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May 18, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


Wizards Forward Josh Wolff Wins MLS Player of the Week for Week 9

Kansas City Wizards forward Josh Wolff was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 9 of the 2009 season. Wolff scored two goals to help Kansas City snap a three-game winless streak. The Wizards (4-4-2) handed Real Salt Lake (3-5-1) their first loss at Rio Tinto Stadium this season.

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 seventh career Player of the Week award and his second award this season. Wolff has scored 68 goals in 185 career MLS games. The long-time U.S. National Team member has been capped 52 times and tallied nine goals for the U.S.

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/.

The Final 15

The final 15 minutes can prove crucial to any game. This season 45 goals have been scored in the Final 15 minutes, which is nine more than the closest interval, with 36 goals being scored in the 46-60th minutes. Last year the Los Angeles Galaxy led the League with 15 goals in the final 15 minutes of a match and FC Dallas and Chivas USA ranked second with 12 goals in the final interval. D.C. United and the Los Angeles Galaxy already have tallied seven goals in the final 15 minutes after only playing 10 and nine games respectively. Kansas City sits in second place with six late goals including two from Josh Wolff in the Kansas City Wizards come from behind tie at Toyota Park in Week 4. This past weekend saw six of the 16 goals scored come in the waning minutes.

On the flip side of D.C. and LA's late game heroics, Toronto FC and Columbus have both allowed teams to celebrate late, allowing six goals apiece in the final 15.

Conference Races Begin To Take Shape - Fire Remain Only Unbeaten Team

After five straight draws, the Fire used Chris Rolfe's 32nd goal in a Chicago Fire uniform, second all-time for a Chicago Fire Player (Ante Razov - 76), to defeat Toronto FC (3-3-4, 13 points) 2-0. The Chicago Fire (3-0-6, 15 points) remain the only unbeaten team in the League, and sit atop the Eastern Conference earning their first victory since a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on April 5.

D.C. United (3-1-6, 15 points) used two goals in the final 15 minutes from Luciano Emilio and Santino Quaranta to earn a hard fought draw on the road against League leaders Chivas USA (7-1-2, 23 points). The tie put United in a tie for first place, on points, in the Eastern Conference. The late game heroics by United mark the fourth time this season that D.C. has scored the tying or winning goal in the final five minutes of a game to secure a positive result.

The Houston Dynamo (3-2-3, 12 points) and Colorado Rapids (3-2-3, 12 points) are rounding into form and hope to make a run at Chivas USA for first place in the Western Conference. The Dynamo are riding a five-game unbeaten streak and went on the road to earn a tough draw in New York, while the Rapids went into New England and grabbed a road point with a 1-1 draw in a match that saw Conor Casey tally his fifth goal of the season.

Budweiser Golden Boot Watch - Wolff & McBride On the Mark

Nearly a third of the way into League play, here is a look at the current leaders in Budweiser Golden Boot race. Brian McBride has six goals in nine games for the Chicago Fire. Dating back to 1996 McBride has only scored more than six goals three times in his nine MLS seasons. His most prolific scoring season was in 1996, the League's inaugural season and his rookie year with the Columbus Crew, when he notched 17 goals and finished fifth in the goal-scoring race.

Josh Wolff is tied with McBride at the top with six goals to his credit. Wolff has scored 10 goals in three MLS seasons (999, 2004 and 2005). The 10-year MLS veteran is on pace this season to climb over the 10-goal mark.

Tied with five goals heading into Week 10 are a select group of MLS stars and two young forwards looking to make an impression. Landon Donovan, the 2008 Budweiser Golden Boot Award winner (20 goals) has scored five and had a hand in all but two of the Los Angeles Galaxy goals this season. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, the 2008 MLS MVP, is hoping to put the Crew's slow start behind them by scoring goals in the same fashion he set them up in 2008 (19 assists). The 2007 Budweiser Golden Boot Award winner and MLS MVP Luciano Emilio has regained the form that took the MLS by storm in 2007.

Rounding out the list are two young forwards who score in droves, both having scored a hat trick this season. Robbie Findley's is one goal away from tying a career best and Conor Casey is continuing his impressive form up front as the Rapids target forward, each with five goals in nine and eight games played respectively.

MLS Quotes of the Week

Galaxy's Eddie Lewis' thoughts about his second half added-time goal, which tied the game 1-1 and allowed the Galaxy's 7-game unbeaten streak to continue:

"... Really, the biggest challenge was making sure I didn't get over anxious and just let it fall in. It was one of those, as soon as they leave your feet you just know right away."

Houston Dynamo's Chris Wondolowski learning he scored MLS's 7,000th goal:

"I'll take that, that's awesome. I did not know that. That's really cool. I guess I made my way into the record book."

Previewing Week 10: May 23-24, 2009

Saturday, May 23

New England Revolution at Toronto FC, 4 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- Toronto FC can put some separation between themselves and the New England Revolution, their next closest pursuers in the Eastern Conference, when the teams meet at BMO Field. TFC saw its four-game League unbeaten streak (and six games in all competitions) put to an end in a rare home loss last weekend; the Revolution haven't won since the first week in April. The Revolution's new-look strike pair of Steve Ralston and Shalrie Joseph -- who have traditionally been midfielders during their MLS careers -- have each scored for New England over the last two weeks.

Real Salt Lake at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- D.C. United have proven to be the "cardiac kids" in MLS this year, coming back to get three ties and a victory in the final five minutes of games this season, including last weekend's 2-2 draw with Chivas USA in a meeting of conference leaders. They take on a Real Salt Lake side that will be coming to RFK Stadium looking for its first win -- and goal -- on the road this season. RSL is on a four-game winless streak after losing for the first time in regular season play at their new Rio Tinto Stadium home.

Chivas USA at Kansas City Wizards, 8:30 p.m. (FSC, FSE)

- Josh Wolff has thrown off the years in the past few weeks, scoring four goals in the last three games to move into a tie for the league goal scoring lead. He'll lead the Wizards as they take on MLS overall leader Chivas USA at CommunityAmerica Ballpark; while the Red-and-White saw their winning and shutout streaks snapped last weekend in a 2-2 tie with D.C. United, they have still lost just once on the season. Charged with stopping the 32-year-old Wolff will be 35-year-old Zach Thornton, who leads MLS with six shutouts this year.

Los Angeles Galaxy at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- Two of the four remaining teams with just one win thus far will both look to climb into view of the playoff line. Both got spectacular tying goals last week - one from FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha, the other from Galaxy midfielder Eddie Lewis. Center back Jason Hernandez may return from injury to bolster the San Jose defense while LA's Landon Donovan (5 goals) will look to keep pace with Budweiser Golden Boot leaders Brian McBride (Chicago) and Josh Wolff (Kansas City), both with six goals.

San Jose Earthquakes at Houston Dynamo, 8:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- On March 28, a wild stretch of five goals in a 14-minute span lifted the Earthquakes to a 3-2 victory and a 2-1-1 edge in the always-spirited series between these forever linked clubs. Cam Weaver scored the game-winner just before halftime. Last October, Houston essentially ended San Jose's playoff hopes when Stuart Holden's stoppage time tally - his second of the game - lifted the 10-man Dynamo to a 2-1 victory. That was the Earthquakes' only previous visit to Robertson Stadium.

Seattle Sounders FC at Colorado Rapids, 9:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- The first meeting between these Western Conference adversaries will feature Swedish star Freddie Ljungberg's lone trip to Colorado in this regular season. Unbeaten at home (2-0-1), the Rapids could pull even with Sounders FC in the standings with a win. Colorado native James Riley returns for Seattle after serving a red card suspension. Conor Casey leads the Rapids attack with five goals and one assist in eight games.

Sunday, May 24

Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls, 3:00 p.m. (TeleFutura)

- The undefeated Chicago Fire sit atop the standings, while the New York Red Bulls are at the bottom with just six points separating these two sides in a tight Eastern Conference race. Mexican midfield magician Cuauhtémoc Blanco - who enjoyed a recall to his national team last week - and teammates Brian McBride and Marco Pappa won't find New York a pushover. The resurgent Red Bulls, led by Colombian standout Juan Pablo Angel, are unbeaten in two and rebounding from a treacherous start thanks to breakout performances from Macoumba Kandji and former FC Barcelona and Real Madrid star Albert Celades.

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