Canada's St. Clair caps off stellar season with MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award

Dayne St. Clair added to his case to become Canada's No. 1 on Monday when he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

The Minnesota United 'keeper beat out New York City FC's Matt Freese and the Vancouver Whitecaps' Yohei Takaoka in voting by MLS clubs' technical staff, first-team players and select media.

St. Clair had 29.4 per cent of the combined vote with Freese at 17.32 per cent and Takaoka at 15.49.

St. Clair was the clear winner in the media portion of the vote (47.46 per cent to Takaoka's 11.30 and Freese's 5.65) while Freese and Takaoka topped the player portion (both at 20.37 per cent compared to 18.52 for St. Clair) and Freese led the club vote (25.93 to St. Clair's 22.22 and Takaoka's 14.81).

"This has definitely been my most consistent and my best year, without a doubt in my mind," St. Clair said. "But I also know that I haven't reached my peak yet. I think I still have more to go and I know that I can still be better than I have [been]."

It's the latest honour in a season that saw St. Clair voted onto the MLS all-star team.

The 28-year-old from Pickering, Ont., joins Pat Onstad as the only Canadian to win the MLS goalkeeper award. Onstad, now the Houston Dynamo's president of soccer, won in 2003 and '05 as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes.

Maxime Crepeau, St. Clair's rival for the Canadian starting position, finished fifth in the voting in 2021 while Greg Sutton was fourth in 2008.

St. Clair says he tries to stay in the moment when it comes to the national team ahead of next year's World Cup.

"A World Cup, especially a home World Cup on top of that, that's what dreams are made of," he said. "Especially the first game being in Toronto where I grew up, that's something I know will never come again in my