Efrain Alvarez has been named a finalist for the USL 2018 Young Player of the Year.
Alvarez established himself as an important piece of LA Galaxy II in his first full professional season with the club. Alvarez became the youngest player to record a hat trick in USL's history at just 15 years old against Saint Louis FC. In total, he recorded 12 goals and three assists in 17 appearances for LA Galaxy II this season. Because of his tremendous efforts for the team, Alvarez was named LA Galaxy II Player of the Year.
Earlier this year, Alvarez also earned the No. 1 spot on USL’s 20 Under 20 list, as well as No. 17 of MLSsoccer.com’s 22 Under 22 ranking.
The 2018 USL Awards were voted on by team management and a league-wide media panel that included representatives from every USL market. The 2018 USL Awards Finalists are below:
Goalkeeper of the Year
Josh Cohen (Sacramento Republic FC)
Maxime Crepeau (Ottawa Fury FC)
Matt Pickens (Nashville SC)
Defender of the Year
Paco Craig (Louisville City FC)
Joe Greenspan (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC)
Forrest Lasso (FC Cincinnati)
Coach of the Year
Braeden Cloutier (Orange County SC)
Alan Koch (FC Cincinnati)
Bob Lilley (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC)
Young Player of the Year
Efrain Alvarez (LA Galaxy II)
Andrew Carleton (ATL UTD 2)
Wan Kuzain (Swope Park Rangers)
Hassan Adam (New York Red Bulls II)
Most Valuable Player
Thomas Enevoldsen (Orange County SC)
Cameron Lancaster (Louisville City FC)
Emmanuel Ledesma (FC Cincinnati)
Aodhan Quinn (Orange County SC)
