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SANDY — Since 2009, Major League Soccer has given an award for the Save of the Year, and Thursday it was announced that Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando claimed this year’s title.
Rimando took to social media Thursday to thank fans, tweeting, “Thanks for all voting for Save of the Year!” Rimando didn’t want to take all the credit for the award, though, as he thanked his teammate and RSL defender Nat Borchers for allowing his man to get through and try to score on him.
Fan voting for the MLS Save of the Year began on Nov. 5 and ran through Nov. 27. The saves went from 31 total down to 16 and then finally down to four before fans voted for the winner.
Rimando initially had a total of seven goals in the 31 saves that were up for the vote. Three of Rimando’s saves made it all the way to the final four, but fans chose the save that occurred on April 14 against MLS opponent Sporting Kansas City. Ultimately though, that same match ended in a 1-0 loss for the Salt Lake club.
The other two goals of Rimando’s that were up for grabs for the award were against the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 10 and the New England Revolution on May 5. Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon’s save versus D.C. United on March 24 was the fourth save up for the award.
Rimando joined the Salt Lake club in 2007 and was previously with MLS opponent D.C United from 2002-06.
The 33-year-old veteran RSL goalkeeper finished his 2012 regular season with 83 saves in 31 games and totaled 2,790 minutes with the 16-11-4 Salt Lake Club. Rimando also added nine saves and 180 minutes in the Salt Lake club's two MLS playoff matches this season.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
