Zack Steffen named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

Major League Soccer announced today that Columbus Crew SC and United States Men’s National Team goalkeeper Zack Steffen was named the 2018 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. The 23-year-old maintained a 1.28 goals against average and had 10 shutouts on the season. He earned the most votes from club officials and his fellow players, but finished a distant fourth in the media voting.

Steffen has carried his stellar regular season form into the MLS Cup Playoffs. In a first round victory against D.C. United, he made several key saves in the shootout to help Columbus advance. In the Eastern Conference semifinals, his acrobatic late-match save to deny a close-range header pushed his club to a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls in the first leg.

Steffen joined Columbus Crew SC in 2016 after spending two seasons in Germany with Freiburg. He was the subject of a $3.9 million transfer bid from English Championship club Bristol City this past summer, but the offer was declined. According to Steffen, he plans on eventually making a return to Europe.

“I’m happy in Columbus and my focus is on Columbus right now,” he told MLSSoccer.com in July. “My goal is to go back to Europe, whenever that is. I don’t have that much of a say; it’s when teams want to come in and talk. But my goal is to go back over there at some point.”

Steffen was also recently named to the 28-player USMNT roster for the upcoming friendlies against England and Italy. He’s earned six caps at the international level (all in 2018), with the most recent coming in October’s 4-2 loss to Colombia.