Wheeler Caps Outstanding Summer with PDL Honor
YORK, PA-York College senior forward Andrew
Wheeler (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco) capped an outstanding summer as
he was named to the Premier Development League All-Star squad.
Wheeler, who starred for the Hampton Roads Piranhas, was a named as
a first-team forward in the league which features 63 teams in four
regions around the nation.
Wheeler, the 2006 Capital
Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year, finished his 16 game
stint in the PDL with 14 goals and five assists for 33
points. He finished the regular season ranked third in points and
in goals scored. Wheeler led the Piranhas to a record of 14-0-2 as
they were only undefeated team in the Premier League. Hampton Roads
broke the all-time PDL consecutive shutout record with ten.
They won the Mid-Atlantic Division title, the regular season
Eastern Conference title, and the regular season Premier
Development League championship. Wheeler was one of three Piranhas
to earn All-PDL recognition. It marked the first time
in league history that five players from one squad have earned
all-league recognition.
The PDL is a league for top amateur
players in the nation and features 63 teams spread out throughout
four divisions. The Eastern Conference is comprised of the
Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Divisions while the Central
Conference has the Great Lakes and the Heartland Divisions. The
Southern Conference features the Mid-South and Southeast Divisions
while the Western Conference is home to the Northwest and Southwest
Divisions. Each team carries between 18 to 20 players meaning that
Wheeler is one of the best 11 of over 1,135 players in the league.
The league has a number of famous alumni including former United
States World Cup players Eric Wynalda and Joe Max Moore. Each
PDL team is allowed five professional players that get paid to play
while the remainder of the roster is comprised of top Division I,
II and III players.
Spartan head coach Mark Ludwig is pleased with
Wheeler’s summer.
“This has been a very big summer for
Andrew both as a player and a person,” says Ludwig.
“He has shown to me as well as many at the upper level of
soccer that he can play at a very high level. We look forward to
having him compete in our quest for a national title this year. In
addition, he has an extremely bright future at the professional
level.”
Wheeler and his Spartan teammates open fall camp
on Sunday, August 19. The green and white then open up their 2007
campaign with a home game against Albright College on Saturday,
September 1 at 2:00 pm.