Sounders FC Announces Team Award Recipients

Alonso, Parke, Johnson and Estrada Honored

RENTON, WASH. – Seattle Sounders FC has announced the 2012 Team Award recipients. Osvaldo Alonso was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Jeff Parke was honored as Defender of the Year, both by a vote of their teammates. Eddie Johnson received the Golden Boot by virtue of leading Seattle in scoring and David Estrada was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year.

Most Valuable Player – Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso: Voted MVP by his teammates for the third consecutive season, Alonso has developed into the league’s premier holding midfielder. He was honored with his first MLS Best XI selection and was also named a MLS All-Star for the second-straight season. The league’s most tenacious ballwinner logged 2,688 minutes in the regular season, the second most in club history behind his 2011 total. He added one goal and two assists in league play, and took the third-most shots on Sounders FC. Alonso added four goals and two assists in the U.S. Open Cup to earn Player of the Tournament honors.

Defender of the Year – Defender Jeff Parke: Seattle’s stalwart on the backline, Parke earned Defender of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. He finished second on the team with 29 reular-season starts and logged 2,568 minutes in 30 matches, the most of any Sounders FC defender. Parke helped anchor the league’s second-best defense, finishing the season as one of two teams to allow less than one goal per match. Overall, Parke appeared in 39 of 48 matches across all competitions in 2012, and was named to the MLS Team of the Week for Week 30.

Budweiser Golden Boot – Forward Eddie Johnson: Johnson returned to Major League Soccer in 2012 to lead Sounders FC in scoring, setting the club record with 14 goals in regular-season play, ranking sixth in MLS. Johnson broke the record of three-time Golden Boot winner Fredy Montero. The athletic goal scorer set the league record for most header goals in a single season (nine), and he added three more goals in outside competitions, including the opening goal in leg two of the Western Conference Championship. Johnson earned his third MLS All-Star selection and second MLS Comeback Player of the Year award. 

Humanitarian of the Year – Midfielder David Estrada: Estrada was selected as the 2012 Sounders FC Humanitarian of the Year in recognition of his commitment to community service, making more than 30 appearances in the community and playing an integral role in one-on-one outreach to the Hispanic community. Estrada also represented the team at three of four "United We Serve" events. In partnership with Seattle Bank, United We Serve is a side-by-side player and fan volunteer program dedicated to grassroots community service projects. Estrada also participated in a visit to Merrill Gardens Retirement Community, preparing food boxes at the Hopelink Food Bank and a helping on the Greenbridge community clean-up project.