New York ? Sporting Kansas City’s Matt Besler has been voted Major League Soccer’s Defender of the Year.

Besler received 71 percent of weighed ballots added from team, media and player votes. San Jose’s Victor Bernardez was second with 64 percent, the league said Tuesday, followed by Kansas City’s Aurelien Collin (48 percent), Vancouver’s Jay DeMerit (23 percent) and Philadelphia’s Carlos Valdes (16 percent).

Silviu Petrescu was voted referee of the year with 121 percent, followed by Baldomero Toledo (99 percent) and Armando Villarreal (79 percent).