With the conclusion of the Major League Soccer regular season on Sunday, Real Salt Lake forward Jeff Cunningham claimed the Budweiser Golden Boot, awarded to the League's leading goal scorer during the regular season. Cunningham scored 16 goals during the 2006 campaign, two goals ahead of Chivas USA forward Ante Razov and D.C. United midfielder Christian Gomez, who each had 14 goals, and three ahead of FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz (13 goals).
Cunningham, 30, scored 16 goals and recorded 11 assists in 31 games during his ninth MLS season and now has 90 career goals. His 2006 goal total equaled that of his 2002 campaign as a member of the Columbus Crew. During his stellar goal scoring run this season, Cunningham passed Preki (79 goals), Raul Diaz Arce (82 goals) and Roy Lassiter (88 goals) on the MLS all-time goal scoring charts and now has the fourth highest goal total behind only Jason Kreis (108), Jaime Moreno (105) and Razov (98).
After spending one season with the Colorado Rapids, Cunningham was traded to Real Salt Lake for forward Clint Mathis and had his most productive season in MLS. He had career highs in games played (31), games started (26) and minutes played (2,404).
Cunningham earned MLS Player of the Week honors four times during the 2006 season and was Player of the Month in August. Real Salt Lake finished the 2006 season with a 10-13-9 record and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year, but the team recorded five more wins and earned 21 more points than in 2005 when they finished with a 5-22-6 record.
Top Goal Scorers in Each Season:
2006: 16 goals - Jeff Cunningham (Real Salt Lake)
2005: 17 goals - Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
2004: 12 goals - Eddie Johnson (Dallas Burn); Brian Ching (San Jose Earthquakes)
2003: 15 goals - Carlos Ruiz (Los Angeles Galaxy); Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
2002: 24 goals - Carlos Ruiz (Los Angeles Galaxy)
2001: 19 goals - Alex Pineda Chacon (Miami Fusion)
2000: 26 goals - Mamadou Diallo (Tampa Bay Mutiny)
1999: 18 goals - Stern John (Columbus Crew); Roy Lassiter (D.C. United); Jason Kreis (Dallas Burn)
1998: 26 goals - Stern John (Columbus Crew)
1997: 16 goals - Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)
1996: 27 goals - Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay Mutiny)
