Twellman named MLS MVP

FRISCO, Texas -- Forward Taylor Twellman, who led the MLS in goals and the New England Revolution into Sunday's MLS Cup, was named the league's 2005 Most Valuable Player on Thursday.

Andy Mead/WireImage

Taylor Twellman celebrated his first international goal in World Cup qualifying action last month.

Twellman, who scored 17 goals and added seven assists in 25 games, was selected over San Jose Earthquakes midfielder and co-finalist Dwayne De Rosario.

Twellman, who had one more goal than Jaime Moreno of D.C. United this season, led the Revolution to the best record in the Eastern Conference (17-7-8), including the best home mark in the league (11-2-3).

The second overall pick in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft, Twellman also led the league with 51 shots on goal and was second to Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy with six game-winning tallies. He recorded two hat tricks among his three multi-goal games.

De Rosario, who led the Earthquakes to the best record in the league (18-4-10), scored nine goals and led the league with 13 assists in 25 games.

"Obviously I'd like to congratulate Dwayne on having a phenomenal season," said Twellman, who is a member of the United States' national team that will play in next year's World Cup. "I didn't think I even had a shot at this, so it's kind of a surprise."

It was the second time Twellman emerged a finalist for the award. In 2002, Twellman was runner-up to then fellow rookie Carlos Ruiz of the Galaxy. Ruiz went on to score the lone goal in the MLS Cup against New England.

This year, Twellman's Revolution again will face the Galaxy in the championship game, but the star midfielder is not concerned about being the hero.

"As long as someone scores for us, I could care less if it's myself or anybody else as long as we win the game, that's all we're worried about," Twellman said.