The people have spoken, and they've chosen Darlington Nagbe.
The Portland Timbers rookie won MLS Goal of the Year honors on Wednesday, beating out Vancouver Whitecaps striker Eric Hassli for the award. Both players, suiting up for expansion teams, delivered goals that were among the best MLS has ever seen in their first years in the league.
Nagbe volleyed a punched-away clearance to himself before lofting a blast into the upper left-hand corner of the net against Sporting Kansas City on July 2. Hassli also delivered a goal off a bad clearance attempt, turning his body at the right edge of the box before unleashing a volley inside the far post against the Seattle Sounders on June 11.
The winner was determined by an online fan vote on the MLS website, with Nagbe earning 42 percent of the vote and Hassli garnering 31 percent. They both outdistanced Fredy Montero (23 percent) and Davide Chiumiento (4 percent), the other finalists for the honor.
For comparison sake (and as another excuse to watch them both, because, let's be honest, they're ridiculous goals), highlights of Nagbe's and Hassli's goals are after the jump:
NAGBE VS. SPORTING KANSAS CITY
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2naoSiNRQ1w]
ERIC HASSLI VS. SEATTLE SOUNDERS
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Vfdx7LEh4]
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What do you think of the final verdict? Was Nagbe's goal better than Hassli's?
Share your thoughts below.