NEW YORK - New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman was selected as the Honda MLS Player of the Week for Week 16 which ended on Sunday, July 17. Twellman completed his second career hat trick with two goals in the final minutes of the Revs come-from-behind 3-2 win over FC Dallas on Saturday in Gillette Stadium. With the three goals, Twellman moves into a tie atop the goal scoring charts with nine on the season (Jeff Cunningham, Colorado). This is Twellman's fourth career Player of the Week award (Week 8 - 2002; Week 25 - 2002; Week 7 - 2003).
After FC Dallas took the lead with a goal only seven minutes in, Twellman combined with teammate Pat Noonan to temporarily even the score right before the halftime break. In the 44th minute, Noonan beat his defender on the left side of the box and sent a pass into the top of the small area where Twellman was able to easily head it past goalkeeper Scott Garlick. The tie only last for two minutes, as Ronnie O'Brien put Dallas ahead in first half injury time.
Dallas missed an opportunity to put the game away in the 89th minute, which opened the door for Twellman to give his team the three points. In the 90th minute, Twellman lifted a ball over Garlick after a defensive miscue and Clint Dempsey was able to head the ball towards goal. Twellman followed the ball and directed it past defender Clarence Goodson for the game-tying goal.
In stoppage time, Shalrie Joseph saw a wide-open Twellman in the center of the box and sent him an early cross that Twellman easily side-footed past Garlick to seal an improbable 3-2 victory for the home side.
Last week, MLS Commissioner Don Garber chose Twellman as one of two Commissioner's picks to play in the 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game on Saturday, July 30 against Fulham FC in Columbus Crew Stadium (3:30 p.m. ET live on ABC Sports).
D.C. United forward Christian Gomez and Los Angeles Galaxy forward Herculez Gomez also received consideration for the weekly award. The Honda Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected every week throughout the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).
2005 PLAYER OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Week 1: Edson Buddle (Columbus Crew)
Week 2: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 3: Jon Busch (Columbus Crew)
Week 4: Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution)
Week 5: Amado Guevara (MetroStars)
Week 6: Freddy Adu (D.C. United)
Week 7: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 8: Ronnie O'Brien (FC Dallas)
Week 9: Carlos Ruiz (FC Dallas)
Week 10: Nate Jaqua (Chicago Fire)
Week 11: Zach Wells (MetroStars)
Week 12: Jeff Cunningham (Colorado Rapids)
Week 13: Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)
Week 14: Joe Cannon (Colorado Rapids)
Week 15: Matt Taylor (Chivas USA)
Week 16: Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
