Ocean City FC announce 2010 award winners

John Fletcher named team MVP, Byron Carmichael and Kevin Curran are selected as top offensive and defensive players

From left to right: Kevin Curran (Defensive MVP), John Fletcher (Team MVP), Byron Carmichael (Offensive MVP)

The Ocean City Nor’easters’ 2010 season has come to a close and they have unveiled their 2010 award winners. Defender John Fletcher has been selected as the team’s most valuable player, while leading scorer Byron Carmichael was named the top offensive player, and second-year defender Kevin Curran was tapped as the top defensive player.

The award-winners were voted on by the Ocean City FC coaching and front office staff.

John Fletcher (Eckerd College ’08 / Uxbridge, England), in his third season with Ocean City, was named team captain and was a leader on the team’s backline throughout the campaign and even contributed offensively with four goals.

"Fletch was the leader of the team, both in training and during games," said head coach Neil Holloway. "He lead by example and gave some inspired performances and managed to get himself on the scoresheet on four occasions, an impressive feat for a central defender."

Fletcher’s goalscoring total was tied for second on the team’s scoring list while breaking the club’s single-season record for goals by a defender. He finishes the season with six goals and one assist in his career, which ties him with Joe Banks as the club’s all-time leading scoring defender. Fletcher also started every game for Ocean City FC, and lead the team in minutes played (1,429) while playing all but 11 minutes of the 2010 season.

"It’s an honor that the coaching staff and the front office staff thought that I had a successful season," said Fletcher. "I’m proud of my efforts but would definitely swap individual success for greater team success."

Byron Carmichael (Marshall University ’03 / Lumberton, NJ) was selected as the team’s offensive MVP for the fourth year in a row, as he led the team in scoring for the fourth year in a row. Carmichael, the club’s all-time leading scorer, topped the team’s scoring charts in all three categories with five goals and five assists for 15 points. His five goals was a career-low, but his five assists was a career-high. Carmichael finishes his seventh season with the Nor’easters as the club’s career leader in goals (57), assists (24), points (138) and games played (102).

Ocean City FC recent award winners
2009
MVP: Rory McCrea
Offensive MVP: Byron Carmichael
Defensive MVP: Tunde Ogunbiyi

2008
MVP: Adam Sternberger
Offensive MVP: Byron Carmichael
Defensive MVP: Joe Ilett

2007
MVP: Ryan Heins
Offensive MVP: Byron Carmichael
Defensive MVP: Adam Edwards

2006
MVP: Jeremy Ortiz
"Byron once again contributed to the team as the leading goalscorer and was an obvious choice as the offensive player of the year," said Holloway. "He featured in every game we played this year and with five assists, showed that he played his part in creating goals for the team."

Kevin Curran (Loyola College (MD) / Ocean View, NJ), playing in his second season for the Nor’easters, was voted as the defensive player of the year. Curran rebounded from last year’s injury-shortened season where he earned a starting job as an 18-year old rookie, and even made the starting 11 against Major League Soccer’s D.C. United in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

This year, Curran was fourth on the team in minutes played (1,202) as he played in 15 of the team’s 16 matches, while starting 13 of them. The Ocean View native found himself more involved in the offense as well, taking many of the team’s free kicks and corner kicks. On July 17, the second to last game of the season, Curran earned his first career PDL point as he assisted on Byron Carmichael’s goal in the 34th minute against the Carolina Dynamo. One of the more impressive stats about Curran’s 2010 performance was the fact that out of the 15 games he played in, he only committed six fouls all year.

"Continuing on from his debut season last summer, Kevin was very consistent and gave some mature performances at left back," said Holloway. "Having a year of college soccer under his belt, including helping his school reach the NCAA tournament, you could tell Kevin was more confident and has continued to develop into a solid player."

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