Nov. 1, 2005

NEW YORK - Former Wake Forest All-American Michael Parkhurst was named 2005 Major League Soccer Gatorade Rookie of the Year, the league announced Tuesday. The award was determined by equal voting from the media, MLS players and MLS coaches and general managers.

Parkhurst was one of only five players, including the only rookie, to start and play in every minute of every game during the 2005 regular season (32 starts, 2880 minutes). The Rhode Island native, who grew up a fan of the Revolution, gives the Revs back-to-back Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners after Clint Dempsey captured the award in 2004. The first selection by the Revolution in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, Parkhurst showed veteran poise at the heart of the back line and was only whistled for six fouls over the course of the season, anchoring a defense that gave up the second fewest goals in the league (37). The 21 year-old Parkhurst, who was also selected to the 2005 MLS All-Star team, is the fourth player on the current Revolution roster to have won the award (Steve Ralston - 1996; Jay Heaps - 1999; Dempsey - 2004).

Parlhurst's former Wake Forest teammate and current Kansas City Wizards forward Scott Sealy finished third for the award. Sealy not only finished second on the team in goals with nine, but led all rookies in goals. The forward played in 28 games and started 20. Sealy has also added a pair of assists.

The MLS Coach of the Year and the Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners were determined by equal voting from the media (33.33 percent), MLS players (33.33 percent) and MLS coaches and general managers (33.33 percent). With each voting category representing one-third of the total votes, the formula used for determining the award winners involved assigning 33.33 total points to each category for a maximum possible total of 99.99 points. All first year players in MLS without previous professional experience were eligible for the Gatorade Rookie of the Year award. The voting totals were as follows:

Gatorade Rookie of the Year Voting
	                         Media	Players	  Coach/GM     Total
Michael Parkhurst, New England	  8.29	   7.46	      8.64     24.39
Chris Rolfe, Chicago	          6.12	   9.80       6.79     22.71
Scott Sealy, Kansas City	  5.37	   6.85	      8.02     20.24

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