Montreal Impact: Laurent Ciman named MLS defender of the year

Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman has been named MajorLeague Soccer's defender of the year.

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The 30-year-old Belgian national beat out Kendall Waston of theVancouver Whitecaps and Matt Hedges of FC Dallas in voting by themedia, MLS players and MLS club management.

Ciman played in 27 regular season matches in his debut season inNorth America, helping Montreal surrender 14 fewer goals in 2015compared to 2014.

He also scored two goals, added two assists and finished secondon the team with 2,405 minutes played.

Ciman, a member of Belgium's national team which came in fourth in the Olympics in 2008, signed a three-year contract with the Montreal Impact in January of this year.