USL unveils A-League Player of the Week
Published on August 14, 2002 under A-League (A-League) News Release
TAMPA, FL â United Soccer Leagues announced the A-League Player of the Week for Week 17 today, honoring Minnesota's Johnny Menyongar.
The Liberian International tore up the Indiana Blast last Thursday, leading the Thunder to an 8-0 decision with two goals and three assists. His seven-point night was the second highest single-game performance this season.
The goal barrage began in the 19th minute with a goal by Kilickan. Menyongar narrowly beat the offside trap and rushed down the right sideline into the penalty box. After forcing two defenders to commit, Menyongar touched it back to a wide-open Kilickan who hammered a one-time shot into the left corner.
In the 25th minute, Menyongar gave the Thunder a 3-0 lead when he intercepted an errant Indiana pass and found himself one-on-one with Indiana's goalie. The Thunder's most skilled ball handler easily maneuvered around Spears and slid the ball past the stunned keeper.
In the 36th minute, Schmidt tallied his second goal of the game to push the Thunder lead to 4-0. What became a familiar sight throughout the game, Indiana saw Menyongar streak down the right side and place a crossing pass right on the foot of a Thunder attacker.
Jakob Fenger punctuated the first half explosion in the 42nd minute with the Thunder's fifth goal. Dishing out his third assist of the half, Johnny Menyongar hit a square pass to Fenger, who blasted a left-footed shot into the lower left corner past Indiana's shell-shocked goalkeeper, Mark Spears.
In the 59th minute, Menyongar capped his impressive performance with his second goal of the match off a nice cross from Schulte.
Sounders set to break 100-point barrier
With the regular season championship already in hand, the Seattle Sounders could make history tonight as the first A-League team to reach the 100-point mark since the league abandoned its six-point win system in 1994.
The Sounders, sitting at 21-2-0 and 97 points, take on the El Paso Patriots, who are coming off a poor performance in a 6-1 loss in Portland last night in which Timbers forward McKinley Tennyson became just the second player in the league to tally four goals in a game this season.
The Sounders, 11-0-0 at home this season, won the previous two meetings this year, dropping the Patriots 4-1 in May and edging them in overtime, 1-0, a month ago.
The Minnesota Thunder have come the closest to the 100-point mark, reaching 99 in 2000 before losing their season finale for a 20-4-4 record.
The Sounders are also looking to extend their current winning streak to 12, surpassing the Charleston Battery, who also posted 11 straight victories earlier this season, for sole possession of the third-best win streak in league-history.
The Rochester Raging Rhinos hold the mark for their run of 16 straight regular season victories that spanned the final three games of 1997 and the first 13 of 1998. The Richmond Kickers rattled off 13 straight wins in 2000.
Seattle is also in a chase for the season goals scored record held by the 1999 Vancouver 86ers (now Whitecaps) at 77. The Sounders currently sit tied for ninth all-time at 62 and are on a pace of 2.70 goals per game that would leave them two goals shy of the record but ahead of the second-best mark of 74 set by the 2000 Minnesota Thunder.
In addition to the team marks, several players will be looking to return to the top spot in the scoring races as Tennyson jumped into the top spot in the points (36) and goals (17) categories with last night's performance.
Seattle's Brian Ching, Leighton O'Brien and Darren Sawatzky have been among the league's top scorers in 2002. Ching (35) and O'Brien (29) currently rank second and third, respectively, in points with Ching tied for second in goals with 14 and O'Brien leading the league in assists at 11.
A-League Stories from August 14, 2002
- Kappa USA and Dean's Milk Chug Partner with Blast - Indiana Blast
- USL unveils A-League Player of the Week - A-League
- USL announces A-League Team of the Week - A-League
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