Carles Gil's hard work with the New England Revolution finally is paying off.
The 26-year-old forward has been voted a finalist for the 2019 MLS Newcomer of the Year Award along with New York City FC's Heber and Toronto FC's Alejandro Pozuelo. The award is given annually to the player who had an outstanding debut season in the MLS after previous professional experience.
The winner of the award is decided by the media, MLS Players, and club technical staffs and will be announced on Oct. 16 ahead of the Revs' playoff matchup with Atlanta United.
Gil becomes the second New England player to be voted a finalist since the award was introduced in 2007 -- Jermaine Jones was a finalist for the Revolution in 2014. Gil tallied 10 goals and 14 assists through 34 games -- a team high. He was voted JetBlue Revolution Team MVP by the fans, Players' Player of the Year by his teammates and named the Midnight Riders' Man of the Year by New England supporters.
NYCFC's Heber notched 15 goals and four assists through 22 games while Pozuelo tallied 12 goals and 12 assists through 30 games for Toronto FC. It'll be a close vote, but Gil has a strong case for winning the award -- especially considering he helped propel the Revolution into the 2019 playoffs when no one thought they had a chance.
He'll be back in action Saturday for the first-round of the 2019 MLS Playoffs against Atlanta United at 1 p.m. ET.
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