Kansas City Wizards forward Scott Sealy has been named MLS Player of the Week for week 24 following a two-goal performance in a 3-2 win against the Columbus Crew Saturday that included a picturesque free-kick goal and the game-winner in the 4th minute of second-half stoppage time.
"It's always a good feeling to be recognized," Sealy said of the honor. "The most important thing is that we won the game and gave our home fans a lot to cheer about."
Sealy's first goal came in the 31st minute to put Kansas City ahead 1-0 on a play he created and finished. Sealy was fouled outside the 18-yard area and then stood over the ball with defender Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. Both players started their approach, with Burciaga stopping and Sealy bending a right-footed blast over the wall and into the upper-left corner past leaping former Wizards goalkeeper Will Hesmer for his 3rd goal of the season. The blast is currently leading MLSnet.com fan voting for Sierra Mist Goal of the Week.
Sealy then provided the game-winner to cap a historic Wizards comeback in minute 94+. Sasha Victorine played the ball out of the back, finding Eddie Johnson with his back to goal 25 yards out. He turned, then spun the ball wide for streaking midfielder Eloy Colombano before Johnson and Sealy continued their runs toward goal. Colombano took a touch then served in a hard, right-footed cross for Sealy at the near post. The Trinidad and Tobago international hit a snap header past Hesmer from 6 yards out for his second goal of the match and first-game winner of the season. The Wizards became just the third team in MLS history to erase a stoppage-time deficit to win a match.
Sealy has now won the award twice during his three-year MLS career, the first came in week 12 of last season after a two-goal performance against the Chicago Fire. The Wizards have now won four Player of the Week awards this season. Sealy's strike partner Eddie Johnson captured the first three (Weeks 2,8 and 9). Johnson is one of two players to have won the award three different times this season. Kansas City's four Player of the Week awards put them behind only D.C. United (6) for most player of the week awards in 2007.
Thirteen different players have won Player of the Week awards in Wizards history (28 total awards). Sealy is the seventh player to win the award more than once and the fifth player to win the award more than once in a season. The Wizards have matched their total for Player of the Week Awards won in 2006. The team record for most awards in a season is five, set in 2003.
The Major League Soccer Player of the Week award is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).
2007 Player of the Week Winners
Week 1: Jeff Cunningham (Real Salt Lake)
Week 2: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 3: Maykel Galindo (Chivas USA)
Week 4: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 5: Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo)
Week 6: Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
Week 7: Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls)
Week 8: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 9: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 10: Ben Olsen (D.C. United)
Week 11: Luciano Emilio (D.C. United)
Week 12: Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo)
Week 13: Nicholas Addlery (D.C. United)
Week 14: Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo)
Week 15: Juan Toja (FC Dallas)
Week 16: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew)
Week 17: Ante Razov (Chivas USA)
Week 18: Luciano Emilio (D.C. United)
Week 19: Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls)
Week 20: Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls)
Week 21: Maykel Galindo (Chivas USA)
Week 22: Ben Olsen (D.C. United)
Week 23: Luciano Emilio (D.C. United)
Week 24: Scott Sealy (Kansas City Wizards)
2007 Total Team Player of the Week Awards
# -- TEAM (Players)
6 -- D.C. United (Luciano Emilio 3, Ben Olsen 2, Nicholas Addlery 1)
4 -- Kansas City Wizards (Eddie Johnson 3, Scott Sealy 1)
3 -- Chivas USA (Maykel Galindo 2, Ante Razov 1)
3 -- Houston Dynamo (Dwayne De Rosario 1, Brad Davis 1, Stuart Holden 1)
3 -- New York Red Bulls (Juan Pablo Angel 2, Josmer Altidore 1)
1 -- Columbus Crew (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 1)
1 -- FC Dallas (Juan Toja 1)
1 -- Los Angeles Galaxy (Landon Donovan 1)
1 -- New England Revolution (Taylor Twellman 1)
1 -- Real Salt Lake (Jeff Cunningham 1)
Kansas City Wizards All-Time Player of the Week Winners (28)
1996- Preki (Week 8), Mark Chung (Week 12)
1997- Preki (Weeks 12 & 14)
1998- Vitalis Takawira (Week 10)
1999- Chris Klein (Week 19)
2000- Peter Vermes (Week 10), Tony Meola (Week 15)
2001- Chris Klein (Week 2), Chris Brown (Week 3)
2002- Chris Klein (Week 4), Tony Meola (Week 21)
2003- Chris Klein (Weeks 2 & 27), Preki (Weeks 9 & 12), Igor Simutenkov (Week 15)
2004- Davy Arnaud (Week 14)
2005- Josh Wolff (Weeks 7 & 20)
2006- Scott Sealy (Week 12), Davy Arnaud (Week 24), Josh Wolff (Week 27), Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. (Week 28)
2007- Eddie Johnson (Weeks 2, 8 & 9), Scott Sealy (Week 24)