Major League Soccer announced its finalists for the 2017 end-of-year awards, and two Seattle Sounders made the cut.
MLS nominated Clint Dempsey for Comeback Player of the Year and Stefan Frei for Goalkeeper of the Year. The league also nominated the Sounders as a club for the Fair Play award.
The Comeback Player of the Year award “honors a player who has overcome injuries and/or adversity in order to achieve success during the 2017 regular season.” Dempsey missed the final third of the 2016 regular season and the entire Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs with an irregular heartbeat. He returned this season with a team-high 12 goals, the second-most in his eight MLS seasons, and five assists. His 116 shots were also a personal best in MLS.
Frei led Major League Soccer with 13 shutouts, three more than any other goalkeeper. He finished second in Goals Against Average for goalkeepers who played at least 15 matches and saved 69.4 percent of shots faced.
The Sounders are one of three teams up for the Fair Play Award, which is “selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fouls committed, cards received, games and minutes played, as well as subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.” Seattle committed the fewest fouls of any team.
The Fair Play Award winner will be announced on Nov. 7, the Comeback Player of the Year Award winner will be announced on Nov. 15 and the Goalkeeper of the Year winner will be announced on Nov. 16.
