PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Timbers U-23s defender Ryan Kawulok and forward Brent Richards were named to the Premier Development League's 2011 All-Western Conference team, it was announced today by United Soccer Leagues.
Kawulok and Richards each earned PDL all-conference honors for a second straight season. The PDL’s four all-conference teams were selected through a vote of team management.
Kawulok, 21, started all 16 games and played every minute of the 2011 season (1,440) for head coach Jim Rilatt. In his second season with the Timbers U-23s, he ranked among league leaders in minutes played and was one of just five players in the entire PDL to play each minute of the regular season. Kawulok, an All-West Coast Conference selection at the University of Portland in 2010, also scored two goals for the Timbers U-23s, including one in a 2-2 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency on July 10. Kawulok will play his senior season for the Pilots in the fall.
Richards, 21, finished his third season with the Timbers U-23s with eight goals and a team-high six assists in 14 matches. The Camas, Wash., native lead the team in scoring for a second straight season, recording 22 points in 2011. Richards, who logged a goal or an assist in each of the final seven games of the regular season, was named the PDL Player of the Week in Week 3, with his second-career hat trick in a 6-0 win over Washington Crossfire on May 15. In addition, he was named an honorable mention on the PDL Team of the Week four times throughout the season. Richards, the 2010 PDL MVP, will enter his senior season at the University of Washington this fall.
2011 PDL All-Western Conference Team
GK – Bryan Meredith, Kitsap Pumas
D – Dillon Barna, Ventura County Fusion
D – Fernando DeAlba, LA Blues 23
D – Ryan Kawulok, Portland Timbers U-23s
D – Daniel Scott, Kitsap Pumas
M – Daniel Barrera, Ventura County Fusion
M – Nikolas Besagno, Kitsap Pumas
M – Jose Cuevas, Fresno Fuego
F – Milton Blanco, Fresno Fuego
F – Chandler Hoffman, Orange County Blue Star
F – Brent Richards, Portland Timbers U-23s
