Kries became the first MLS player to record 15 goals and 15 assists in the same season.

NEW YORK (Friday, November 19, 1999) - As the Los Angeles Galaxy prepare to face four-time Eastern Conference Champion D.C. United on Sunday at Foxboro in MLS Cup '99 (televised live on ABC Sports at 1:30 p.m. ET), Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and Honda Assistant Vice President, National Automobile Advertising Eric Conn announced today that Dallas Burn forward Jason Kreis was named the league's 1999 Honda Most Valuable Player.

Kreis, the first American-born player to garner Honda MVP honors in the league's four seasons, also captured the league's Budweiser Scoring Title with 18 goals and 15 assists for 51 points. The Duke University product led the Burn to a club-best 19-13 finish (second in the Western Conference) and an appearance in the West Finals of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Kreis, the Burn's all-time leading scorer with 48 goals and 34 assists, enjoyed his most prosperous season in four years with the Burn. Besides winning the league scoring title with 18 goals and 15 assists for 51 points, he set the standard in becoming the first player in league history to garner 15 goals and 15 assists in a single season and was only the fourth player ever to amass more than 50 points in a season (joining Roy Lassiter - 1996, Stern John and Cobi Jones - 1998).

Kreis also recorded a new league benchmark by being named MLS Player of the Week a record six times and garnering Player of the Month honors for June after striking for three goals and five assists in only five games. Kreis' contributions were a major factor in the Burn becoming one of only two teams to improve its goal scoring output from 1998 to 1999 (+11, compared to +5 for the Tampa Bay Mutiny) and finishing second in the league in scoring (1.69 goals per game, shy of D.C. United's 2.03). In 1998, Dallas finished last in that category (1.34 goals per game).

In helping the Burn to their best record in team history, Kreis set several team records along the way, including most points (51), most goals (18) and most assists (15). He also registered a team-record seven game-winning assists, five multiple-goal games and also tied his own team record for most game-winning goals in a season with six.

Also in the running for the 1999 Honda MVP award (given to the player whose presence made the biggest impact on his team's overall play during the regular season as voted by members of the media, MLS team coaching staffs and team general managers) were D.C. United's dangerous Bolivian duo of midfielder Marco Etcheverry and forward Jaime Moreno. Etcheverry was the league's 1998 Honda honoree. The Kansas City Wizards' Preki earned the honor in 1997 and Tampa Bay Mutiny midfielder Carlos Valderrama was selected in the league's inaugural season, 1996.

The 1999 MLS award announcements conclude with the AT&T Best 11 unveiling at the 1999 MLS Gala Awards Dinner presented by Pepsi on Saturday, November 20. Major League Soccer, currently nearing the conclusion of its fourth season, will crown the 1999 champion on Sunday, November 21 at MLS Cup '99 (televised live on ABC Sports at 1:30 p.m. ET from Foxboro Stadium) in Foxboro, Mass.

Featuring many top stars from the United States and around the world, MLS is America's lone Division I outdoor professional soccer league. The 12 teams that comprise MLS are: the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Dallas Burn, D.C. United, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, MetroStars, Miami Fusion, New England Revolution, San Jose Earthquakes and the Tampa Bay Mutiny.