Soccer Fan Pro

The USL W-League announced the winners of their major 2010 season awards during the annual Championship Banquet held Friday in Santa Clarita, CA.

The awards were voted on by head coaches and general managers of the league’s franchises.

2010 USL W-LEAGUE AWARDS

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Kelly Parker, Buffalo Flash
- First two-time award winner (last won in 2004)
- Led league in goals (11) and points (27) this season

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Rashidah Sherman, New York Magic
- Second in league in goals and points this season
- Was finalist for Most Valuable Player

DEFENDER OF THE YEAR
Sue Weber, Long Island Rough Riders
- Scored goal, assisted on two more in 2010
- Last won award in 2008

COACH OF THE YEAR
Hubert Busby, Jr., Vancouver Whitecaps
- Led team to Western Conference championship; faces Buffalo Flash for league championship
- Whitecaps went 6-0-4 with 22 points in 2010 after winning only three games in 2009

GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Alyssa Whitehead, Charlotte Eagles
- Allowed only four goals scored in 10 games this season

Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders made history Friday by trading a Designated Player, disgruntled midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, to the Chicago Fire in return for a conditional MLS SuperDraft pick in 2011 or 2012.

Ljungberg joined the league October 28, 2008 after playing a decade in the English Premier League, nine of those seasons at Arsenal.

He had three assists and started 14 of 15 regular season game this season.

In his two seasons with the Sounders, he had two goals and 12 assists.

Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution signed forward Ilija Stolica and forward/midfieler Robert Linck to contracts Friday, according to The Boston Herald.

Stolica last played for FC Budocnost in Montenegro and is also a former Partizan Belgrade star.

From 2005 to 2008, he split time between Sint Truidense and RAEC Mons, both in Belgium, then headedto Greece to spend the second half of the 2008-09 season with OFI Crete.

Link played with the Chicago Storm of the now-defunct Xtreme Soccer League, then went to Romania to play for CSM Ramnico Valcea.

Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas announced Friday they have signed three players from their FC Dallas Juniors team — Ruben Luna, Victor Ulloa and Moises Hernandez — to professional contracts with the senior team.

They each will travel with the team to the Colorado Rapids Saturday and play in a reserve game after the main game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO.

Luna, who scored a team-high 26 goals in 29 games this season, will be eligible to play for FC Dallas this season.

Hernandez, who scored two goals over starting a team-high 30 games, and Ulloa, who had two goal and started 29 of 31 matches, will both be eligible to play for FC Dallas in the 2011 season.

Major League Soccer’s Kansas City Wizards announced Friday they have granted permission for forward Sunil Chhetri to leave the team to join India’s men’s national team through the 2011 Asian Cup tournament and have parted ways with midfielder Santiago Hirsig.

Chhetri became the first player from India to join MLS in March 2010 after signing him from Dempo SC.

He last played for the Wizards in Sunday’s 2-1 upset of Manchester United of the English Premier League at New Arrowhead Stadium.

Chhetri has scored 16 goals in 35 appearances for his national team.

Hirsig, who joined the Wizards before the 2009 season, scored his only goal with the team September 19 of that year in a 3-2 win over FC Dallas. He also assisted on another goal in that game.

This season, he appeared in one game — a May 5 2-1 road loss at DC United.