Olmes Garcia
When Garcia came in as a sub in the 61st minute of Saturday’s match between Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy, the score was knotted 1-1. Then the sub turned the game on its ear, scoring twice as RSL came out 3-1 winners.
For his efforts, the 20-year-old was named the MLS Player of the Week after taking home the highest number of first-place votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.
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Johnny Leveron
So, Whitecaps fans have something to chew on Wednesday morning. Would the Caps have been able to overcome the Galaxy by a 3-1 count Saturday had Johnny Leveron been sent off for his early two-footed scissor challenge on the Galaxy’s Jose Villarreal?
Leveron was given a yellow for the sliding foul he committed early in that match. But the MLS Disciplinary Committee ruled on it Wednesday, and deemed that it should have been red. Leveron has been suspended one game for a reckless challenge that endangered his opponent, and will miss the May 18 match against the Timbers.
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Marco Schallibaum
“That’s a reason I like this team, they never give up,” said head coach Marco Schallibaum. “Today we played against a really good team and with our program the last two weeks (six games in 18 days) it’s amazing what they did on the field and their will to do well. They can play good football or they can play good football and also have lots of character. They showed that again today.”
Things did not start well for the home team as an own goal put it down in the opening minutes of play. Seven minutes after the opening whistle, RSL defender Lovel Palmer’s drive deflected off Matteo Ferrari’s foot and over Troy Perkins into the mesh.
Montreal managed to even things up before the first half came to an end despite showing signs of fatigue linked to having to play six games in an 18-day span. The visiting side dominated in the opening 45 minutes, making 11 attempts on the Impact goal while only having to defend against a half dozen forays on the part of their hosts.
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Graham Zusi
In what was a very scattered vote, Zusi got 10 first-place votes out of the 27 ballots cast by the North American Soccer Reporters. With no player really having a career-best game or a head-turner, the voters had no clear consensus.
But, like a Canadian election. Zusi got the prize despite earning only a little more than a third of the vote.
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Young-Pyo Lee
However, Rennie was relatively pleased with how his team started as they remained compact and found a few countering chances but failed to score.
“I think the first half was a good road performance,” said Rennie. “We played quite well. We created some good chances. We didn’t really look at any danger. So it was a solid half from us, but obviously that’s only halfway through the game.”
To be fair, it was a rather boring, uneventful half, but when you are on the road that’s not a bad result. Both sides really lacked any intensity in the opening stanza. The only player for either side who showed a lot of fire was Nigel Reo-Coker, who was very aggressive in the defensive half of midfield, picking up a yellow card for a tackle in the 19th minute and remaining physical for the remainder of the half.
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Jack McInerney
The Philadelphia Union forward scored twice in a 3-2 win Sunday over D.C. United, and earned enough votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters to take the MLS Player of the Week honour. McInerney got 17 of the 27 first-place votes cast by the members.
With six goals on the season, McInerney has taken over the MLS scoring lead.
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Camilo
The Brazilian’s conversion from the spot was a relief given he’d missed a pile of opportunities, especially in the first half. On the play, Camilo slotted the ball into the bottom left corner as Nick Rimando dove to the right side.
“I think he played well today,” head coach Martin Rennie told reporters after the match. “He was a little bit unfortunate. It was one of those situations where if he does take a couple of those chances then we win the game but he’s got a goal on the penalty kick.
“He showed great composure because it was such a long time to delay before he actually took it. But he’s had a good performance today. He’s been dangerous today and I think in general our front players have done quite well.”
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Ryan Johnson
Last week, it was Canadian Will Johnson, who scored twice. This week, it’s former Toronto FC forward Ryan Johnson, who scored two second-half goals to give the Timbers a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo. Johnson got the most first-place votes out of the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.
Johnson’s two-goal game was deemed to be more Player-of-the-Week worthy than the two-goal game of another ex-TFC striker, Maicon Santos. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike Magee
Mike Magee, who scored three times Sunday in that win over Chicago, won in a landslide in the first ballot of the season for the members of the North American Soccer Reporters. Of the 29 ballots received, Magee received the first-place vote on 25 of them.
Magee’s third goal was highlight-reel worthy, a volley struck across his body that he smacked into the far corner after he chested down a loose ball.
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Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, the big prize at the end of the season
With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.
And that could be telling. The teams that got the jump and have their ducks in a row could have a real advantage in these March matchups; and they could find some bonus points that could help them in the fall.
Steven Sandor, Editor of The 11 and contributors Randy Davis, Aman Dhanoa, Mark Polishuk and Gavin Day all submitted their picks. We tallied the scores and we present our picks below.
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on Garrett’s toe injury likely to shelve him for remainder of FCE’s spring season
on Garrett’s toe injury likely to shelve him for remainder of FCE’s spring season
on Eddies eliminated from NASL spring-season race; Boakai makes pro debut at 16
on Sinclair is NWSL’s first-ever player of the month
on Eddies eliminated from NASL spring-season race; Boakai makes pro debut at 16
