Thursday, August 7 2003

TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues announced today the Most Valuable Player for the 2003 Premier Development League season, honoring for the second straight year Des Moines' Tomas Boltnar.

His numbers may not have been equal to last year's, but Des Moines Menace midfielder Tomas Boltnar is still one of the most feared players in the PDL and was selected by the league's general managers and coaches as the PDL Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row.

Boltnar followed up a league-high 59-point campaign last year (24 goals, 11 assists) with a second place finish in the scoring table this season with 38 points on 14 goals and 10 assists. One category he did return to the top of was assists, finishing tied with teammate Joseph Kabwe and Nashville's Ben Buerger.

He is highly respected among the league as not only a goal scorer, but also as a player with exceptional vision. He played in 16 matches logging 1,290 minutes for the team this year. He had eight games in which he had both a goal and assist. Boltnar's calm and confident composure with the ball has resulted in numerous goal scoring opportunities and great plays during his two seasons in Des Moines.

In 2002, fresh from California University of Pennsylvania, Boltnar rewrote the Menace record books during a 15-0-3 undefeated regular season. He was named PDL Rookie of The Year and Most Valuable Player while also securing the league's top position in goals scored (24), assists (11), and points (59). Despite being courted by numerous professional teams Boltnar returned to Des Moines to play for the Menace.

The 2003 Menace finished the regular season at 12-5-1 (37 points), good for second place in the Heartland Division of the Central Conference. The Menace were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs 1-0 by the home team Mid Michigan Bucks, the same team that knocked the Menace out of the first round of the 2002 playoffs.