Major Indoor Soccer League scoring champion Greg Howes is a near-unanimous selection as the league's MVP after leading the Milwaukee Wave to the championship series.
Dallas coach Tatu, Kansas City's Jamar Beasley, Philadelphia's Peter Pappas and Monterrey's Genoni Martinez also were honored with postseason awards.
Howes, a four-year MISL veteran, scored 57 goals and amassed 85 points for the Wave, which posted the best regular-season record but lost in the championship for the second year in a row. The former Stetson and Oregon State standout, who played for the A-League's Seattle Sounders, had five four-goal games this season for Milwaukee.
Howes, named Wednesday to the U.S. Futsal roster for a CONCACAF qualifying series May 18 and 20 against Honduras, received 38 first-place votes and was chosen second on the remaining two ballots.
''This is a great honor,'' Howes said in a statement. ''Anytime you're named the MVP of this league, or of anything, you can hold your head high. I think it was having more confidence that really helped me this year. I knew coming into the season that I belonged. I knew that if I wanted to be a top scorer, I'd have to start from Game 1 and play every game like it was a playoff game.''
Howes, the only unanimous selection for the has scored 153 goals, with 78 assists, in 153 regular-season games over four years.
Former MISL great Tatu was voted MISL Coach of the Year after guiding the Dallas Sidekicks to a 21-15 record and the Western Division title. Tatu, who was the Sidekicks' player-coach for five seasons before retiring as a player following the 2002-03 season, engineered a turnaround from a 9-27 mark the previous season.
Former MLS midfielder Beasley was selected Rookie of the Year after scoring 31 goals and assisting 15 others for the Kansas City Comets. Beasley, a former U.S. under-20 international, played for the New England Revolution from 1998 until early in the 2001 MLS season, then played the remainder of 2001 with the Chicago Fire. He was the only unanimous selection to the MISL All-Rookie team and received 24 of 40 first-place votes for Rookie of the Year.
Pappas, of the Philadelphia Kixx, was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. The first-team All-MISL selection led the league in saves (430) and save percentage (76.5) and was third in wins (17), minutes (1,748) and goals-against average (4.53).
Monterrey Fury All-MISL selection Martinez was voted Defender of the Year for the second straight season. He was ranked first in the MISL in shots (250), second in points (67) and blocks (88), third in goals (39) and fifth in assists (28).
A complete rundown of MISL's 2004 awards:
MAJOR INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE AWARDS
MVP: Greg Howes (Milwaukee Wave)
Coach of the Year: Tatu (Dallas Sidekicks)
Rookie of the Year: Jamar Beasley (Kansas City Comets)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Peter Pappas (Philadelphia Kixx)
Defender of the Year: Genoni Martinez (Monterrey Fury)
Championship MVP: Scott Hileman (Baltimore Blast)
All-Star MVP: Giuliano Celenza (Baltimore Blast)
All-MISL Teams
First Team
G — Peter Pappas (Philadelphia)
D — Genoni Martinez (Monterrey)
D — Pat Morris (Philadelphia)
F — Greg Howes (Milwaukee)
F — Todd Dusosky (Milwaukee)
F — Carlos Farias (Baltimore
Second Team
G — Dan Green (Milwaukee)
D — Sean Bowers (San Diego)
D — Jeff Davis (Kansas City)
F — Dino Delevski (Kansas City)
F — Denison Cabral (Baltimore)
F — Don D'Ambra (Philadelphia)
MISL All-Rookie Team
G — Sanaldo (Kansas City)
D — Jeremy Aldrich (Philadelphia)
D — Adam Guren (Cleveland)
F — Jamar Beasley (Kansas City)
F — Adauto Neto (Cleveland)
F — Shaun David (Dallas)