When it comes to the Canadian Premier League Golden Glove award, for 2025 there are really only two options: Forge FC’s Jassem Koleilat and Atletico Ottawa’s Nathan Ingham.
Both keepers have had phenomenal success this year, providing their teams with much needed stability between the sticks, and occupying the top slots for fewest goals against and most clean sheets. But which one deserves this prestigious honour? Let’s take a look at their respective year and see what conclusions we can draw.
The Stats: Koleilat and Ingham by the Numbers
StatisticNathan InghamJassem KoleilatSaves8061Saves per Game2.862.26Save %74.1%74.4%Goals Conceded2821Clean Sheets1113Accurate Passes673443Pass Accuracy76.5%87.5%Accurate Long Balls11751Long Ball Accuracy*37%45.5%Possession Lost per Game7.52.4xGA35.2629.64xGA Differential** (xGA-GA)7.288.64
Source: FotMob, Sofascore and FootyStats
*FotMob reports 37% and 45.5%, Sofascore calculated 41.2% and 47.4%, given total accurate longballs is sourced from Fotmob, Fotmob figures are above.
**FootyStats only reports team based xG, so this is extrapolated from team data (Koleilat did not play in 1 game this year)
So, what do all these numbers tell us? It paints two very distinct pictures. Ingham leads in all aggregate stats, and significantly so. 19 more saves, 230 more passes, and 66 more accurate long balls places Ingham as the much busier of the two keepers. Taking more chances also means missing more chances, which results in lower accuracy and percentage-based state. It also shows those chances resulting in much higher turnovers, with Ingham giving up possession 7.5 times per game compared to the league-leading 2.4 from Koleilat.
However, Ingham attempted somewhere near 316 long balls over the course of the year, while Koleilat only attempted a third as many at 112. This difference in possession lost is explained by the fact that Ingham spent more time punting the ball deep than Koleilat, and says much less than it seems.
Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
Where Koleilat shines is in the percentage stats and team stats. He narrowly beats Nate in save percentage, but has far better pass accuracy and long ball accuracy (though some of this is explained by elements above). The “team” stats are clean sheets, goals conceded, xGA, and xGA differential, as these four elements are heavily affected by the defensive performance.
Clean sheets, while the most desired thing by goalkeepers, requires that defences ensure that there aren’t too many chances given up, which ties in to goals conceded. Having a lower xGA is similarly the result of the defensive performance in front of you, while xGA differential is partially inflated by the fact that xGA counts blocked shots as if they were not blocked, and given Forge FC lead in blocked shots, this suggests their league-leading xGA may even be inflated. Needless to say, this results in higher xGA than warranted for teams with stronger defences (more on that later). This means that while Koleilat leads in many of the most desirable stats, their value to individual performance is a bit dubious.
Photo Credit: Philippe Lariviere
While the majority of the numbers of interest are above, there are a few other figures which may help inform the comparison. On the source cites above, Ingham received an overall season rating of 7.00 (FotMob) and 7.09 (Sofascore), while Koleilat received a 6.89 (FotMob) and 6.94 (Sofascore). Ingham had 12 appearances on the CPL’s Gatorade team of the week, tying Manuel Aparicio for the most of any player, while Koleilat appeared a single time. These help contextualize the two keepers and how their aggregate stats rank up, and how their performances on the season have been viewed by media and algorithms throughout the 2025 CPL season.
With all these things considered, it seems like the race is neck-and-neck, with Koleilat having a statistical edge in many key stats. However, an important factor in comparing these two players is the context under which they achieved the stats above, and between the two, they couldn’t be more different.
The Defensive Context
Every stat and comparison must be put in its proper context, and for keepers, that is largely defined by their defences.
Atletico Ottawa’s defence and shape has been an exciting shift from past years. Utilizing a three centreback system with two wingbacks, the defensive objective was to maintain possession, play out of the back, and play up the wings. However, there are some gaps here: first is that neither starting winger, Gabriel Antinoro or Kevan Dos Santos, have played wingback before, which was quite visible at times in their defending. The second is that while the team started the year with three veteran defending options, Jonathan Grant (RB/CB), Amer Didic (CB) and Brett Levis (LWB/CB), Didic was sidelined with a broken leg week four, Grant never saw the pitch due to injury, and Brett Levis was similarly sidelined for much of the year due to injury. This meant that defensive responsibilities largely fell to wingers transitioning into defensive roles and three U-21 defenders: Noah Abatneh (21), Loic Cloutier (21) and Sergei Kozlovskyi (17).
As a result, Ingham was tasked with mentoring and organizing a very inexperienced backline, with Cloutier and Kozlovskyi making their professional debuts in 2025. While the August window would also bring further reinforcements at centre-back with the 20-year-old Roni Mbomio, this is a necessary rotating piece as Cloutier missed time for injury and Kozlovskyi was away for international duty. With the combination of injury, age, inexperience and instability, this helps explain why Ingham was second in saves and in the bottom four for xGA. It also adds a key intangible to his resume:L the leadership of his backline. While all keepers must take some role in organizing the defence, with young defenders who have limited professional experience, this is all the more important. His wearing the captains armband helps support this further.
Photo Credit: Philippe Lariviere
On the contrast, Forge’s defence has been largely consistent, with few injuries, and utilizing key veterans to make up what may be the best CPL defence ever seen. Not only did Forge play the most stable defensive structure in the league with four at the back, they did so with veritable powerhouses in each role.
A centre-back pairing of the inaugural defender of the year Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson (29) and the most likely candidate for defender of the year in 2025 (and previous nominee) Dan Nimick (25), Rezart Rama (24) at right-back having returned to the team after a year away in Europe, and Marko Jevremovic (29) at leftback, a recent arrival to the league from Europe who was consistently one of the highest rated defenders for the side.
These are four starters who walk onto any team in the league and are arguably the four best players at their positions. This is reflected in their defensive stats. They were also very consistent, with Jevremovic starting 21 games (with 25 appearances), Rama starting 23 (25 appearances), Jonsson starting 27 games (28 appearances) and Nimick starting all 28 matches. This was bolstered by a few other defensive options in Malik Owolabi-Belewu and Elimane Cisse. Their defence was not without injury, with Elimane Cisse missing a good portion of the season, however this was not a major issue given the strength of the starting four.
This powerful defence helps explain at least in part why Koleilat had far fewer shots on goal, a better xGA, more clean sheets, and fewer goals conceded. These are team stats, and when you have the presumptive defender of the year and potentially the best back four in CPL history, they deserve a good portion of the credit for this success. However, Koleilat still managed several impressive saves, many of which were critical to the team’s overall success on the year.
Photo Credit: Jojo Yanjiao Qian
Conclusion
In the end, both teams have phenomenal keepers, and they get the most out of the squad in front of them. Koleilat’s shot-stopping has been clutch when he has been called to answer the bell, and he’s been ready and able to make some very impressive saves to maintain the lowest goals against in the entire league in support of the best defence in the league. Additionally, his distribution has been excellent, ensuring Forge limits turnovers from the 18.
Ingham’s role as a veteran, mentor and leader has been vital to a backline that has seen very little stability outside of him being behind it. The most stable defensive unit he has had are all under 21, two of which made their professional debuts this year, and if we consider wingbacks that adds in another consistent starter under-21 with defensive responsibilities. This has resulted in him being relied on more to stop shots, with the second most saves on the year, while only conceding six more than Koleilat, who had closer to the fewest saves per game.
So, who deserves it more? In this writer’s opinion, the numbers are very comparable, so it comes down to the value put on the context. However the voters decide, it will be hard to choose anyone else other than these two for the 2025 Golden Glove award.
Note: While the inclusion of Ingham and Koleilat as nominees for this award is expected, it is not confirmed by the league as of yet.
Header Image Photo Credits: Philippe Lariviere, Jojo Yanjiao Qian
