Ship’s Log, Dec. 21: SaH Player Awards Voting

As 2024 winds down it’s fun to remember the performances of the players that brought us joy. Both Reign and Sounders had youngsters burst onto the stage over the year, some successfully, some taking a step back.

In this year’s SaH Player Awards the youth really standout. For the Sounders the selection includes a Defiance player who had youth national calls, two previous winners, a Defiance player who seems destined for a first-team deal, and an outside player who changes the way the team plays. Reign had their biggest youth movement yet, with multiple players getting national team calls and a former winner of this award having a down season.

Nominees for Breakout Player don’t have to be young. They merely need to be someone who had few expectations and much success. Between Breakout and Young Player fans can see reasons for hope not in 2025 but for years beyond.

After a poor season, the Reign selections may be the most difficult. There was little offense, so figuring out who contributed the most may be a question of perception rather than statistics. The defense was also poor, and Harvey’s squad rotation led to many nominees in the goal-prevention field.

The Sounders’ offense wasn’t strong, but there were strong performers. Jordan Morris fell just short of tying the team’s all-comps scoring record. Albert Rusnák had the most goal contributions ever. Raul Ruidiaz remains the team career scoring leader and Paulie provided verve that brought the crowd to their feet. The defense, as always, was stout with two team legends and previous winners nominated, plus a man that finished third in the league for the most similar award.

Previous winners can be found on this page, where they are a signal to our history and the legends who have kicked the ball in anger here in Puget Sound. Five former SaH Young Players are on the current roster, for example, plus one is now a coach on the team.

Link to the voting form here.

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Catching up on Sounder at Heart

Here's what you missed on the site this week.

Sounders

Next match: Feb. 19 at Antigua GFC in the Concacaf Champions Cup at 5 pm PT. The international transfer window opens January 25.

Reign

Next match: The schedule is expected to be out in January. The international transfer window opens Jan. 25.

Defiance

Spokane

Zephyr are in their winter break. They remain in 8th of 8, going winless in their last six, all on the road.

Looking back at the news

Everything else you need to know

Reads of last week’s Ship’s Log may have expected a traditional broadcaster to win the rights to the next two Women’s World Cups. Like the rest of the soccer world, they would be surprised to learn that Netflix, the streaming giant, will carry the games in the US.

In 2025 MLS is taking a break for the Club World Cup, but it’s not a long one, probably because its participants aren’t going far. Learn more about the full league schedule from SaH partner Backheeled.

Did you have trouble figuring out how much the get-in price for the Club World Cup is? That was intentional. FIFA is using adaptive pricing as a way to put more money in their pockets and to price out common fans.

The Portland Timbers continue to lead the way in helping fans find their way to the stadium, even further expanding their transit partnership in 2025.

Former Reign free agent Laurel Ivory signed with KC.

There are now only two men's D3 leagues in the US as the league that had a history of not paying refs, players, hotels, etc is no longer sanctioned.

Doyle thinks three Sounders should be in January camp and that's before picking up two marginal USMNT players.

Nikki Stanton is on The Offseason, a show streaming on X.

Denver will almost certainly be the next NWSL city.

Another week, another link to Jess Fishlock and Wales going to the Euros. I will never tire of her success.

Garth Lagerwey continues to turn Atlanta into Seattle South, after adding Dave Tenney a week ago he added Chris Henderson, too. Atlanta, unlike the Sounders, has a massive budget. Atlanta, unlike the Sounders, hasn’t had a good season in the current decade.

After the worst (or maybe not quite worst) ratings in MLS Cup history is trying to find ways to get people to watch MLS Season Pass, because even though a lot of games are free the reputation of the network is that it requires money.

The journalist-to-coach path is small. And few want to go the other way. Currently no SaH staff are targeting becoming a coach (though one previous staffer did contribute to an MLS Cup).

Supposed fans injured a goalkeeper, so the teams refused to play soccer. Good players, bad supposed fans.

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