Winner to be decided by club technical leadership and media voting, to be announced during 2024 CPL Awards award ceremony on Nov. 7

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Premier League announced on Monday the nominees for this year’s Golden Glove award, honouring the best goalkeeper during the 2024 regular season.

Pacific FC’s Emil Gazdov, Vancouver FC’s Callum Irving and York United FC’s Thomas Vincensini make up this year’s three-man ballot. The winner will be decided through voting by technical leadership from all eight CPL clubs as well as select media members, representing local and national outlets, who consistently covered the 2024 CPL regular season. The winner will be revealed at an in-person awards ceremony at Calgary, Alta. on Thursday, Nov. 7 as part of the 2024 CPL Final festivities.

Voting for the CPL’s Golden Glove award is based on performances during the 2024 CPL regular season, not including Canadian Championship, Concacaf Champions Cup or 2024 CPL Playoffs action.

Gazdov, 21, continued his emergence as one of the top young Canadians in the League in his first year as the No. 1 for Pacific FC. Despite missing time due to illness, Gazdov finished the regular season tied for second with seven shutouts. He conceded 0.94 goals per 90 minutes, which ranked second among CPL goalkeepers with at least 10 starts, and faced the third most shots per 90 minutes (12.28) among keepers with at least 10 starts. Gazdov’s 72.31 save percentage ranked third among keepers with at least 10 starts. Gazdov’s natural shot-stopping ability and dependability was critical to the Tridents’ defensive stability in 2024. This is his first Golden Glove nomination.

Irving started all 28 matches for Vancouver FC in his second season with the club. The Eagles’ captain led both by example and on the stats sheet, finishing top among all CPL goalkeepers with league-record 96 saves, 59 saves from inside the box and 34 saves from outside the box. His 3.43 saves per 90 minutes ranked first among CPL goalkeepers with at least 10 starts. A veteran of the CPL, Irving provided necessary reliability between the posts for the club in its sophomore season. This is Irving’s third nomination for the awards, after previously earning nods in 2020 and 2022 as one of the CPL’s top goalkeepers in those seasons.

Vincensini’s debut season in the CPL saw him start all 28 matches for York United FC. His leadership for the Nine Stripes was key to the club’s record-setting year, which saw the team concede fewer goals than ever before in a 28-game season despite several injuries to its central defenders. He was twice named Allstate CPL Goalkeeper of the Month, in June and August, becoming the only CPL netminder to earn the honour on more than one occasion this year. Vincensini finished the regular season sitting second in games won by a goalkeeper with 11 victories, as well as ranking third among goalkeepers with six shutouts and 73 saves, respectively. This is his first Golden Glove nomination.

The winner of the Golden Glove award will receive a unique piece of Inuit soapstone art, conceived by artist Kellipalik Etidloie and carved by Ruben Komangapik. The Canadian Inuit Dog statue is awarded annually to the CPL goalkeeper voted best at his position because the Canadian Inuit Dog and goalkeepers are, similarly, protectors who play vital roles in guarding their communities.

The 2024 CPL Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on dedicated soccer channel OneSoccer and streamed on CBC Gem and cbcsports.ca beginning at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT. The show will be hosted by Andi Petrillo with appearances by current and former CPL players and coaches, as well as special guests from the Canadian soccer community.

OneSoccer, the dedicated home for soccer in Canada, is available through the OneSoccer.ca website, via Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV devices and with the OneSoccer app for iOS and Android devices. OneSoccer is also available as a linear channel on Optik TV (Ch. 980), the pay-TV service operated by TELUS, as well as on streaming service fuboTV Canada.