Los Angeles Galaxy forward Alejandro Moreno has been selected as Major League Soccer's Honda Player of the Month for the month of May by the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA). The 24-year old scored five goals and added two assists in the Galaxy’s six contests, catapulting to second place on the Budweiser MLS scoring chart while splitting his time as a starter and reserve in helping lead the Galaxy to 3-2-1 record in May.
Moreno kicked off the month in grand style when he scored his first goal of the season during injury time of a 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution on May 1, a match in which he came on as a substitute for the final 15 minutes. Two weeks later, Moreno was forced into the game early after MLS’ leading scorer Carlos Ruiz went down with an injury at home against Colorado. The Venezuelan international gave the Galaxy a temporary lead with his second goal of 2004 in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie.
Moreno answered any questions about how the Galaxy attack would handle the absence of injured star Ruiz when on May 19 he recorded three first-half goals in a span of eight minutes during the Galaxy’s convincing 4-1 win at D.C. United. The hat trick was the second fastest in League history and earned Moreno the Honda MLS Player of the Week award. In addition, the three goals came on three straight shots for Moreno and made it a total of five goals on five consecutive shots, the first player in MLS history to achieve the feat.
The graduate of UNC-Greensboro capped the month with assists in consecutive games on May 22 at San Jose and May 29 versus the Dallas Burn. Moreno, who has five goals and two assists in 2004, registered career highs in goals (6) and assists (2) last year.
The third-year player, who became the second Galaxy player to capture Player of the Month honors, narrowly edged out Columbus Crew goalkeeper Jon Busch, who led his team to an undefeated month (3-0-2) and San Jose Earthquakes forward Brian Ching, who registered four goals during May. The monthly winner is selected by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).
2004 PLAYER OF THE MONTH WINNERS:
