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The 2015 season was certainly a bummer for the Colorado Rapids, but there were some bright spots out there for the Burgundy Boys. And one of those bright spots was the play of the defense and their overall improvement from the 2014 season where the team gave up 69 goals in 34 games.
This year: 43 goals in 34 games.
Not a bad improvement.
And it is even more impressive that 13 different players played along the backline this season.
Bobby Burling, Drew Moor, Marc Burch, Sean St. Ledger, Maynor Figueroa, Marlon Hairston, Jared Watts, James Riley, Axel Sjoberg, Ben Newnam, Shane O'Neill, Michael Harrington, and Joseph Greenspan all played at least one game as part of the back four.
So how do you choose one person from that group to be defender of the year. For me, it was simple: who played all across the back line and helped wherever it was needed? Who played the most minutes (and fourth overall on the team)? Who is the true leader of this team regardless of arm-band? And who was the Rapids All-Star and played 45 minutes against Tottenham Hotspur.
For all of this and so much more, Burgundy Wave is proud to name Drew Moor as Burgundy Wave Defender of the Year.
This was an interesting year for Moor as he did not make his debut until the fifth game of the season (coming back from knee surgery) as he Captained the Rapids to their fist win of the year. He went on to start and play in 22 games this season and pitched in with one goal and an assist over 1,980 minutes. He played all four positions along the back line during the course of the season covering for injured players and absences. And he never complained when he was stripped of his captaincy early in the season.
And let us not forget that he made his first MLS All-Star game appearance in front of his home fans at Dick's Sporting Goods Park this July.
The Staff here at Burgundy Wave would like to say a big THANK YOU to Captain Colorado Drew Moor for all he did for the team this year and congrats on being named Defender of the Year!