ensures every child fighting cancer has the support and resources they need to NEGU, or “Never Ever Give Up.” Rowe took his philanthropic efforts to another level, launching his own charitable program at Revolution home games called “Kelyn’s NEGU Crew” with the help of the Revolution Charitable Foundation. Each “Kelyn’s NEGU Crew” experience gave a courageous child battling cancer a chance to join Rowe for a postgame walk around the field to thank the Revs’ supporters. In addition to his work with Team NEGU, Rowe has volunteered extensively with the club’s charitable activities, including additional hospital visits at Boston Children’s Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, as well as events like the HairRaising fundraiser where he cut off his hair to benefit Boston Children’s Hospital and helping to giving teenage hospital patients a special night at Prom to Remember.
Golden Boot: Charlie Davies
Charlie Davies earned the Revolution Golden Boot after finishing the season as the club’s top goal scorer with 10 goals in an MLS career-high 33 games. Davies, a native of Manchester, New Hampshire finished the season three goals ahead of teammates Juan Agudelo, Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe, who each scored seven goals. The Revs were 6-1-2 this season when Davies scored, including a 3-1 win over Toronto FC on Aug. 1 when Davies scored twice. Between April 19 and May 8, Davies scored in four consecutive games for the second-longest scoring streak in MLS this season and tying the longest of his MLS career. He is the fourth different Revolution player to score 10 or more goals in the last four seasons and the 11th player in club history to accomplish the feat.
UnitedHealthcare Academy Player of the Year: Justin Rennicks
Justin Rennicks was named the Revs’ UnitedHealthcare Academy Player of the Year for the 2014-15 Academy season after helping lead the Revolution Under-16s to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs for the first time in club history. A forward from South Hamilton, Massachusetts, Rennicks scored four goals and added a team-best nine assists in 34 games in all competitions. Rennicks, who joined the Revolution first team for a week of preseason training in Tucson, Arizona and played in the club’s Desert Diamond Cup game against the Colorado Rapids, also spent time with the United States Under-16 and Under-18 National Teams in 2015. In January, Rennicks had a goal for the U-16s against Romania in the 2015 Aegan Cup International Youth Tournament, which was held in Turkey, and two months later, he had an assist with the U-16s against Netherlands at the Netherlands International Tournament. After training with the Revolution first team throughout the summer, Rennicks was called in to the U.S. Under-18s in August, joining the team in Sweden, where he tallied a game-winning assist against Finland in the Open Nordic Cup. This is the second season that the UnitedHealthcare Academy Player of the Year award has been presented. Zachary Herivaux won the inaugural award for the 2013-14 season before signing with the Revs as a Homegrown Player in May.
