BASA: GK of Year - Explanation of My Votes

Goalkeeper of the Year
1- Matt Reis
2- Troy Perkins
3- Kevin Hartman

My top picks for goalkeepers this season were mostly mathematical. The Revolution, D.C. United, and the LA Galaxy have the three lowest totals for goals allowed during the course of the season. Attributing that stat to just the goalkeeper has never sat well with me because defending is up to the entire defense, not just the goalkeeper.

So, if you take the three teams stated above and figure which of their keepers faced the most shots that where you’d find our goalkeeper of the year.

The Revs defense allowed Reis to get fired upon 182 times, and Reis only let 35 get passed him. Perkins, with arguably the league’s best team in front of him, was peppered with 140 shots allowing one less than Reis (I’ll save you a trip to MLSnet.com, it’s 34). The irony of the group is Hartman. Few would argue that it’s been a sub-par year for the defending MLS Cup champions, not making the playoffs and all. But, the Los Angeles defense was the most protective of the three discussed here, only permitting 120 attempts on goal while Hartman was in the nets. Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that Hartman played two less league games than Perkins and four less than Reis.

The BASAs are the annual awards decided by the top american soccer bloggers. You can view the overall results of the voting at Climbing the Ladder. Awards will be posted to Climbing the Ladder every weekday for the next few weeks, and you can find an explanation of my votes here at Desert Crown.