Montreal's Laurent Ciman named MLS Defender of the Year

By foxsports
Published

Montreal Impact center back Laurent Ciman has been named the 2015 Major League Soccer Defender of the Year, the league announced Wednesday.

The Belgian international joined the Impact in the offseason and immediately became the anchor of the team's back line. Ciman helped the Impact advance to the CONCACAF Champions League final and the Eastern Conference semifinals, where Montreal fell to Columbus last weekend. 

Ciman played in 27 regular season matches for the Impact and was named to the 2015 MLS All-Star team. The 30-year-old helped Montreal allow 14 fewer goals in 2015 compared to 2014 (44 vs. 58). 

Vancouver's Kendall Waston finished second in the voting, followed by Matt Hedges of FC Dallas and Matt Miazga of the New York Red Bulls.