Stefan Frei, a Swiss fortress for the RAVE green!

For years Frei has been the rock at the back for the Seattle Sounders and paying a key role for all of the Sounders best moments like both of our MLS Cup victories and our 2022 CCC victory it feels like he's always been a Sounder. But he hasn't, he's played for a few clubs throughout his very long career which I would love to go over with you all today!

Stefan Frei was born in Altstätten, Switzerland but did not stay there for long as in his teenage years his family would move to the stars and stripes of America during the late 90s at age 15. Specifically he attended De La Salle High School in Concord, California. And when it was time graduate he decided to stay close to his new home as he choose to play soccer at Cal Tech for the Golden Bears. And in his senior year he made a amazing impression to the MLS. As a senior at Cal Tech, Frei made 82 saves for a very impressive GAA of 0.77 in 21 games started. He was on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List which is the college soccer equivalent to the Heisman Trophy that of being a MVP style award. And earned further recognition as a College Soccer News 3rd Team All-American selection. Frei was also on the Top Drawer Soccer First Team and named 1st Team All-Pac 10 and NSCAA 1st Team Far West All-Region. This as you could've imagined really impressed clubs in the MLS. Frei also played with both San Francisco Seals and San Jose Frogs in theUSL Premier Development League.

So in 2009 Frei entered the 2009 MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and earned MVP honors. No surprise he was picked early especially for a goalie being picked 13th overall by Toronto FC. And Toronto being in Canada made in the 3rd country he's lived in at the age of 23. Very unusually for a rookie he started most of the games as he started 26 games that season and it wasn't a average rookie season it was a very impressive year. By season’s end, Frei had 5 clean sheets with his 1st ever clean sheet ironically was against the Sounders. He won MLS Save of the Week for 3 straight weeks (August 26, September 5, and September 17). He was even awarded Toronto FC’s “Defender of the Year” at the end of season as a damn rookie. Frei then played the 1st half against Real Madrid on August 7th. He started all but 1 game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, and also played both games against Puerto Rico Islanders in the CONCACAF Champions League to complete his impressive list of accomplishments for his rookie year.

From 2010 to 2012 with Toronto FC he started 65 games for the Canadian based club having a total of 207 saves in the MLS from 2010-2011. With Frei having a handful of notable moments in the 2011 season especially. Such as becoming the team captain only 2 years into his tenure after following the departure of Toronto captain Dwayne De Rosario in early April. Then announced that he would be training with Liverpool during pre-season. This came after a few injuries which caused controversy at the position with backup Miloš Kocić. But those injuries were a tragic preview of what to come.

In 2012 Frei did start in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals against LA Galaxy. But then for the 2nd leg it was Kocić being given the start. Which led to a ton of speculation that the Swiss keeper was being traded. But then the next week Frei in training would sustain a leg injury. And would have to undergo surgery and missed the whole 2012 season as a result.

After he spent all of 2012 recovering in 2013 he started the season as the 1st choice keeper for Toronto but evidently that didn't mean loyalty however. Instead Toronto made 1 of the biggest mistakes of the franchises whole history and was traded to the Seattle Sounders in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. After Frei suffered a minor injury in training allowing back-up Joe Bendik to start in the season opener. And Bendik strong performances caused manager Ryan Nelsen to pick Bendik over the Swiss keeper.

For 2014 Frei started all of the Sounders games playing a full 3,060 minutes. And he was 6th in saves in the MLS while having 9 clean sheets which was 3rd in the MLS. All this led him to being nominated for MLS comeback player of the year. And In the U.S. Open Cup, Frei went 300 minutes without giving away a goal. Showing Toronto his quality and the mistake they made in trading him away. And he only improved for 2015 as he earned Sounders FC Defensive Player of the Year honors after he had racked up a Sounders record 111 saves which ranked him 3rd in the MLS for that season. And became the 8th goalie in MLS h the 110 saves – 14 wins – 10 clean sheets plateau, and was 1 of 2v goalkeepers in the 100 – 10 – 10 club in 2015. And he came up clutch as well as in the playoffs he started all three matches for a 2-1-0 record, recording 14 saves and posting a 1.50 GAA.

Frei was again 1 of the best goalkeepers in the league during the 2016 MLS Season, keeping 8 clean-sheets in 33 appearances that season which was the joint 4th-most kept by a MLS goalkeeper that season. And after his third season with the Sounders, Frei became the club record holder in career saves (301) and wins (48). As Seattle qualified for the playoffs after finishing 4th in the Western Conference. He only conceded 3 total goals in the MLS Cup playoffs, keeping 4 clean sheets in 6 playoffs matches. And the 2016 MLS Cup provided the perfect chance for revenge and to show his old team Toronto FC exactly the mistake they made and it was a chance he did not pass up. Frei was named MLS Cup 2016 MVP after making 7 saves in regular play, and the MLS Cup winning save in the 5–4 penalty shoot-out victory in the final against his former club, Toronto, following a 0–0 draw after extra-time; his decisive save on Jozy Altidore's header in the 2nd half of extra-time was later described by the MLSSoccer.com reporter Sam Stejskal as "one of the best saves in MLS Cup history." And he's right.

And in 2017 he of course kept up his form as being 1 of the best goalies in the MLS as he was 1 of 2 goalkeepers named to the 2017 MLS All-Star Team that faced Real Madrid, and 1 of 3 finalists for 2017 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in a season that also saw him earn his U.S. citizenship. With him topping his career high for clean sheets in a season with a truly ridiculous 13 clean sheetswhich of course led the league and Frei’s 1.09 goals against average ranked second among goalkeepers with at least 20 starts, and his 84 saves were tied for 10th on the year. And he won MLS Save of the week 3 times that season Frei even broke through the MLS bubble as Frei's stop vs. Vancouver on September 27 was No. 1 on SportsCenter's "Top Plays." In the 4 playoff games he started he didn't allow a single goal until the MLS Cup final. But sadly it was Toronto's turn to get revenge on Frei as they beat Sounders 2-0 that final. By the end of the season Frei now held the Sounders FC all-time records for games started at goalkeeper (131), saves (385), wins (61) and clean sheets (40), while also now ranking in the top 10 in league history with his 59 career clean sheets (9th), 81 wins (10th) and 699 saves (10th).

And amazingly for 2018 Frei kept improving and had what was arguably the best season of his career. As he won team MVP for the 1st time in his career and it was not undeserved. Frei posting career highs in goals against average with a amazing (1.03) and also amazing amount of saves (114) as he finished 2nd in Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year voting behind only Zack Steffen. With his saves this season topping his own franchise record and that's not the only history he made this season. Frei posted a beyond amazing 9 consecutive wins from July 21-September 15, the longest stretch in league history in the post-shootout era. On June 13th at the Supporters' Shield-winning New York Red Bulls home arena, Frei established a single-match club record with 11 saves. He also began giving back off the field as well as he ambassador for RAVE Foundation, the official charitable arm of Sounders FC, and key program collaborator on the new Sounders FC / RAVEturf playfield at Yesler Terrace Park. In addition to the field, RAVE funded the GOALS for Art program. Led by Frei, students worked with him to add their design ideas to the goals that were created and installed on their field at Yesler. Showing he came to love and care for the Seattle community over the years.

For the 3rd time in Frei's career he won Sounders FC 2019 Defender of the Year and even won Humanitarian of the Year for the 2nd time in his career showing his dedication to being the best on and off the field. He worked very hard this season especially as he was 1 of 7 players in the MLS to play every minute of every match in 2019. He ranked 4th in the MLS in total saves with a career high 116 saves. And even Frei recorded 10 saves twice in 1 season, 1st in a 4-2 road win over Chicago (March 16) and another in a 1-0 shutout victory at San Jose (September 29). And he helped us to the MLS Cup final again where he again faced his ex club and he got revenge on the cold Canadians again. Frei of course started for Seattle in the 2019 MLS Cup Final, which ended in a 3–1 home win over Toronto FC making Seattle champions again. He also helped a ton off the field with his humanitarian work, Frei was instrumental in granting a Make-A-Wish experience for Bheem Goyal, an 8-year-old battling Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, who trained with Sounders FC goalkeepers for a day before appearing in goal in front of 40,000 fans during Sounders FC's friendly vs. Borussia Dortmund.

For 2020 he kept up his standout performances and led Seattle to best defensive record in the Western Conference and fourth in the league with just 23 goals conceded as he played every minute in Seattle's season again. With him having with 60 saves which was 8th in the MLS in a COVID shortened year and 7th in the MLS with 6 clean sheets. Sadly his form did not hold up as the Sounders made a 2nd MLS straight MLS Cup final but lost to the terribly rebranded Columbus Crew 3-0. Tragedy struck for him and therefore the rest of the club when Frei suffered a left knee injury in the 90th minute of an eventual 1−0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. The club later announced that he had developed a blood clot as a complication of the injury and would be "out for an undetermined amount of time." Frei came back on September 11th against Minnesota United and didn't miss a beat. 3 days later, he posted another shutout in Seattle’s 1-0 win over Santos Laguna (September 14) to advance to the 2021 Leagues Cup Final – his 6th major final with the Rave Green. And her earned his 3rd Sounders FC Humanitarian of the Year award for his work with childhood cancer, social justice and voting, as well as his collaborations with RAVE Foundation and Intentionalist.

And to show everyone he was truly back he earned team MVP again for 2022 and it was extremely deserved. Frei recorded 85 saves with a 69.1 save percentage (nice) in 27 regular season starts. The goalie notably moved into third place in MLS history with 91 regular-season clean sheets, sitting only behind Nick Rimando (154) and Kevin Hartman (112). But his form was not limited to the league. He was also named the 2022 Concacaf Champions League Player of the Tournament and Goalkeeper of the Tournament naturally following Sounders FC’s historic title-winning run this season, starting all eight games and allowing only 5 goals having 26 saves. Including coming up huge in the final vs Pumas with 2 simply outrageous saves at key moments that spurred and inspired his team to victory. And he earned his 4th Sounders FC Humanitarian of the Year award by utilizing his art skills and platforms to benefit childhood cancer, Washington Youth Soccer and environmental endeavors.

Now we come onto 2023 which was also arguably his best ever season as well. Setting a new single-season club record with 14 clean sheets in the regular season, breaking his own record he set all th way back in 2017. He also had a new career low with a 0.88 goals against average during the regular season, while recording a insane 77.3 percent save percentage. Frei was the leader of a defensive unit that allowed just 32 goals during the regular season, tied for the fewest in all of MLS, while recording 77 saves. His efforts on the season won him his 2nd-consecutive Sounders FC Most Valuable Player award. And saw the Sounders make the playoffs again. On June 3, 2023 against our bitter rivals Portland Timbers, Frei recorded his 100th MLS clean sheet, becoming the third player in league history to do so. And in 2024 he almost beat his career high again with 13 clean sheets to come up 1 short. And led a unit that allowed the least amount of goals in the MLS with only 35 on the season in the regular season. And played a key role in getting us to the conference finals where we lost to the LA Galaxy sadly, thanks a bunch for reading!