Jesper Sørensen, Tristan Blackmon, Yohei Takaoka named finalists for 2025 MLS Year-End Awards

VANCOUVER, BC – Major League Soccer announced on Thursday the finalists for the 2025 MLS Year-End Awards, honouring the league’s top performers from the regular season. Vancouver Whitecaps FC are among four clubs leading the way with three finalists including Jesper Sørensen for Coach of the Year, Tristan Blackmon for Defender of the Year, and Yohei Takaoka for Goalkeeper of the Year.

The finalists for the annual awards earned the highest average votes from MLS club technical staff, MLS first-team players, and select media members, with each group accounting for 33.3 percent of the overall results.

Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year

• Bradley Carnell (Philadelphia Union)
• Jesper Sørensen (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
• Mikey Varas (San Diego FC)

Head coach Jesper Sørensen has led Whitecaps FC to a historic regular season in his first year in the league, tallying club records for points (63), wins (18), away victories (8), goals scored (66), as well as goal difference (+28). The 'Caps have also recorded the fifth highest expected goal difference in MLS history (+25). Along the way, the Dane has preached the importance of player development across the entire roster, with the team tying the league record for most different goalscorers (20) and 13 players tallying career highs in goals and assists. Sørensen fielded the third youngest roster in average minutes in the league, handing out nine MLS debuts age 22 or younger, including seven players from the club's MLS NEXT Pro side Whitecaps FC 2 (WFC2). The development has paid off on the big stage as well, with a league-leading four players being named MLS All-Stars for the first time in Sebastian Berhalter, Tristan Blackmon, Yohei Takaoka, Brian White, and five players making their national team debuts in Berhalter, Blackmon, Kenji Cabrera, Rayan Elloumi, and Tate Johnson.

Outside the regular season, Sørensen found success across other competitions with the 'Caps, leading the club to its first-ever Concacaf Champions Cup Final while managing his roster during a game-heavy schedule at the start of the year. In doing so, Vancouver became only the second team in league history to tally 63+ points in the regular season and reach the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup in the same year. On the domestic side, Sørensen found the right balance to guide the 'Caps to a fourth consecutive TELUS Canadian Championship title, all while continuing to compete at the top of the MLS standings. Across all competitions, the Blue and White have scored a club-record 94 goals, beating the previous record of 91 from 1988, with 23 different goalscorers finding the back of the net.

Sørensen becomes the first Whitecaps FC head coach to be named a finalist for MLS Coach of the Year.

MLS Defender of the Year

• Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
• Jakob Glesnes (Philadelphia Union)
• Kai Wagner (Philadelphia Union)

In his fourth season with the 'Caps, Tristan Blackmon has showed league-wide how important his defensive and passing capabilities are to Sørensen's system, starting 23 of his 25 appearances in MLS play. Amongst making his United States men's national team debut and receiving a first MLS All-Star nod, the Las Vegas, Nevada native has come up clutch this season, with three of his five goals across all competitions being game-winners. Most notably, his last-gasp goal at Pumas UNAM in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals will go down as one of the most iconic moments in the club's MLS era.

In MLS play, Blackmon sits in the top 3% among centre backs in the league for the fewest goals conceded when on the field, top 2% for progressive passes among centre backs, top 5% for long passes completed among centre backs, and top 7% for percentage of dribblers tackled among centre backs.

Blackmon becomes the second Whitecaps FC player to be named a finalist for Defender of the Year, joining Kendall Waston who did so twice during his time with the club (2015 and 2017).

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

• Matt Freese (New York City FC)
• Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United FC)
• Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

Yohei Takaoka has been a steadying force in goal during his third season with the 'Caps, finishing the regular season as the league's leader in clean sheets with 13 and tying David Ousted's club record from 2015 in the process. Takaoka, who becomes the first Japanese-born goalkeeper to be named a finalist for the award, started and played every minute of all 34 regular season matches this year, becoming the second Whitecaps FC player to accomplish the feat. Takaoka was also tied for the most wins amongst goalkeepers this season (18), conceded the second fewest goals (38), and was one of four 'Caps players to be named to the MLS All-Star roster, where he played hero in the Skills Challenge competition.

Takaoka becomes the second Whitecaps FC player to be named a finalist for Goalkeeper of the Year, joining Ousted (2015), and is also up for MLS Save of the Year for his quick reaction against CF Montréal earlier this year. The winning save will be decided by online voting at MLSsoccer.com, with the winner set to be announced on Monday, October 27.

The winners of this year's awards will be announced throughout the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. A full list of the awards finalists can be found on MLSsoccer.com.