Andre Blake was named Goalkeeper of the Year and his Philadelphia Union teammate Jakob Glesnes was named Defender of the Year, the MLS announced on Wednesday.
The Union gave up just 26 goals, the fewest since the league went to a 34-game schedule in 2011.
Blake is the first three-time Goalkeeper of the Year winner in MLS history. He also won in 2016 and 2020. Glesnes is a first-time winner as the top defender.
Blake, 31, received a landslide 64.17 percent of the vote in balloting from a panel of players, technical staff and media. The four-time All-Star from Jamaica had a league-best 15 shutouts, 0.76 goals-against average and 79.4 percent save percentage while starting all 34 regular-season games.
Djordje Petrovic (4.97 percent) of the New England Revolution was second and Drake Callender (3.95) of Inter Miami CF finished third.
Glesnes, 28, had a team-best 57 interceptions while being the stalwart of the Philadelphia defense. The All-Star had three assists while playing all 3,060 regulation minutes for the second straight season.
A Norwegian, Glesnes is the first European to be named the league’s top defender since Belgian Laurent Ciman for the then-Montreal Impact in 2015.
Glesnes received 26.1 percent of the vote to outdistance teammate Kai Wagner (14.57 percent) and Alexander Callens (13.2) of New York City FC.
Philadelphia led the Eastern Conference with 67 points in the regular season. The top-seeded Union received a first-round bye and will host FC Cincinnati in the second round on Thursday at Chester, Pa.
–Field Level Media
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