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Published on April 20, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


Josh Wolff Wins MLS Player of the Week for Week 5

Kansas City Wizards forward Josh Wolff was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 5 of the 2009 season. Wolff scored two goals in the final 12 minutes to give the Kansas City Wizards a 2-2 draw and a vital road point in their match against the Chicago Fire.

Wolff, a Stone Mountain, Ga. native, is a 10-year MLS veteran, splitting time between the Chicago Fire and the Kansas City Wizards. This is Wolff's sixth career Player of the Week award and his first award since Week 27 of the 2006 season. After playing for 1860 Munich in the German Bundesliga from 2006-2008, Wolff returned to MLS and rejoined the Wizards on June 30, 2008. Wolff has appeard 52 times and tallied nine goals for the U.S. men's national team.

The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season 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 information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.

MLS Teams Lend a Helping Hand on Earth Day

With Earth Day coming this Wednesday, April 22, the Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy are among the Major League Soccer teams engaging in environmentally-friendly efforts.

This past Sunday, the Houston Dynamo took on the Colorado Rapids and offered their fans the chance to Grow Green with the Dynamo. The first 3,500 hundred fans in attendance at Robertson Stadium received a Dynamo recycle bin. The Dynamo also offered a Tickets for Trees promotion in which five dollars from every ticket were donated toward planting trees at an elementary school in Houston's East End.

The Los Angeles Galaxy and the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation will do their part when they build a "Reading Garden" at President Avenue Elementary School in Harbor City on Wednesday, April 22. Members of the Galaxy team and staff will join volunteers from local Home Depot stores and staff from The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation in the project. The three-day event begins on Monday, April 20 and a number of Galaxy players will be on hand for the final day of the build, interacting with the students and helping to build planters and plant flowers in the Reading Garden.

Chivas USA Win Again; Columbus and LA remain winless

Missing a total of ten players, Chivas USA employed the fifth different starting lineup in as many games and remained undefeated with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC. Nine Chivas USA players were out with injuries and usual starter Paulo Nagamura served a suspension, but the Red-and-White got an own goal by Seattle and a late tally from rookie Chukwudi Chijindu to achieve a league-high 13 points in the standings. New England and Chicago join Chivas USA as the only unbeaten teams in MLS.

With FC Dallas notching its first victory, 3-2 against Toronto FC, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Columbus Crew are the two remaining teams without a victory. Both clubs have tied three times.

Rookie Spotlight: Chris Pontius D.C. United Forward

Traditionally, few attacking players jump right in as starters in their first MLS season. But D.C. United rookie Chris Pontius has started and played every minute of all five games this season. He scored a goal in his first game, a 2-2 draw at The Home Depot Center against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Pontius has proven himself a key contributor to the United attack working well with 2007 MLS MVP Luciano Emilio and MLS legend Jamie Moreno as D.C. look to return to the MLS Cup playoffs after missing them last year.

To see what life is like for the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and for more details on the transition from college to pro, check out Rookie Life here.

This Week's MLS Games: April 22-26, 2009

Wednesday, April 22

Chivas USA at Toronto FC 7:30 p.m. (DK, MLSnet.com Match Center)

- Chivas USA have the league's best overall record, undefeated in five games after last weekend's top-of-the-table victory over Seattle Sounders FC. Chivas USA travel to face a Toronto FC team that is winless in their last four games after a season-opening victory. Toronto FC have not defeated Chivas USA in four all-time meetings between the teams.

Thursday, April 23

New York Red Bulls at Kansas City Wizards 8:00 p.m. (ESPN2, Deportes)

- This week's ESPN Primetime matchup features two teams coming off buoying results last weekend. The Wizards ran their unbeaten streak to three games as Josh Wolff scored two late goals for a 2-2 tie with Chicago. The Red Bulls won for the first time on the year as Juan Pablo Angel and Macoumba Kandji scored against Real Salt Lake, the first goals scored this season by a New York player.

Saturday, April 25

Chicago Fire at Columbus Crew 7:00 p.m. (FSC, FSE)

- Meeting for the first time since last year's Eastern Conference Championship, a 2-0 win for Columbus, the teams find themselves in different places to start 2009. The Crew are coming off a bye week and are still looking for their first victory on the season (0-2-3). The Fire are unbeaten this season, led by Brian McBride's four goals.

New England Revolution at Real Salt Lake 9:00 p.m. (DK, MLSnet.com Match Center)

- Despite being hit by injuries, the New England Revolution are undefeated on the season as they head to Real Salt Lake, who have won both of their games this season at Rio Tinto Stadium. Since returning to action after missing the first two games, Steve Ralston has sparked the Revolution, scoring a goal and adding an assist. At home, RSL is 2-0 with six goals scored; on the road, Real is 0-2 with no goals scored.

Los Angeles Galaxy at Colorado Rapids 9:30 p.m. (DK, MLSnet.com Match Center)

- The teams meet for the second time this season in league play and third overall. Conor Casey scored a hat trick in a 3-2 Rapids win at The Home Depot Center on April 4, then three days later, Colorado prevented the Galaxy from advancing to the U.S. Open Cup in a penalty shootout. The Rapids are returning back home after a three-game road swing where they went 1-1-1, while the Galaxy are looking for their first victory on the season.

FC Dallas at Chivas USA 10:30 p.m. (DK, MLSnet.com Match Center)

- The weekend meeting at The Home Depot Center will finish off a busy week for both clubs. Chivas USA take their unbeaten record to Toronto FC for a midweek clash, while FC Dallas faces a midweek trip to D.C. United for a U.S. Open Cup play-in match. Kenny Cooper pulled into a tie for the lead in the MLS Golden Boot standings with his third and fourth goals of the season to give FCD their first win on the year, 3-2 vs. Toronto FC on Sunday.

San Jose Earthquakes at Seattle Sounders FC 10:30 p.m. (DK, MLSnet.com Match Center)

- Coming off back-to-back losses, Seattle Sounders FC will once again play in front of a sellout crowd when they host the San Jose Earthquakes. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller should return to action for Sounders FC after sitting out Saturday's loss to Chivas USA through suspension. So far in his MLS career, Keller has played 299 minutes without allowing a goal. The game will be the fourth consecutive sellout of Qwest Field.

Sunday, April 26

D.C. United at New York Red Bulls 3:00 p.m. (Telefutura)

- The long-time rivals meet in the first contest of this year's Atlantic Cup, which D.C. has won in six of the trophy's seven years. MLS Original Jaime Moreno - who also had a brief stint with the New York club - became the first player in MLS history to record 100 goals and 100 assists when he set up the equalizer in Friday's 1-1 tie with New England. The Red Bulls won for the first time on Saturday and got goals from their players for the first time as well, defeating Real Salt Lake 2-0.

Kansas City Wizards at Toronto FC 5:00 p.m. (DK, MLSnet.com Match Center)

- Both teams come off midweek matches. Toronto FC has defeated the Wizards just once in six all-time meetings - that came in their BMO Field encounter on April 26, 2008. Amado Guevara scored both Toronto goals in the second half of a 2-0 win for the home side. Wizards midfielder Claudio Lopez has factored in half his team's goals this season - scoring one and assisting on three.

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 20, 2009


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