Murray, Nov. 13, [LNS].--Chad Gilbert was officially crowned Olympique Montreux's Most Valuable Player last week during the team's banquet at Braza Grill. Actually, the Olympians voted Gilbert their MVP for Fall 2005 in a ballot held before the Daynes Cup game. The striker received 14 combined first and second place votes. Also, Midfielder Nate Murphy, Center Forward Sergio Vasquez and Central Defender Paul Williams received MVP votes.
14 Goals Sergio Vasquez Wins Golden Boot Award
Vasquez went on to win the Golden Boot trophy.
Gilbert, also known as Goal-bert, came close to winning both the MVP and the Golden Boot awards. At the start of the Daynes Cup, both men's goal counters were running neck and neck. Gilbert had 12 goals, one more than Vasquez.
Thanks to his brace in the Daynes Cup, however, and also the tireless runs and set-ups of Gilbert, Murphy, Tracy McGuire, Jesse Day, Josh Kimball and Jake Cavanaugh, Vasquez snatched the Golden Boot from Gilbert by a hair.
The Olympians indeed put up big numbers in this fall campaign. They found the net an astonishing 41 times and allowed in less than 10 goals, eight according to official
league records. Their nearest competitor, Park City F.C., scored 33 goals but took in 19. OM's record is remarkable considering the caliber of play in the State-wide Premiership.
At the banquet, the players received individual Daynes Challenge Cup winner medals, dined
on Brazilian barbecue, drank exotic fruit beverages, danced to Samba music, admired the team's commemorative Daynes Challenge Cup trophy, and congratulated each other for a good season of selfless sacrifice, hard work and camaraderie.
The Olympians also recognized the contribution of the team's manager, Bel-Ami de Montreux. They presented him with the Manager-of-the-Year trophy, a set of fancy red pens, and an Adidas Champions League soccer ball that each Olympian autographed.
De Montreux, OM's only manager since its foundation in the winter of 1999, has stirred the team through an unbeaten run last spring in the First Division and in the Premiership this fall. The only flaw in the team's record was a tie-loss to Utah Mix after a highly contested 2-2 draw. Although teams proceed to penalty kicks after a tie in regulation time, they are nonetheless still awarded one point each for standing purposes.
Indeed, by winning the Daynes hardware, Olympique Montreux joins a one hundred year old exclusive club.
The Utah Soccer Association established the Daynes Challenge Cup in 1906, one year after the league's organization. The Cup was traditionally presented to the State Champions. Salt Lake Association Football Club won the first Daynes Cup.
The league awarded the Cup annually until 1939. The competition was suspended between 1940 and 1946 because of World War II.
League play resumed in 1947. However, the Daynes Challenge Cup was not revived until 1952 when it truly became a Challenge Cup similar to the FA Cup in England.
The banquet lasted several hours, as players, their spouses and friends enjoyed the ambiance and made plans to attend the Budweiser Cup in Las Vegas next February.
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