The National Lacrosse League today named Cam Woods and Taylor Wray as co-winners of the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Woods, a veteran member of the San Jose Stealth, and Wray, a rookie with the Calgary Roughnecks, received the same number of votes in balloting among the league's governors, general managers and head coaches.

Previous Winners: 2003 Jim Moss Albany Attack 2002 Pat Coyle Toronto Rock

It is the second time in as many days that the league named co-recipients for a postseason award, after Colorado's Gary Gait and Arizona's Peter Lough shared the Sportsmanship Award.

Today's award honors runners who stand out on defense, and does not include goaltenders. They get their own award, to be announced tomorrow.

Woods captained the Stealth to an 11-5 record in its first season in San Jose, after relocating to the South Bay from Albany. He scooped up 111 loose balls on the season, adding six goals and thirteen assists on offense.

Woods' performance this season also earned him selection to the Western Division All Star Team.

Wray, also a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, collected 82 loose balls, in addition to a sixteen-point showing offensively (eight goals, eight assists) and a handful of in-season awards (Rookie of the Week, Week Seven; Rookie of the Month, March).

Wray will help lift the Roughnecks to their first NLL Champion's Cup; the title game is slated for next Friday at the Saddledome.