Minnesota United’s Dayne St. Clair is in the running for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

Major League Soccer announced Thursday that Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair is one of three finalists for the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award.

St. Clair finished the year as the top shot-stopper in the league, according to the advanced stats. American Soccer Analysis rated him as saving almost 10 goals above expected in 2025, the fourth-best season of any keeper in their database, which goes back to 2013.

The Loons haven’t had an end-of-year award winner since 2019, when Vito Mannone won Goalkeeper of the Year and Ike Opara won Defender of the Year, and both made the MLS Best XI.

The other two finalists for the award are Vancouver keeper Yohei Takaoka and Matt Freese from New York City FC. Voting for the awards is split, with media members, first-team players and club technical staff each accounting for a third of the vote.

Michael Boxall did not make the cut as a finalist for Defender of the Year, but for Loons manager Eric Ramsay, his center back/goalkeeper combination was certainly worthy of finalist status.

“I think it’s almost a lazy narrative to attach the team’s defensive success to certain individuals, but I think probably in the case of those two, it’s justified,” he said. “It’s a big part to do with Dayne, it’s a big part to do with Boxy.”

Minnesota also announced a contract extension for attacking midfielder Joaquín Pereyra, tacking a year onto his current deal. Pereyra, who’s currently in a Designated Player spot on the Loons roster, now is signed through the 2028 season, with a team option for 2029.

Oluwaseyi demonstrated that a contract extension does not necessarily prevent a move abroad. The Canadian forward signed an extension last offseason, but ended up moving to Villareal in Spain the summer. Pereyra was reportedly a target of a Turkish team this summer, and will likely draw more interest in the winter.

Center back Morris Duggan left Saturday’s game injured after teammate Anthony Markanich accidentally slide-tackled him from behind. According to Ramsay, Duggan was in crutches after the game. So it was something of a shock to see him jogging with the squad at training on Wednesday.

“I was sort of surprised to see him in such good shape today,” said Ramsay, smiling. “But it’s a really pleasant surprise, because he’s been a really important player for us, and it would have been a real blow had that not been the case.”

Striker Kelvin Yeboah missed training Wednesday, instead working on his own during and after practice. According to Ramsay, it was because Yeboah had done his own training session Tuesday, as he continues to ramp up from the hamstring injury that caused him to miss all but the final quarter-hour of the team’s final four games.

“It would have been four days, by the time you account for the fact he only played 15 minutes on Saturday night,” said Ramsay. “So it was better for him to come in and do something taxing, have the day off [Wednesday], and then come and do the two days with the team [Thursday and Friday].”

Sierra Leonese midfielder Momoh Kamara, who joined the Loons’ second team midseason, is one of the 10 finalists for the men’s Young Player of the Year award in the Confederation of African Football.

Kamara was a standout for Sierra Leone’s under-20 team at the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations this summer, scoring four goals, winning the Golden Boot award for the tournament, and being named to the tournament Best XI. Sierra Leone, making its debut in the tourney, lost in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist Morocco.