FRISCO - FC Dallas forward Abe Thompson was voted as Major League Soccer's Player of the Week after scoring two goals in a 3-1 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday, Oct. 6. With the victory, FC Dallas sealed a playoff berth becoming the fifth team to secure a spot in the MLS postseason. Thompson also scored a goal for FCD earlier in the week in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Championship game. In his third MLS season, he earns his first-ever Player of the Week honor and joins Juan Toja (Week 15) as the second FCD player to win the award in 2007.
On Saturday, Thompson first found the back of the net in the 86th minute with the score knotted at one goal apiece. The former University of Maryland standout capitalized on teammate Ricardinho's diligent effort. After chasing the ball down just before it crossed the endline to the right of goal, Ricardinho sent a low pass to Thompson shielded the ball from Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer and touched the ball into the net from a sharp angle for the 2-1 lead. Just three minutes later Thompson added his fifth goal of the season by following up a hard shot from Arturo Alvarez and converting the rebound.
Thompson has scored five goals and added four assists in starting 13 of the 22 regular season games he has appeared in. He has scored eight goals in all competitions, including two goals in the U.S. Open Cup and one in SuperLiga.
FC Dallas (13-11-4, 43 pts) continues its 2007 season this week on MLS Primetime Thursday on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. CT, when Western Conference leading Chivas USA (15-6-6, 51 pts) travel to Pizza Hut Park for the nationally televised contest.
The Major League Soccer Player of the Week 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)
Week 25: Ante Razov (Chivas USA)
Week 26: Fred (D.C. United)
Week 27: Abe Thompson (FC Dallas)
