Was there ever a choice? Keller wins MLS Player of the Week By Steven Sandor Posted on October 17, 2011 Comments Off on Was there ever a choice? Keller wins MLS Player of the Week 0 717 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Kasey Keller PHOTO: NOELLE NOBLE The Seattle Sounders opened up the upper tier of seats at CenturyLink Field so that more than 64,000 fans could bid farewell to goalkeeper Kasey Keller, as he played in his final regular-season home game. But the American keeper, who is hanging ‘em up at the end of the season, didn’t have too much time to revel in the adulation of the crowd. He was too busy saving the Sounders’ butts. Keller made a series of ridiculous saves as Seattle beat San Jose 2-1 over the weekend — and his performance earned him the Player of the Week award from the North American Soccer Reporters. Keller made a series of ridiculous saves in the 65th minute as the Quakes’ looked to improve on their 1-0 advantage. After challenging the first shooter, Keller was well out of position to stop a rebound. But he scrambled around the box as if he was a twentysomething, not fortysomething, player — denying a series of chances as the ball pinged around the box. How The 11 voted: Was there a choice? Really? Yes, the fact that Seattle sports fans went en masse to the stadium to fete Keller is one thing, but the keeper didn’t freeze in the spotlight. Throw away the fan turnout, the hoopla surrounding the game. The truth is that Keller made seven saves in the game, many of them from point-blank range. He bailed out a Seattle team that in no way deserved three points from its match with San Jose. And that’s why he got the vote — and most of the other votes, too.
