Jordan Morris named 2016 MLS Rookie of the Year
There was, in truth, just one clear-cut winner in 2016, but on Friday Major League Soccer made official the news that Seattle Sounders star Jordan Morris has been named 2016 MLS Rookie of the Year after an impressive campaign that saw him score 12 goals in 34 regular-season appearances.
"It's a huge honor and it was one of my goals going into the year," Morris told the Sounders' official website. "But there were some other amazing rookies this year and they had some awesome years. Just to be a finalist with the two other great players was so cool. It’s obviously a huge honor."
Here’s why: https://t.co/AITfNj0aoT
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 10, 2016
He finished atop the vote for the accolade, ahead of second-placed Philadelphia Union defender Keegan Rosenberry and third-placed New York City FC midfielder Jack Harrison.
Morris, 22, started the season with plenty of hype, winning the Hermann Trophy in NCAA Division I with Stanford University.
Such was his skill that he even caught the eye of U.S. men's national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann during his college playing days, making his international debut before signing a professional contract.
It's why there was plenty of buzz when Morris decided to join Major League Soccer rather than sign with Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga, with whom he was on trial.
Morris joined his hometown Seattle Sounders on a league-record Homegrown Player contract and immediately slotted in up top alongside Clint Dempsey, as the club parted ways with Designated Player forward Obafemi Martins in the offseason.
Morris enjoyed a relatively strong if slightly underwhelming early season, but his team fell into poor form in the opening half of 2016. He then began firing on all cylinders in time for a late playoff push, and with Dempsey out with a heart problem, he and newcomer Nicolas Lodeiro combined to clinch a postseason berth.
In that time, Morris remained a regular in the U.S. national team lineup, though he did not earn a nod for the 2016 Copa America Centenario. Still, he was involved in World Cup qualifying matches against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago as well as a slew of friendlies in 2016.
The Sounders are currently locked in a Western Conference Championship series with the Colorado Rapids as one of four remaining teams in the 2016 MLS playoffs. Morris has added an assist in the postseason to his four from the regular season, but has yet to score in three playoff appearances for Brian Schemtzer's side.