(Photo: Earl Gardner)

On Wednesday, we took a look at who should be protected in the 2011 Expansion Draft by the Philadelphia Union based on the player ratings we do after each game. We now look at who earned Man of the Match—the highest rated player in each game— honors in 2011.

After calculating the player ratings averages for Union players, we have, as a special bonus, put together the list below of the Man of the Match from each game of the season. Well, each game except for one. The away match at San Jose, as all involved would surely testify, produced none worthy of a pedestal.

Man of the Match was determined by the highest rating given in a match. If multiple players shared the highest rating, an advanced statistical system called, “Subjective Interpretation” was used to determine the player most deserving of the award. The player with the most Man of the Match honors wins the Man of the Year.

So, who took home Man of the Year honors?

If you guessed Bearfight, you guessed BearRight. Danny Califf was PSP’s Man of the Match 4.5 times. In the only instance of a split award, Califf and Valdes each received MotM for their performance at Seattle, the team’s most thrilling win of the year. In fact, Califf won MotM 3.5 of the last four weeks of the season. Yes, he got it for the New York match, because that one could have been much worse.

Roger Torres received the second most MotM awards with four. Torres won for his performances against the Red Bulls at home, in the home loss to Colorado, in the comeback at New England, and away at Columbus.

The rest of the award winners are below:

• Three MotM: Mwanga, Le Toux, Carroll, Valdes (2.5, rounded up)
• Two MotM: Mondragon, Williams, Mapp, Ruiz
• One MotM: MacMath, Marfan, Daniel, Paunovic, McInerney

Looking ahead

The distribution of Man of the Match Awards attests to the depth and strength of the Union’s young squad; one of the oldest players won the most awards, one of the youngest took home the silver. As Man of the Year Danny Califf, has already noted, this is a team that needs to be kept together through the offseason.

The full Man of the Match list is below: