SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jahmir Hyka has been selected as a finalist for both the 2017 MLS Fair Play Award and the 2017 AT&T Goal of the Year Award.
Hyka, 29, is among three finalists for the Fair Play Award, joining the Houston Dynamo’s Damarcus Beasley and the LA Galaxy’s Dave Romney. The finalists were selected by MLS based on objective criteria, such as fouls committed, cards received, games and minutes played, as well as subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Hyka played in 30 of the team’s 34 regular season matches, committing a total of six fouls over 1,871 minutes. He, along with Quakes defender Nick Lima, committed the fewest fouls in Major League Soccer among all players with at least 1,600 minutes this year. He also never committed more than a single foul in any game and was not shown a yellow or red card in 2017.
The only Quakes player to have won the Fair Play Award is Ronald Cerritos in 2005.
The Albanian international is also nominated for the 2017 AT&T Goal of the Year for his spectacular game-winner against FC Dallas on May 20. Voting remains open for the award until Nov. 14. He finished the season with five assists, tied for second most on the team, and three goals in his debut season for the club.
San Jose players have previously won the award in 1996, 2004 and 2005.
