Major League Soccer announced today United's Ben Olsen has been named MLS Player of the Week following his two-goal performance against FC Dallas on Saturday. The midfielder scored two first half goals, as United stormed to a 4-0 victory over its Western Conference foe. It is the second time this year Olsen has earned the weekly honor. He previously won following his first career hat trick in United's 4-2 win over the New York Red Bulls on June 10.
Olsen's first goal on Saturday came in the fourth minute after Clyde Simms won a header in the midfield. The ball fell into the path of Olsen who took one touch to control and hammered a shot from nearly 40 yards that skipped through the defense and found the back of the net. His second goal game in second half stoppage time after Marc Burch whipped a bending ball into the box that found Luciano Emilio. Emilio's first-time shot was pushed aside by Dallas' Dario Sala, but Olsen was there for the rebound and snuck the ball past the helpless goalkeeper.
Olsen's award is the fifth time this season a United player has been named Player of the Week. In addition to Olsen's two honors, Luciano Emilio has been honored twice (Week 11 and Week 18) and Nicholas Addlery once (Week 13). It is the third time United has won five Player of the Week awards in one season. The team also had five winners in 2004 and last year had six players named Player of the Week.
Olsen has been with United since 1998, when he won the MLS Rookie of the Year award. The 30-year-old's 193 appearances and 13 game-winning goals each rank second all-time in United history, while his 45 assists are third most. A member of two MLS Cup championship teams ('99 & '04) and the 1998 squad that won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and InterAmerican Cup, Olsen has been named to the MLS All-Star team twice ('98 & '99). Prior to this year, Olsen won the Player of the Week award for his Week 4 performance during the 2000 season.
United's win over Dallas vaulted the club into a first place tie with the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference. Each team has 42 points, but the Revolution has played one more game than D.C. The two teams face off on Sunday at RFK Stadium at 3 p.m. ET (Telefutura, tape delayed on Comcast SportsNet), following United's Thursday visit to Chivas USA (10:30 p.m. ET ESPN2).
