DALLAS - Major League Soccer announced today that FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz has been named the Honda MLS Player of the Month of May as voted on by the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA). Ruiz scored in four of the five matches during FC Dallas' five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) in May, leading his team to first place in the Western Conference (6-1-3 for 21 points).
Ruiz, 25, is the first player from Dallas to take home the honor since goalkeeper Matt Jordan accomplished it in August of 1999. This is the fifth Player of the Month award for Ruiz over his career (four with Los Angeles), which is an all-time MLS high. Among league leaders in 2005, he ranks first in goals (7), first in shots (35), tied for second in game-winning goals (3) and tied for third in shots on goal (16).
In the five matches during the month of May, Ruiz recorded five goals with two game-winners and one game-tying goal. He earned Honda MLS Player of the Week honors for week nine and scored the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Week with his full bike on May 28 @ DC United. With his back to the goal, Ruiz lifted and struck a bicycle kick from 12 yards out past the goalkeeper in the 49th minute after receiving a nice chipping pass from Roberto Mina. In that May 28th match, Ruiz scored two goals, the second coming in a penalty kick, for his 13th MLS multi-goal game.
Over his three-plus seasons in MLS, nobody has scored more then Ruiz. In 82 matches from 2002-2005, he has tallied 57 goals. The Guatemala City, Guatemala native led the league in goals in 2002 (24), tied for first in 2003 (15) and tied for third in 2004 (11).
Overall this season, Ruiz has collected an assist or goal in seven of the team's 10 total matches and the three games in which he has failed to register a goal or an assist, the team has been shutout. When he posts a goal or an assist, FC Dallas is 6-0-1. Of his seven goals this season, four of them have broken a tie and one has tied the game.
FC Dallas (6-1-3 for 21 points) currently sits in first place in the Western Conference and is off to their best start in team history after 10 matches, despite playing seven of those 10 games on the road. They will travel to Real Salt Lake this Saturday, June 4 (9 p.m. CST) in a match that will follow the U.S. and Costa Rica World Cup Qualifier. It will be the third match of four straight on the road for the club from May 22 - June 12.
