SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes today announced their 2019 club award winners, which includes midfielder Cristian Espinoza as Offensive Player of the Year; defender Florian Jungwirth as Defensive Player of the Year; forward Chris Wondolowski as Players’ Player of the Year; midfielder Jackson Yueill as Young Player of the Year; midfielder Shea Salinas for the Media Good Guy Award; and defender Tommy Thompson for the Andrew Bedard Spirit of the Game Award/Humanitarian of the Year.
The players will be honored during Sunday’s regular season home finale against Seattle Sounders FC.
Cristian Espinoza earns the Offensive Player of the Year award in his first season with the club. Espinoza has contributed two goals and a team-leading 12 assists to date, the most by an Earthquakes player since 2012. He currently ranks top-10 in Major League Soccer in assists (12; t-6th), game-winning assists (5; t-3rd), key passes per game (2.8; 9th) and successful dribbles per game (2.4; t-3rd).
Florian Jungwirth is named the club’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his three seasons with San Jose (2017). Jungwirth took over as a starter at center back following the team’s 0-4-0 start to the season. Since then, the German defensemen has led the Quakes to a 13-10-5 record, while allowing 1.32 goals per game (SJ allowed 2.1 per game in 2018).
Chris Wondolowski is named the Players’ Player of the Year. The honor recognizes the best teammate and locker room presence, as voted on by players. In addition to scoring a team-leading 14 goals to date, the Quakes’ captain has also been the team’s unquestioned leader on and off the field.
Jackson Yueill earns the club’s Young Player of the Year award, given to the most impactful player 23 years of age or younger on opening day. Now in his third professional season out of UCLA, Yueill has set career highs in appearances (30), starts (27), minutes (2,488), goals (3) and assists (4) in 2019. His breakout season has earned multiple call-ups by the United States National Team in 2019.
Shea Salinas is named the Media Good Guy Award winner as voted on by members of the club’s local media and broadcast teams. The award recognizes the player that’s deemed most open and welcoming to media requests.
Tommy Thompson earns the Andrew Bedard Spirit of the Game/Humanitarian of the Year Award. Thompson continued to serve as the club’s ambassador for the Get EQ Fit Program, presented by Sutter Health, where he travels to local schools to speak about eating healthy and living an active lifestyle. Thompson has overseen numerous VHP Free Play Days, a stress-free soccer environment that’s held in various underserved areas. He even volunteered to participate in fan meet-and-greets in the wake of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting to raise money for the victim’s fund.
The award is named for Andrew Bedard, a young Earthquakes fan who passed away at eight years old in 2004. The Andrew Bedard Spirit of the Game Award will be presented annually to the Earthquakes player that works hard in the community and best embodies Andrew’s positive attitude both on and off the field. For more information on the Andrew Bedard Spirit of the Game Award, please visit www.sjearthquakes.com/spiritofthegame/award.
