PITTSBURGH (November 19, 2019) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC center back Joe Greenspan has been named USL Championship Defender of the Year.

Greenspan earned 61 percent of the vote to take the award, beating out Indy Eleven’s Neveal Hackshaw and Louisville City FC’s Oscar Jimenez.

This season, the Westfield, New Jersey native led the team with 151 clearances, which ranked fourth in the entire USL Championship. In addition, he helped the club to a league-high 17 clean sheets, which tied a team record. The 27-year-old also played every minute during the team’s 698-minute shutout streak, which was the second-longest such streak in USL Championship history.

The United States Naval Academy product added 27 tackles and 44 interceptions while starting 31 of 32 games played for 2,754 minutes.

In the attacking third, the 6-foot-6-inch defender served as a key contributor on set pieces, as all four of his goals stemmed from corner kicks. He set a career high in goals (four), assists (two) and points (10) this season.

In addition to this honor, Greenspan was named Championship All-League First Team last week. In 2018, he was nominated for Defender of the Year but did not win the award.

This is the second time in team history a Hound has been named Defender of the Year. Shintaro Harada won this award in 2010, when the team competed in the USL Second Division.

The 2019 USL Championship Awards were voted on by team management and a league-wide media panel, which included representation from every USL Championship market, at the conclusion of the regular season. For more information on the 2019 USL Championship awards, visit uslchampionship.com.