When Omar Cummings unleashed a 30-yard frozen rope strike into the upper corner of the goal in front of Red Bull Arena’s South Ward on Sept. 11, you probably could have seen this coming. But now it’s official: Cummings is the MLS Player of the Month for September.
That strike won him Goal of the Week honors, and was one of six that he netted for the Colorado Rapids’ this month. Not bad for a player who missed one of his club’s five September tilts. The 28-year-old Jamaican missed out on last Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Cup draw against Real Salt Lake to rest his sprained left ankle.
It was rest well earned. In addition to four matches this month for the Rapids, Cummings made the trip down to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to join the Jamaican national team for their match against Peru on Sept. 7, three days after he scored a brace against Chivas USA. Though international competitions aren't taken into account for the Player of the Month voting, Cummings thrived for the Reggae Boyz too, scoring his team's lone goal in Jamaica's 2-1 loss.
Four days later, Cummings was in New York to put his rocket of a goal past a diving Bouna Coundoul, giving him four goals in September’s first three matches overall. An impressive haul, but for good measure he notched a goal against the New England Revolution and a brace against the Philadelphia Union (as well as an assist against the Revs) to cement the honor with 38 percent of the vote.
Real Salt Lake's Nat Borchers and New York's Dane Richards tied for second with 15 percent of the vote.
2010 MLS Player of the Month Winners
April: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)
May: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)
June: Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
July: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders)
August: Kevin Hartman (FC Dallas)
September: Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids)
