MLS Announces 2014 Awards Finalists
Published on November 20, 2014 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NEW YORK (Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014) - Major League Soccer has announced the finalists for its 2014 awards. The winners of each award will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The finalists for each award, listed in alphabetical order below, earned the most votes in polling of three voting groups:
- Current MLS players
- MLS Clubs (Coaches, Technical Directors, Chief Business Officers and PR/Community Relations)
- Media members who covered MLS regularly in 2014
The 2014 Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player award will be presented on Wednesday, Dec. 3. For the first time since 2010, all three MVP finalists are in contention to hoist MLS Cup, as Robbie Keane, Obafemi Martins and Lee Nguyen will all take part in the Conference Championships this weekend.
Sigi Schmid will look to earn his third Coach of the Year award which would tie the Seattle Sounders FC head coach with LA Galaxy's Bruce Arena. He faces stiff competition with finalists the likes of Gregg Berhalter of Columbus Crew SC and Ben Olsen of D.C. United. Olsen completed the single biggest points turn around (16 to 59) in MLS history with D.C. United, taking the team from last place in 2013 to top the Eastern Conference this season.
The most outstanding individual plays of the 2014 season will be honored on Thursday, Dec. 4 when the AT&T Goal of the Year and Save of the Year are announced. Voting for the Goal and Save of the Year is conducted at MLSsoccer.com .
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)
*Selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fouls committed, cards received, games & minutes played, as well as subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
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
Major League Soccer Stories from November 20, 2014
- There's Snow Outside, But Soccer Continues with the Colorado Rapids - Colorado Rapids
- Meram Earns Third Cap as Iraq Bows out of 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations - Columbus Crew SC
- Sounders FC Nominated for Four 2014 MLS Postseason Awards - Seattle Sounders FC
- News & Notes: Eastern Conference Championship - New England Revolution
- Lee Nguyen, Jermaine Jones, and Charlie Davies Named Finalists for MLS Awards - New England Revolution
- Four LA Galaxy Players Named 2014 MLS Awards Finalists - LA Galaxy
- Crew SC Nominated for Three Individual 2014 Major League Soccer - Columbus Crew SC
- Three Timbers Named Finalists for 2014 MLS Awards - Portland Timbers
- Fire Homegrown Midfielder Harry Shipp Named Finalist for 2014 AT&T Rookie of the Year Award - Chicago Fire FC
- Toronto FC Announces USL PRO Team - Toronto FC
- Rimando An MLS Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year Finalist - Real Salt Lake
- Whitecaps FC Captain Pedro Morales Named Finalist for 2014 MLS Newcomer of the Year - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- Head Coach Ben Olsen, Three D.C. United Players Named Finalists for 2014 MLS Awards - D.C. United
- MLS Announces 2014 Awards Finalists - MLS
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
