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Ralston Honored As MLS Fair Play Award Winner
New England Revolution captain Steve Ralston was voted the winner of the 2009 Major League Soccer Fair Play Award, the league announced on Wednesday. The Fair Play Award was determined by equal voting from MLS players, general managers, coaches, referees and members of the media.
Ralston was one of three finalists for the award along with Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller and Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad. This is Ralston’s third individual Fair Play Award, having previously earned the honor in 1999 and 2000 while with the Tampa Bay Mutiny. He is the league’s first three-time winner of the Fair Play Award, while he was also a finalist in 2006.
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This is the third straight year in which a Revolution player has won the league’s Fair Play Award, after Michael Parkhurst claimed the honor in both 2007 and 2008.
Ralston committed just four fouls in 20 appearances this season before a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee ended his campaign abruptly on Sept. 26. He finished the season third on the team in goals (7) and second in assists (7) despite missing one-third of the season because of injury. A seven-time MLS All-Star, Ralston is the league’s all-time leader in minutes played (33,143), game started (372) and appearances (378), as well as assists (135) and game-winning assists (41).
The Revolution will visit the Chicago Fire for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series on Saturday night, Nov. 7, at Toyota Park. Kickoff for the match is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, with Fox Soccer Channel’s coverage scheduled to begin with a live, on-site pregame show at 8 p.m. ET. The Revolution enters the decisive second leg of the two-game, aggregate goals series with a one-goal advantage after winning Game 1 of the series, 2-1, last Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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