Dane St. Clair added to his chances of becoming Canada's number one on Monday when he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
The Minnesota United goalkeeper beat New York City FC's Matt Freese and Vancouver Whitecaps' Yohei Takaoka in a vote by MLS club technical staff, first-team players and select media.
St. Clair received 29.4 percent of the combined vote, Freese 17.32 percent and Takaoka 15.49.
St. Clair was the clear winner in terms of media votes (47.46% to Takaoka's 11.30 and Freese's 5.65), while Freese and Takaoka led in player share (both with 20.37% compared to St. Clair's 18.52) and Freese topped the club vote (25.93 to 22.22 and “St. Clair” Takaoka 14.81).
“This has definitely been my most consistent and best year, without a doubt, in my opinion,” St. Clair said. “But I also know that I haven’t reached my peak yet. I think I still have a lot to do and I know I can still be better than I am now.” [been]”
This is the latest honor in a season in which St. Clair was named to the MLS All-Star team.
The 28-year-old from Pickering, Ont., joins Pat Onstad as the only Canadians to win the MLS goalkeeper award. Onstad, now president of soccer for the Houston Dynamo, won titles in 2003 and 2005 with the San Jose Earthquakes.
Maxime Crepeau, St. Clair's rival for Canada's starting position, finished fifth in the 2021 voting, while Greg Sutton was fourth in 2008.
A look at the World Cup
St. Clair says he's trying to stay on top of things when it comes to the national team ahead of next year's World Cup.
“The World Cup, especially the home World Cup on top of that, is what dreams are made of,” he said. “Especially the first game played in Toronto, where I grew up, I know that will never happen again in my life. So that’s really one of the possibilities.”
“And I know that this season, obviously leading up to next season, will play a big role in determining how big of a role I will play for the team.”
St. Clair, who backed Milan Borjan at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has won 17 caps for Canada, going eight shutouts.
The 28th-ranked Canadians will close out their 2025 schedule with games against No. 23 Ecuador and No. 50 Venezuela on Nov. 13 and 18 in Toronto and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., respectively.
St. Clair and Minnesota visit Seattle on Monday for Game 2 of the best-of-three first-round playoffs against the Sounders. Minnesota won the first shootout (3-2) after a scoreless tie, with two Sounders hitting the woodwork.
Campaign to remember
Playing for a Minnesota team that had the third stingiest defense in the league (allowing an average of 1.15 goals per game), the seven-year MLS veteran recorded regular-season records in saves (113) and shutouts (10) and also set a regular-season record of 15 wins. He led the league in save percentage (77.9%) and ranked second in goals against average (1.00).
Among starting goalies, St. Clair finished the regular season tied for seventh in wins, fourth in saves and fourth in shutouts.
The Loons held opponents to one goal or less in 23 of 34 regular-season games. That included a 3-1 win over San Diego on Sept. 23, in which St. Clair made a career-high 12 saves.
“We have a very feisty style of play, and that includes all the guys giving it their all on defense and then being able to attack in those defensive moments,” St. Clair said.
Minnesota, which finished fourth in the West with a 16-8-10 record, set single-season records for wins (16), points (58) and goals allowed (39). He also posted his best road record (8-3-6) while his season total of eight losses was another franchise-best.
St. Clair joins Vito Mannone (2019) as the second Minnesota United player to receive the award.
Minnesota selected the six-foot-three goalkeeper in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2019 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Maryland.
St. Clair finished his collegiate career at Maryland by winning the NCAA title, playing in five games in the tournament without allowing a goal. He ended his time as a Terrapin in the 500-minute race.
St. Clair was 15 when he debuted in Canada's youth program in 2013 under coach Robert Gale. He made his senior debut at 24 in a 7-0 win over Aruba in a World Cup qualifier in June 2022.
St. Clair started out as a field player and became a goalkeeper at age 14. He developed at Ajax FC under Dario Gasparotto, who is now a full-time coach at the Durham FC Academy, before joining Vaughn FC.
