The man who scored regular-season MLS goal No. 10,000 is happy to be part of history.
When left fullback Jordan Harvey banged home a goal on Wednesday to kickstart a Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 comeback win over Chivas USA – his strike leveled the game at 1-1 – that feeling was good enough.
The next day, that feeling got a whole lot better as he got the word his goal had a bit of extra historical significance.
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“I got a call from our media guy saying that MLS had called in and told him that my goal was the 10,000th goal,” Harvey told MLSsoccer.com by phone on Friday while on a family trip in Florida. “The timing’s right. I didn’t know that MLS was reaching that milestone … so it’s really cool. I don’t score many goals, and it’s been kind of a crazy run right now.”
Indeed, Harvey probably ranks among the most unlikely regular starters to hit the milestone, as he has just five goals in his 137 Major League Soccer appearances.
But a bizarre thing has been happening lately for the Orange County, Calif., native, as he keeps popping up in the final third to score for the Whitecaps. Harvey’s goal on Wednesday marked his third in his last four appearances.
“I’ve been really excited about this strange run as a defender getting three goals in four games,” the 29-year-old said. “And, then that goal makes it even sweeter. It’s really cool.”
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Given the league’s first goal was scored by Eric Wynalda, Harvey is thrilled to have his name mentioned in the same breath as the former US national team star.
“It’s a cool bit of history,” Harvey said. “I was looking at the names on that list [of scorers of each 1,000 MLS goals] … it’s really cool to be in the record books and with names I’ve looked up to my whole career.
“It makes that goal a little sweeter now.”
Martin MacMahon covers the Vancouver Whitecaps for MLSsoccer.com.
