FRISCO - Improving on his 2015 season that saw Matt Hedges named to the MLS Best XI for the first time was going to be a tough task, but he's always been up for a challenge.
Hedges heads into Saturday's marquee showdown against the LA Galaxy as one of the frontrunners for MLS Defender of the Year honors. Along with LA's Jelle Van Damme, Toronto FC's Drew Moor and Axel Sjoberg in Colorado, Hedges has a strong case for earning the individual honor.
"I think Matt has grown as a player and as an individual," said Atiba Harris. "I think he’s been doing extra work and he’s really been a leader for us. It’s a combination of all those things, experience, consistency and always trying to raise his level...Matt's a competitor."
Now a fifth-year veteran of the league, Hedges has put together his fifth 2,000-minute season while adding another 390 minutes in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. After suffering his first injury as a professional causing him to miss seven matches in April and May, Hedges has missed just one match since. FC Dallas has allowed just .96 goals per game in Hedges starts this season and if you take out the 5-0 loss to Houston the number drops to .77 GAA which would be the smallest in the league.
The always-humble Hedges is quick to point out that the defense is a unit rather than just one player and he being considered for an individual award is a product of the entire squad.
"A defense is four guys in the back and the guys in front of them so you don’t want to just single out one guy," said Hedges. "It’s obviously cool to be mentioned among those other great players, but it’s not something I’m focusing on at all."
While Hedges won't do it, his teammates will surely stump for the big defender.
"In my opinion, he and Walker [Zimmerman] should be one and two whatever order you want to put them in," said Tesho Akindele. "When they’re in as opposed to when they’re not, you can see the difference and that goes for Matt and Walker both...[Matt]’s looking ahead and in emergency situations where maybe the structure of the defense breaks down he’s doing a great job of adjusting and making the right split-second decision in those situations."
With the LA Galaxy coming to Toyota Stadium on Saturday night, the spotlight will certainly be on Hedges and the entire Dallas defense looking to shutdown LA's stable of stars. A win for Dallas will ensure a top-two seed and take them one step closer to the Supporters' Shield, the only thing they're worrying about.
"Every individual award that you get is helping your team because it means you’re that good of a player, so it’s really not a bad idea to be pushing for individual awards…the better the individual is doing the better he’s doing for the team," said Ryan Hollingshead. "If you asked him, [awards] wouldn’t be on his mind, the only thing on his mind is winning the Supporters’ Shield and winning all the tournaments. That’s what a competitor is like he’s only thinking about the team."
