Editor’s Note: This post was submitted by Evan Eyster, the newest contributor to Indomitable City Soccer. Follow him on Twitter here.

Well here we are, the final USL Award of the season.

Unlike the other awards this season, there are no snubs this time around. The top three MVP candidates were those who were nominated. There might be an argument for Rob Vincent of Pittsburgh to be a dark horse nominee, but I still think the correct three players earned the nomination for this one.

All three players who were nominated had amazing seasons. First I will go into my third place pick in Danni König of the Oklahoma City Energy. König came over to the USL after spending the last few seasons splitting time between the top two tiers of soccer in Denmark. While not getting quite as much attention as Fondy in the USL, he currently holds the record for second-most goals scored in a single season for the 2015 season, netting 21 goals (5 from PKs) to go along with 4 assists after playing all 28 games this year. If König actually went 6 of 6 from PKs this year instead of 5 of 6, he would have shared the golden boot with Fondy. When you also take into account the improvement of Oklahoma City this year, König would be a very well-deserving MVP in most seasons. If there was a way to factor out how much of the improvement from OKC (third most improved team from 2014 to 2015 by points gained) was due to the signing of König as opposed to other signings like keeper Evan Newton, he may move further up this list.

I do not know the full extent of leadership within the organization from König beyond him having competitive experience internationally, but he is the only player who was nominated who did not serve as team captain for the 2015 season. The captain for OKC remained Michael Thomas, carrying over from 2014.

Finally we come to this, the questions that we have been asking ourselves for the last third of the season: Where is Preki? And who is the USL MVP?

I have absolutely zero problems with Luke Vercollone of Colorado Springs Switchbacks or Matt Fondy of Louisville City FC taking the MVP. Both players had spectacular seasons for very unique reasons on first-year teams. Both took their squad to the playoffs as captains (Colorado being eliminated in PKs in West Semis, Louisville being eliminated in the East Finals)

To break down the stats between Vercollone and Fondy for those who are unfamiliar with what they did this year:

Fondy: 22 goals (1 of 2 PKs), 7 assists in 28 games. 1st in league for goals, 6th (Tie) for assists
Vercollone: 14 goals (8 of 8 PKs), 9 assists in 26 games. 4th (Tie) for goals, 2nd (Tie) for assists

Again using the comparison of playing all games as opposed to missing some games, this would have brought Vercollone closer to 15 goals, 10 assists based on extrapolating those numbers over the season. Looking at current stats combining all totals since the 2011 season to see how these players stack up in the long run, we end up with the following ranks, not taking into account that the 28-game season did not come into effect until the 2014 season:

Fondy would have been 1st in goals scored, tied for 14th in assists.
Vercollone would have been tied for 7th in goals scored, tied for 4th in assists.

Those numbers start highlighting the spectacular scoring season that Fondy had, and that what Vercollone did assists-wise was its own amazing feat. I think you have to take the stance that by the numbers Fondy had the superior season. Vercollone is not far behind him. Being in the top 10 all-time USL in two categories is stunning, even if the USL as it currently stands only is in its fifth season.

Let’s talk about the MVP though, specifically what the MVP award means to me. The MVP does not necessarily go to the best single player in the league. The MVP award goes to exactly what it says in the title, the most valuable player. That is the exact spot to me where Vercollone starts making up ground quickly on Fondy.

Both players were pivotal to their team’s success even based on scoring alone, with LOU only winning four games on the year when Fondy did not score, while COS was held to five wins when Vercollone did not score. One big statistical break is: Game Where an MVP Candidate Did Score. Fondy scored in 12 of 28 games he played. Vercollone scored in 10 of 26. Again it’s my general view on the game, but I prefer consistency in a player. While Fondy when he was good was amazing, Vercollone contributed more evenly throughout the season. Like the Belmar v Ballew rookie-of-the-year battle, my opinions on that are fairly well documented as to who I would prefer to take as a player.

Another point is experience and leadership. While both were their team’s captain, the leadership from Vercollone, especially when looking at the overall youth of the Colorado Springs team, was more impactful. Before this season Vercellone had played in the USL since 2006 on both Charleston and Richmond, with 223 games played. This year he moved to Colorado and not only had to change his role, but had to take a bigger step up in importance to the team in the attack. From 2006 to 2014 Vercollone had 17 goals and 16 assists in his career. Making the massive step up in both leadership and importance to the offense is huge to me.

You also have the aspect of importance to the team. Colorado Springs made the third seed in the West, but at the same time only made the playoffs by seven points. Without the ability and leadership of Vercollone, I think there is a very legitimate chance that Colorado would not have made the playoffs, and would have instead been near the bubble. While you cannot argue that Fondy was not a key piece of the Louisville attack, I do not think missing him would have cost Louisville that much in the form of playoffs, since on the whole they appeared the much deeper team with more up-top options. I trust players like Rasmussen, Dacres and McCabe to be able to fill in for Fondy and his scoring ability more than I trust COS players to fill in for Vercollone, as he was one of only two players on the team to record more than two assists on the year.

To briefly summarize, I consider value to be based on more than pure goal scoring. That is why we have the Golden Boot award. Vercollone provided leadership ability, coming from years of leadership, and I truly hope that he will play the remainder of his career in Colorado. As a single player, he is the epitome of what the MVP award is. He moved to Colorado in the offseason, and led a team of young players to the second round of the playoffs only to be ousted in PKs, all while setting career records in goals scored and assists recorded. My hat is off to Luke Vercollone for what may be one of the most iconic seasons in league history, and setting up Colorado for what may be years of success to come.

Winner: Luke Vercollone (COS)
Runner Up: Matt Fondy (LOU)