Major League Soccer announced its finalists in the year-end awards this morning and Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando is among three finalists for MLS Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Meanwhile Real Salt Lake is up for the Xbox Team Fair Play Award as the league is set to roll out its award winners starting on November 24.
Rimando continued to impress as one of the league’s premier goalkeepers in 2014, finishing the season with seven shutouts and a league-best 1.04 goals against average in 24 matches. His 13-4-7 record was his second-best campaign, in terms of points per match, since coming to Real Salt Lake in 2007. He now has 79 shutouts in 225 appearances for RSL to lead all players in games played for the Claret-and-Cobalt.
The season was highlighted by a record-breaking moment for the veteran goalkeeper. On August 9, he earned his 113th career clean sheet to pass Kevin Hartman as the all-time shutout leader in MLS history. He now has 115 shutouts to his credit.
Rimando also earned his fourth All-Star nod in the last five seasons, starting for the MLS All-Stars against Bayern Munich. Five times during the season, he was voted MLS Save of the Week, more than any other player in the league in 2014. In addition to his MLS exploits, Rimando also was named to the U.S. National Team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but did not make an appearance in Brazil. He did appear in four matches for the U.S. in 2014, earning a 2-0 shutout against South Korea in February.
Rimando is seeking his first MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. The other two finalists for the honor are the Columbus Crew’s Steve Clark and D.C. United’s Bill Hamid.
The winner of the Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year award is scheduled to be announced on December 3.
In addition, Real Salt Lake joins the LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union as finalists for the Xbox Team Fair Play award. Selected by MLS, the award is based on objective criteria such as fewest fouls committed, cards received, and on subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
The following are the finalists for all of the MLS awards and a timeline for their announcement dates.
2014 Major League Soccer Awards Finalists
(Listed in alphabetical order by last name within each award category)
Volkswagen Most Valuable Player Finalists
Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)
Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC)
Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
AT&T Rookie of the Year Finalists
Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas)
Steven Birnbaum (D.C. United)
Harrison Shipp (Chicago Fire)
Defender of the Year Finalists
Bobby Boswell (D.C. United)
Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)
Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders FC)
Coach of the Year Finalists
Gregg Berhalter (Columbus Crew SC)
Ben Olsen (D.C. United)
Sigi Schmid (Seattle Sounders FC)
Comeback Player of the Year Finalists
Charlie Davies (New England Revolution)
Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC)
Rodney Wallace (Portland Timbers)
Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year Finalists
Steve Clark (Columbus Crew SC)
Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Newcomer of the Year Finalists
Stefan Ishizaki (LA Galaxy)
Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution)
Pedro Morales (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year Finalists
Diego Chara (Portland Timbers)
AJ DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy)
Zach Loyd (FC Dallas)
Xbox Individual Fair Play Finalists
Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers)
Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew SC)
Harrison Shipp (Chicago Fire)
Xbox Team Fair Play Finalists
LA Galaxy
Philadelphia Union
Real Salt Lake
*Selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fewest fouls committed, cards received, and on subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
Referee of the Year Finalists
Mark Geiger
Jair Marrufo
Alan Kelly
Assistant Referee of the Year Finalists
Peter Manikowski
Paul Scott
Adam Wienckowski
Awards Announcements Schedule:
Schedule subject to change
November 24: AT&T Rookie of the Year, Xbox Fair Play Individual and Team of the Year
November 25: MLS Defender of the Year, MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year, and Referee/Assistant Referee of the Year
December 2: MLS Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and MLS Best XI
December 3: Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Volkswagen MLS MVP
December 4: AT&T Goal of the Year, MLS Save of the Year
