Columbus Crew Defender Chad Marshall Voted Mls Player Of The Month For August
September 2, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NEW YORK (Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009) - Columbus Crew defender Chad Marshall was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for August, after helping the Eastern Conference leaders to a 3-1-0 record during the month. Marshall played every minute of the Crew's four regular season games, anchored the squad for three shutouts, scored two game-winning goals, and had one assist. The Crew sit alone atop the Conference standings with a 10-4-9 record for 39 points. Marshall beat out New England's Shalrie Joseph and Colorado's Omar Cummings, who finished second and third in voting.
Marshall has had perhaps the busiest summer of his career and capped it off with the August Player of the Month award. He represented the U.S. in the Gold Cup in July and began the month of August by anchoring the Crew's defense to a 1-0 shutout victory while scoring the lone goal against the Colorado Rapids Aug. 1.
The Crew earned another hard-fought victory on the road versus the San Jose Earthquakes Aug. 8, with Marshall playing all 90 minutes of the 3-0 shutout. Marshall again factored in both sides of the score line Aug. 15 when the Crew defeated FC Dallas 3-0 at home. His goal in the 10th minute put the Crew up 1-0 and an Eddie Gaven insurance goal in the 87th minute, coming off an assist from Marshall, sealed the victory.
The Crew lost their final League game of the month, 1-0 away to the New York Red Bulls. The loss came after two CONCACAF Champions League matches the previous week in which Marshall played. The Crew's three League victories put them in prime position to advance to the MLS Cup Playoffs and they are in contention to retain the Supporters' Shield trophy they won last year.
Marshall, a six-year MLS veteran, is validating a 2008 campaign in which he earned MLS Defender of the Year and Best XI honors. The 6-foot, 4-inch defender was named to the 2009 MLS All-Star team and was selected as the MLS Player of the Week in Week 22 of the regular season. This is Marshall's first MLS Player of the Month award. He has started 17 games, and has scored four goals, which matches his career high set last season in 29 regular season games. Marshall and the Crew are back in action on Sunday, Sept. 13 when they host the Western Conference leading Houston Dynamo at 5 p.m. ET at Columbus Crew Stadium (ONN-TV, DK, Match Center).
The Major League Soccer Player of the Month is selected following the last regular season game of each month by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership guidelines can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.
2009 MLS Player of the Month Awards
March: Fredy Montero - Seattle Sounders FC
April: Brian McBride - Chicago Fire
May: Conor Casey - Colorado Rapids
June: Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
July: Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
August: Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
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Major League Soccer Stories from September 2, 2009
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