MLS Young Player of the Year Award Winners List

Since its inception in 1996, the MLS
has seen its pitches walked on by many talented goalkeepers. And to reward them for their performances and their impact within the league’s various franchises, it has decided to create an award for them.

Called the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, also known as the Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, it is awarded by a collegiate vote of the media, MLS players and club management.

In this article, GIVEMESPORT lists all 29 winners of a prestigious award that a total of 18 Americans have already won — more than any other nationality.

1

Mark Dodd

1996

• Club:
  FC Dallas

• Games played: 31
• Goals conceded: 45
• Clean sheets: 6
• Save percentage: 78%

Mark Dodd will forever be remembered as the first player to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. Selected by the Dallas Burn to coincide with the kick-off of the new North American soccer competition, the 15-cap USA international immediately established himself as the league’s best goalkeeper.

In his first season, the 30-year-old Texan played 31 games, conceding 45 goals (78% save rate), but still managing to keep his goal intact on six occasions. It was a total he would eventually match only once more during a career unfortunately cut short by a serious ligament injury in his hand.

2

Brad Friedel

1997

• Club:
  Columbus Crew SC

• Games played: 29
• Goals conceded: 35
• Clean sheets: 7
• Save percentage: 78.9%

If Brad Friedel had not joined the Columbus Crew SC
in the middle of the 1996 season, there is a good chance Dodd would never have smelt the title of best goalkeeper in the league. And as if he knew that his chances of being crowned MLS’ top goalkeeper would be few and far between, the Lakewood, Ohio native decided to take 1997 by storm.

In the space of 29 games, the American legend conceded just 35 goals, recorded seven clean sheets and made a total of 131 saves — more than four per game — to help the Crew qualify for the play-offs for the second year in a row.

3

Zack Thornton

1998

• Club:
  Chicago Fire FC

• Games played: 25
• Goals conceded: 27
• Clean sheets: 8
• Save percentage: 75.9%

Zack Thorton is the perfect example of why changing clubs is sometimes the best thing to do for a player in search of playing time. Indeed, when he joined Chicago Fire FC
from MetroStars in 1998, it would be an understatement to say that the Edgewood native was sorely lacking in such opportunities.

His arrival in Illinois was to radically change that situation, and he quickly became a regular starter, leading the Men in Red to their first-ever MLS Cup. It was the start of a long adventure that would see him wear the colors of the Fire for almost a decade and write some of the finest pages of his career with them.

4

Kevin Hartman

1999

• Club:
  Los Angeles Galaxy

• Games played: 32
• Goals conceded: 29
• Clean sheets: 11
• Save percentage: 80.3%

Kevin Hartman is unquestionably one of the best goalkeepers in MLS history. His reputation has been built up over the 15 years he has spent on North American pitches, and the 1999 campaign played a major part in establishing it.

The American became the undisputed first-choice keeper at LA Galaxy after the departure of Jorge Campos, playing in all 32 regular season matches, recording 11 clean sheets (his second-best career record) and helping the Californian club to a comfortable qualification for the play-offs. All of which ensured that he made his first – and strangely only – appearance in an MLS Best XI.

5

Tony Meola

2000

• Club:
  Sporting Kansas City

• Games played: 31
• Goals conceded: 29
• Clean sheets: 16
• Save percentage: 81.7%

Not many players can boast of having enjoyed such a successful personal season as Tony Meola. In 2000, the Kansas City Wizards goalkeeper was not only named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, he also picked up the Most Valuable Player award for the season, as well as the MLS Cup, which he won for the first time in his career.

An exceptional performance for a keeper who managed to keep his goal intact on 16 occasions in 32 league games… that is to say, in 50 percent of his matches. A record that, 24 years after it was first set, has yet to be equaled.

6

Tim Howard

2001

• Club:
  NY Red Bulls

• Games played: 26
• Goals conceded: 35
• Clean sheets: 4
• Save percentage: 80.7%

Tim Howard had yet to earn the first of his 121 caps for the USMNT when he won the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. But his 2001 season was undoubtedly the one that convinced Bruce Arena to call him up the following year.

A campaign in which the MetroStars goalkeeper started every one of the 26 regular-season matches, making 146 saves in all to help his team emerge as the fourth-best defenders in the country. And he did so with just four clean sheets to his name. A statistic that makes the performance all the more impressive. But could we really expect anything more from the legendary American goalkeeper?

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7

Joe Cannon

2002

• Club:
  San Jose Earthquakes

• Games played: 26
• Goals conceded: 29
• Clean sheets: 8
• Save percentage: 77.5%

For Joe Cannon, the third time was the charm. A disappointing finalist in the 2000 and 2001 editions — which already says a lot about the quality of the Sun Valley native — the San Jose keeper finally saw 2002 smile upon him.

He had an outstanding season, scoring eight clean sheets in 26 games played (out of a possible 28), and played a key role in the Earthquakes’ fine campaign, which saw them finish runners-up to the LA Galaxy in both the overall standings and the league’s best defensive record. It was a historic result for a club whose best regular-season performance had come the previous year (5th).

8

Pat Onstad

2003

• Club: San Jose Earthquakes
• Games played: 27
• Goals conceded: 29
• Clean sheets: 9
• Save percentage: 78%

It was not until 2003 that a non-American goalkeeper won the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. And the honor went to a Canadian. Pat Onstad to be precise, who at 6-foot-4 guided the Earthquakes to a second league title in three years. And he did so right at the end of his first year at the club.

A key player whose performances enabled him to finish the regular season with the best ratio of games played to goals conceded in the club’s history (1.04) and to set records for the number of wins (14), shutouts (9), catches/punches (117) and games played in goal (27).

9

Joe Cannon

2004

• Club:
  Colorado Rapids

• Games played: 30
• Goals conceded: 32
• Clean sheets: 10
• Save percentage: 82.4%

After relinquishing his throne for a year in 2003, during which he tried his hand at a European adventure, Cannon returned to MLS in 2004, justifying Colorado Rapids’ decision to secure his services. A 30-time starter, Cannon helped his team concede just 32 goals in the regular season.

On a personal level, he made a total of 150 saves (82.4%) and set a new personal best for the season. All this earned him a nomination for the Best XI, a place in the MLS MVP final, and above all the second Goalkeeper of the Year award of his career. A first in the history of the award.

10

Pat Onstad

2005

• Club: San Jose Earthquakes
• Games played: 32
• Goals conceded: 31
• Clean sheets: 12
• Save percentage: 77.2%

But far from being the last. A year later, it was Onstad’s turn to win the award for the second time. The deserved reward for another stellar season – arguably the best of his career.

32 games played, 31 goals conceded (the best defence in the league), 77.2 percent save rate: more than commendable statistics which alone help to highlight how the Earthquakes, winners of their first Supporters’ Shield, managed not to suffer a single defeat at home throughout the season. An 18-match unbeaten run that no team had managed since 1996 — and which was not surpassed until five years later.

11

Troy Perkins

2006

• Club:
  DC United

• Games played: 30
• Goals conceded: 34
• Clean sheets: 8
• Save percentage: 74.6%

Troy Perkins has brought a breath of fresh air to the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. A permanent fixture in the DC United
goalkeeping position (30 games played out of a possible 32), the Springfield native played a major role in the Men in Black’s third Supporters’ Shield triumph — following those of 1996 and 1997.

Over the course of the season, he recorded eight shutouts and made 100 saves. It was enough to earn him a place in the All Star Game and a place in the Best XI at the end of a season that saw United reach the Conference semi-finals in the play-offs.

12

Brad Guzan

2007

• Club: Chivas USA
• Games played: 27
• Goals conceded: 25
• Clean sheets: 13
• Save percentage: 77.7%

It was thanks to a season like the one he enjoyed in 2007 that cemented Brad Guzan’s reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in MLS history. He finished the campaign with the most clean sheets (13) and as the leader of the second-best defense in the league (28 goals conceded).

His professional career, which had begun two years earlier, thus took on a new dimension. It was the start of an adventure that, 20 years on and at over 40 years of age, the man nicknamed ‘El Gusano’ by Chivas fans still has no intention of bringing to an end.

13

Jon Busch

2008

• Club: Chicago Fire FC
• Games played: 30
• Goals conceded: 33
• Clean sheets: 10
• Save percentage: 78.7%

The successor to Matt Pickens, who crossed the Atlantic to join English club Queens Park Rangers
, in goal for Chicago Fire FC, Jon Busch has honored his new role in the best possible way.

The only Fire player to have played every regular season match in 2008, he has the best save percentage in the league (78.2%) and the most shutouts (10). And so it was only fitting that he was named both the Fire’s best player and MLS Goalkeeper of the Year at the end of a season that ended with his team losing in the Western Conference final.

14

Zach Thornton

2009

• Club: Chivas USA
• Games played: 27
• Goals conceded: 23
• Clean sheets: 12
• Save percentage: 78.3%

It was more than ten years after his first Goalkeeper of the Year award that Zach Thornton surprisingly won his second. It was a somewhat unexpected return to form for a player who had spent three virtually empty seasons with the Rapids, the Red Bulls and Chivas. Chivas, however, was the club that gave him a new lease of life.

And that is exactly what he showed in 2009. The Rojiblancos’ last line of defense, he was an essential cog in the team’s machine, finishing the season as the team’s MVP. At national level, in addition to his trophy for best goalkeeper, he also won the MLS Comeback Player of the Year award.

15

Donovan Ricketts

2010

• Club: LA Galaxy
• Games played: 29
• Goals conceded: 26
• Clean sheets: 11
• Save percentage: 75.2%

Having already enjoyed a very good season in 2009, Donovan Ricketts repeated the feat in 2010, helping Los Angeles Galaxy
to lift the Supporters’ Shield. Playing in 29 of the 30 regular-season matches, the Jamaican conceded just 26 goals (0.9 goals per game, a club record at the time) and managed the impressive feat of keeping 11 clean sheets.

An exceptional achievement for a player who was only playing in the second season of his MLS career. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to build on this success in 2011, as he was sidelined for an extended period due to injury.

16

Kasey Keller

2011

• Club:
  Seattle Sounders

• Games played: 34
• Goals conceded: 37
• Clean sheets: 9
• Save percentage: 75.2%

In claiming the Goalkeeper of the Year award for 2011, Kasey Keller has certainly found the best possible way to end his career. After more than twenty years on the pitch the world over, the American goalkeeper was taking advantage of his final season to embark on a national farewell tour.

At the age of 41, the Seattle Sounders player played in all 34 regular-season matches, recording nine shutouts and making over 75 percent of his saves. And against Chivas USA, in the final match of his career, he became, at 41 years and 324 days, the third-oldest player to play an MLS match.

17

Jimmy Nielsen

2012

• Club: Sporting Kansas City
• Games played: 34
• Goals conceded: 30
• Clean sheets: 13
• Save percentage: 69.7%

Jimmy Nielsen has gone down in history as the first non-American goalkeeper to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. Having joined Sporting Kansas City
in 2010, the Danish goalkeeper was quick to make a name for himself at the club, where he was the first-choice keeper until his retirement in 2013.

Although he won the MLS Cup at the end of that season, it was in 2012 that he was rewarded for his individual performances. A season in which he conceded just 27 goals in 34 regular-season games, setting the club record for goals against average (0.79) and helping them finish top of the Eastern Conference standings.

18

Donovan Ricketts

2013

• Club:
  Portland Timbers

• Games played: 32
• Goals conceded: 31
• Clean sheets: 14
• Save percentage: 74.8%

Now with the Portland Timbers
, after leaving the Galaxy in 2011 and spending a season with the Montreal Impact, Donovan Ricketts is no less an exceptional goalkeeper.

A fact he underlined in his first full season in charge of the goal for the Providence Park outfit. He was imperious, finishing 14 of his 32 games without conceding a single goal (he conceded 31 throughout the season) and, at the same time, putting in the best performance of his career. His displays helped the Timbers finish in third place overall and establish themselves as the second-strongest defense in MLS that season.

19

Bill Hamid

2014

• Club: DC United
• Games played: 30
• Goals conceded: 34
• Clean sheets: 10
• Save percentage: 76.5%

A product of DC United’s academy, Bill Hamid gradually established himself as the starting goalkeeper for the professional team. But it was in 2014 that he enjoyed his finest season in MLS. Named MLS All-Star, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and selected in the MLS Best XI, the Virginia native had just achieved something great.

Not least because United’s 2013 had been a particularly difficult year, with the club finishing last in the overall standings. A far cry from their position as Conference East leaders at the end of 2014. A return to form in which Hamid has had an exceptional role to play.

20

Luis Robles

2015

• Club: New York Red Bulls
• Games played: 34
• Goals conceded: 43
• Clean sheets: 9
• Save percentage: 66.9%

Luis Robles richly deserves his status as a New York Red Bulls legend. Arriving in the Big Apple in 2012, the 5-foot-11 keeper has left a legacy worthy of the greats. And it was in 2015 that some of his greatest feats were achieved. That year, Robles became the first keeper in the history of the league to start 100 consecutive games for a single club.

He played the entire regular season, conceding just 43 goals and recording nine shutouts to become the most successful keeper in NYRB history. A record he extended in subsequent campaigns, and which no-one has yet managed to match.