Best shot stopper! - Blake named Goalkeeper of the Year in MLS

For the second time in his career, national goalkeeper Andre Blake is the top shot stopper in Major League Soccer (MLS).

It was revealed earlier this week that the 29-year-old Blake is the MLS Goalkeeper of Year for 2020 due to his performances this season with his club the Philadelphia Union.

He won 44.12 per cent of the overall vote, which was comprised of fans, the media and the players. It is the second time that Blake has been named the league's best goalkeeper (2016) and joins fellow countryman Donovan Ricketts among the five other keepers that have won the award multiple times.

Blake is coming off an unprecedented 2020 campaign that was severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. However, he finished the regular season with the league's best save percentage (0.778) and goals allowed average (0.88) for goalkeepers with at least 20 appearances or more. He marshalled the best defence in the league, with the Union only allowing 20 goals from 23 games played, en route to winning the Supporters Shield (regular-season title), the first trophy in the club's history.

Additionally, he won the best goalkeeper award for the MLS is Back Tournament in August, the competition which signalled the restart of the league from inactivity caused by the pandemic. Blake suffered a hand injury which left him unable for the final two games of the regular season, but head coach Jim Curtin on November 9 said that the international break will be beneficial for him returning in time to feature in the Union's MLS Cup play-off campaign which begins next week.

"We'll have two weeks to get him ready to go. It will be close, and if everything goes smoothly though, I think he will be ready to play and he will have a full week of training under his belt," Curtin said on the 'Daily Ticket' podcast. By winning the Supporters Shield, the Union have earned home-field advantage throughout the play-offs.

Another individual trophy could find itself in Blake's cabinet this year, as he is also nominated for the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player Award. It is the first time that a goalkeeper has been named a finalist for the league's highest individual honour since 2004.