When Shkëlzen Gashi stepped up and smashed home a free-kick at Vancouver Whitecaps FC on September 24, bending the ball around the wall from distance and bamboozling goalkeeper David Ousted, most watching considered it a Goal of the Year contender.
Well, today, MLS has agreed, with Gashi’s golazo the runaway winner. He polled __ per cent of the vote, in an eventual showdown with Jack Harrison (New York City FC), and becomes only the second Rapids player to win the award. Marcelo Balboa claimed Goal of the Year honors for his breathtaking bicycle kick back in 2000.