Former Maryland soccer goalkeeper Zack Steffen was named the U.S. Soccer’s 2018 Male Player of the Year on Tuesday.
2018 belonged to @zackstef_23. Congrats to our #USMNT Player of the Year!
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@ussoccer_mnt) December 18, 2018
The award comes after a stellar season for both club and country for Steffen.
As the starting goalkeeper for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, Steffen posted 10 shutouts in 29 games and made 66 saves while leading his team to the playoffs. He was named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in November.
For the U.S. Men’s National Team, Steffen solidified himself as the starting goalkeeper of both the present and the future. 2018 was Steffen’s debut season with the national team, and he made appeared in six matches in goal. The former Terp came up with two shutouts in that span and posted a 1.27 goals-allowed average.
Steffen’s best performance came on June 9 against France, the eventual 2018 World Cup Champions. In a 1-1 draw, the 23-year-old goalkeeper made seven saves to preserve the scoreline.
Recently, Steffen’s name was in the news for another reason — Manchester City of the English Premier League purchased him from the Columbus Crew for a $7 million transfer fee. Steffen will join Manchester City in July.
In his two years at Maryland in 2013 and 2014, Steffen played every minute in goal for the Terps. He made 117 saves and recorded 17 shutouts in those two season before leaving after his sophomore season to pursue a professional career in Germany.
