| NEW YORK, NEW YORK (October 29, 2025) – MLS NEXT Pro announced today that North Texas SC forward Sam Sarver has been named the 2025 Most Valuable Player presented by adidas. The 22-year-old team captain finished as runner-up in the MLS NEXT Pro Golden Boot race (19G) and was named to the League’s Best XI in his debut season.
Sarver set multiple Club scoring records for North Texas SC in 2025:
- Most goals in a single season
- First four-goal match in Club history
- The Club’s first hat trick in MLS NEXT Pro
- First player to record five multi-goal matches in a season
The Chesterland, Ohio native started all but one of his appearances for North Texas SC (25GP/24GS/2,023 minutes) in 2025, ending the season tied for second-most goal contributions (23) in the League. He posted a League-leading 40 shots on target and 72 total scoring attempts, and 66% penalty kick conversion rate (six penalties scored) to help North Texas SC finish the year above the playoff line.
“I feel ecstatic. This was one of the goals I set for myself this year,” Sarver said. “It’s a reflection of the whole club and everything they’ve done for me and my teammates. It takes a village, it’s not just me winning the award, my teammates are involved too. It was God’s plan that I ended up here because Dallas is so good with rewarding guys, and I feel like I fell into the perfect pipeline. I’m super pumped to win this award.”
Sarver was named the MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchweek twice (Matchweek 19 & 30) and was the MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Month for August. He became the fourth player in Club history to receive Best XI honors, joining Bernard Kamungo, Nico Gordon and Michael Collodi. His strong performance in MLS NEXT Pro earned Sarver a first team contract with FC Dallas in July 2025.
Sarver made an instant impact with the FC Dallas first team, earning a penalty kick in the final minutes of a match that helped the team seal a 2-0 victory over St. Louis CITY SC on July 19. In 2025, he made six appearances for the first team, starting his first MLS match on October 18 in a 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC, in which he recorded his second consecutive MLS assist; Sarver’s first-career MLS assist was recorded in the match prior, a 2-1 defeat to 2024 MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy. Sarver made his MLS debut on July 4 against Minnesota United FC. Most recently, Sarver made his first-ever Audi MLS Cup Playoffs start and appearance against Vancouver Whitecaps FC on October 26 in Game 1 of the Round One Best-of-3 series.
FC Dallas drafted Sarver 41st overall in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft out of Indiana University. Sarver previously played in the Columbus Crew SC Academy, where he recorded 44 goals in 55 matches, and was a member of the U.S. Under-16 Youth National Team.
Finalists for the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro MVP presented by adidas: New England Revolution II’s Marcos Dias and Chicago Fire FC II’s Jason Shokalook. Regular season awards were voted on by the Head Coaches and Chief Soccer Officers at MLS NEXT Pro Clubs as well as League content and broadcast teams.
MLS NEXT Pro MVP presented by adidas Winners
2025: Sam Sarver, North Texas SC
2024: David Poreba, Chicago Fire FC II
2023: Jack Lynn, Orlando City B
2022: Jacen Russell-Rowe, Columbus Crew 2 |
