NEW YORK – MLS announced on Thursday that Mark Geiger has received the Referee of the Year award for the 2011 season. Corey Rockwell was named Assistant Referee of the Year.

Geiger has appeared in more than 90 regular-season matches since 2004, his first season as a referee in MLS. He has also taken part in five playoff games, most recently refereeing Houston’s 2-0 victory against Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Championship.

Beginning in 2008, Geiger has represented the United States at the international level, refereeing this year’s CONCACAF U-20 tournament in Guatemala and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. He was the man in charge of the U-20 World Cup final between Brazil and Portugal.

Rockwell began his career in MLS in 2005 and has officiated 130 regular-season matches and 10 playoff matches during his seven years in the league. Like Geiger, he has refereed international matches in the CONCACAF region, including World Cup qualifiers and CONCACAF Champions League games.

In 2010, Kevin Stott was named Referee of the Year, and Craig Lowry was the Assistant Referee of the Year.