Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric was named the Major League Soccer Player of the Month for October, the league announced today.
The goalkeeper recorded 15 total saves and led the Dynamo to three consecutive positive results to close out the regular season, conceding just one goal in 270 minutes this month, helping his club first secure a spot in the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs and then earn a home Knockout Round game.
Deric began the month helping Houston to a crucial 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City at BBVA Compass Stadium on October 11 in a match with huge playoff implications. The Houston native was beaten earlier in the match but bounced back with a stunning close-range save in the 43rd minute off a Dániel Sallói blast from six yards out (Watch Save). Houston then scored two goals in the second half to go up 2-1. In the third minute of extra time, Deric made another crucial save on Seth Sinovic’s curler, parrying it away to conserve a Dynamo victory (Watch Save).
Four days later the Dynamo dueled Sporting Kansas City again, this time to a scoreless draw at Children’s Mercy Park, with Deric putting in one of the best performances of his season with seven saves in the match. After a strong first half performance, Deric caught a very dangerous header from Benny Feilhaber off the goal-line in the 58th minute (Watch Save). Deric’s most important save came in the dying minutes when Latif Blessing ended up with the ball just two yards away from goal and tried to blast it home to break the 0-0 deadlock. Deric’s heroic fingertip save preserved the clean sheet and a point for Houston (Watch Save).
Deric closed out the month with a four-save performance in leading Houston to a 3-0 win over the Chicago Fire at BBVA Compass Stadium.
This is the first time Deric has earned the award and comes after he earned a spot on the MLSSoccer.com Team of the Week in Week 32 after back-to-back stellar performances against Kansas City. The goalkeeper finished with a career-high nine saves in the second match against Sporting to give Houston a 0-0 draw and four out of six possible points in the home-and-home series.
The Homegrown Player was a key component in the Dynamo’s six-game unbeaten streak at the end of the MLS regular season to secure Houston’s first playoff berth since 2013.
The Alcatel MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
With the victory over Sporting Kansas City last night, Houston will host the Portland Timbers in the first leg of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 30 at BBVA Compass Stadium, tickets begin at $28 and are available at HoustonDynamo.com/playoffs. Fans can also call 713-276-GOAL to purchase tickets from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday, or purchase tickets at the BBVA Compass Stadium box office from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
