Sutton Named A-League Goalkeeper of the Year

MONTREAL — Montreal Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton was named goalkeeper of the year in the A-League. The 26-year-old ‘keeper dominated the league with a goals against average of 0.730 on top of tallying a league-best 11 shutouts and 15 wins.



“It’s exciting but I have to give credit to my teammates,” said Sutton, who allowed only 20 goals in 26 starts this season. “We’ve been playing together for a few years now and we’ve learned to know our strengths and weaknesses. That allows us to adjust to different situations in order to better shut down the opponent.”



Sutton was also the busiest goalkeeper in the league with 2463 minutes played, which is also the most amount of minutes played by an Impact player this year.



“He really had a solid year, ” commented Impact head coach Bob Lilley. “He has shown a lot of growth and maturity over the last season and he has now put himself in a category with the goalkeeper elite of our league.”



Sutton, who played with the Cincinnati Riverhawks in 2000, joined the Impact in 2001. In three seasons with Montreal, he kept a cumulative record of 37 wins, 21 losses and 10 ties.



His goals against average has consistently improved every year, from 1.299 in 2001 to 0,985 last year. His 11 shutouts are a personal best, since he finished the season with 10 last year.