Sporting Kansas City announced on Wednesday that forward Dom Dwyer has signed a contract extension with the club.
“I am ecstatic to commit my future to Kansas City,” Dwyer said. “I want to thank the coaches and ownership for having faith in me. Also, a special thanks to the fans for all of their continued support. I am excited to get going again. Last year was a starting point for what is to come in the future, which is scoring a lot more goals, driving to win championships and enjoying myself on and off the field in a city with supporters to which I have grown to love and embrace.”
“Dom’s new contract is well-deserved. I am very happy for him and for the club to have reached this deal,” Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said. “He has performed at a very high level on a consistent basis and this contract again shows a strong commitment to keeping players of his caliber in Kansas City.”
Dwyer’s breakout season in 2014 garnered Sporting Kansas City’s Offensive Player of the Year and co-Most Valuable Player awards, as well as MLS All-Star honors. The 24-year-old Englishman set the club’s single-season record with 22 goals, second most in MLS, and his 24 career goals in the regular season now rank ninth most in team history.
Dwyer also added goals in the CONCACAF Champions League and MLS Cup Playoffs for the second straight year, giving him 50 goals scored across all competitions since the start of 2013:
MLS Regular Season: 24 goals
MLS Cup Playoffs: 2 goals
CONCACAF Champions League: 2 goals
USL PRO Regular Season: 15 goals
USL PRO Playoffs: 4 goals
U.S. Open Cup: 3 goals
Dwyer was selected in the first round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft as a Generation adidas member out of the University of South Florida.
After making three appearances across all competition during his rookie season, Dwyer scored 15 goals in 13 regular season games while on loan with USL PRO affiliate Orlando City SC in 2013 to set the league’s single-season scoring record at the time and claim All-League honors. He returned to the Lions for the USL PRO final, scoring four goals to earn championship MVP recognition.
His record-setting 2014 campaign placed Dwyer’s name on the Sporting Kansas City and Major League Soccer all-time charts in the following categories:
Single season (2014)
• Second in goals (22), game-winning goals (6) and multi-goal games (5) in MLS for 2014
• Six game-winning goals in 2014 were most in a season in Sporting KC history
• Seven penalty kick goals in 2014 were most in a season in Sporting KC history
• 0.67 goals per game in 2014 ranks second best in a season in Sporting KC history
Career
• 0.63 goals per 90 minutes average is highest all-time for a Sporting KC player and sixth-highest in MLS history*
• Highest goals per game average (0.48) in Sporting KC history*
• Second in penalty kick goals (7) in Sporting KC history
• Third in multi-goal games (5) in Sporting KC history
• Third in scoring percentage (17.0) in Sporting KC history*
*Among players with a minimum of 20 goals
– Story from Sporting KC