NEW YORK (AP) — St. Louis City’s Roman Burki was named Major League Soccer’s Goalkeeper of the Year on Thursday, becoming the first keeper to win the award while playing for an expansion club since 1998.
The Swiss-born Burki played for Germany’s Borussia Dortmund for seven seasons before joining St. Louis for its first MLS season.
His 17 wins for the team are the most for any first-year MLS goalkeeper in the post-shootout era. He conceded 42 goals and had 123 saves, second-most in MLS this season.
His 74.55% save percentage was the fourth-best among goalkeepers with at least 20 appearances this season. He also had eight shutouts.
The last goalkeeper to win the award in the team’s first year was Chicago’s Zach Thornton in 1998.
St. Louis City finished the season 17-12-5 and atop the Western Conference, but fell in the best-of-three first round of the playoffs in two games to Sporting Kansas City.
MLS post-season honors are voted on by players, club technical staffs and the media. Burki captures 67.48% of the votes, followed by Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano and Orlando City’s Pedro Gallese.
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