FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Major League Soccer announced today that New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen has been named to the MLS Best XI. The Revolution MVP in 2014 and a finalist for the MLS MVP award, Nguyen scored a career-best 18 goals during the regular season, adding five assists in 32 games for New England. This is the first time that Nguyen, who is now in his third season with the Revs, has been named to the MLS Best XI, and he is the second New England player in two years to earn the honor after Jose Goncalves in 2013.
Nguyen enjoyed his best season since coming to MLS in 2012, helping lead the Revs to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference with a 17-13-4 record. Nguyen scored the game-winning goal in nine of his club’s 17 victories, setting a new club record and equaling the second-best total in MLS history. The top scoring American in MLS this season and the top scoring midfielder in MLS history, Nguyen’s 18 goals were tied for the second-best single season tally in Revolution history.
The MLSSoccer.com Etihad Airways Player of the Month for October and a three-time MLS Player of the Week, Nguyen was also named to the MLS All-Star Team, though he was not active for the match. The Revs were 14-1-2 during the regular season when Nguyen had a goal or an assist and over the final three months of the season, when New England went 10-2-2, Nguyen was at his best, scoring 12 goals and adding four assists, scoring or assisting on the game-winning goal in eight of those wins.
After scoring or assisting on 45 percent of the Revolution’s goals during the regular season, Nguyen has gone on to add two goals and three assists in four games during the MLS Cup Playoffs, helping lead the Revs to MLS Cup for the first time since 2007. The 28-year-old Texas native also earned a recall to the U.S. National Team last month, playing in a friendly against Colombia on November 15 to collect his fourth cap.
Nguyen and the rest of the Revolution will face the LA Galaxy in MLS Cup 2014 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. on Sunday, December 7. That game will kick off at 3 p.m. and will be shown nationally on ESPN and UniMas. MLS Cup will also be available locally on the radio on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
