NEW YORK (Thursday, July 22, 2004) - San Jose Earthquakes forward Brian Ching finished off a spectacular team buildup in the 22nd minute of San Jose's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, July 17 and captured Sierra Mist Goal of the Week honors for the week ending July 18, 2004 (Week 16). The Hawaii native is now in second place on the MLS goal scoring charts with nine tallies (one goal behind Carlos Ruiz's League-leading 10).
The Goal of the Week winner is determined from a selection of finalists through a fan vote conducted on the Sierra Mist Goal of the Week section of Major League Soccer's official web site: www.MLSnet.com (watch the goal here).
Ching's goal (29 percent) narrowly edged out Colorado Rapids midfielder Seth Trembly's long-range blast (22 percent) from the same game against the Quakes and Clint Dempsey's (New England Revolution) header against the Chicago Fire (20 percent). San Jose's Landon Donovan and Chicago's Andy Williams also received votes for their strikes.
The play that led to Ching's goal in the 22nd minute began with San Jose goalkeeper Pat Onstad distributing to Brian Mullan near the right side of midfield. Mullan advanced the ball forward to Landon Donovan, who cut to his left and laid back a pass to Ronnie Ekelund in the center of the field outside the penalty area. Ching, who had continued his cutting run in the box from the right to the center, met a perfectly-weighted through ball from Ekelund near the penalty spot, ripping a left-footed shot past Colorado goalkeeper Joe Cannon and inside the right post.
"It was great combination play from Pat to Brian (Mullan) back to Landon (Donovan) who played another good ball to Ronnie (Ekelund)," said Ching. "Ronnie played me an excellent ball and I just continued my run and had a good finish."
Streaming video highlights and goals from MLS games are available for viewing every weekend on MLSnet.com just hours after the conclusion of the final match of the weekend. The Sierra Mist Goal of the Week winner is announced the following Wednesday.
At the end of the regular season, each of the 29 Goal of the Week winners selected throughout the season will be featured in voting for the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Year, an award presented annually to the author of the season's most spectacular scoring play. The Sierra Mist Goal of the Year award will be presented at the annual Gala Awards ceremony in the days leading up to MLS Cup 2004.
2004 SIERRA MIST GOAL OF THE WEEK WINNERS:
Week 1: Alecko Eskandarian (D.C. United)
Week 2: Ronald Cerritos (D.C. United)
Week 3: Dwayne De Rosario (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 4: Carlos Ruiz (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 5: Joe Franchino (New England Revolution)
Week 6: Cornell Glen (MetroStars)
Week 7: Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)
Week 8: Freddy Adu (D.C. United)
Week 9: John Wolyniec (MetroStars)
Week 10: Damani Ralph (Chicago Fire)
Week 11: Jeff Agoos (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 12: Alecko Eskandarian (D.C. United)
Week 13: Jovan Kirovski (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 14: Alecko Eskandarian (D.C. United)
Week 15: Steve Ralston (New England Revolution)
Week 16: Brian Ching (San Jose Earthquakes)
