Stock Up, Stock Down Week 12: Wondo's record, Pozuelo's red and more

Roman Torres lunges - Seattle Sounders

From one long-time record broken to a record shutout win streak coming to an end, Week 12 in MLS was one for the books. 


Which stocks are rising, which are falling?


Stock up

Chris Wondolowski

Up. All the way up. All-time up. Four goals up.


In case you hadn't heard yet, MLS has a new goal king, thy name Chris Wondolowski. He did it in style, bagging a quartet of goals at Avaya Stadium, his first four of the season. It was his first start since the club's 5-0 loss to LAFC on March 30 and with #WondoWatch now #WondoWatched, he can return to normalcy. It'll be tough for Matias Almeyda to take him out of the lineup after that performance, too. 


Bofo Saucedo

In his second consecutive start, Saucedo was a difference maker for Real Salt Lake. He unleashed a golazo from about 30 yards out then added an assist to lead RSL to a 3-0 win over Toronto FC


With Sam Johnson benched for an off-field issue (more on that in a minute), it was an opportune moment for Saucedo to step up.


Roman Torres

After making just seven starts last season, reports suggested Torres was on his way out of Seattle this offseason. A trade nor transfer never materialized and he started 2019 right where he left off: On the bench. Recently, though, Torres has grasped his chance with both hulking hands. The Sounders are undefeated with just one goal conceded in his last three starts, most recent of which a gritty 0-0 draw on the road against Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union. 


Bonus: Memes


The Atlanta United-New York Red Bulls rivalry yielded another great game on Sunday -- but more importantly for Twitter -- it yielded limitless creative potential from the Kemar Lawrence/Tito Villalba scuffle at the end. The blank canvas of Villalba pretending to hold an MLS Cup trophy in the air as well as Lawrence standing over Villalba yelling is a big-time win for the internet. 


Stock down

Stock Up, Stock Down Week 12: Wondo's record, Pozuelo's red and more - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/bono%20dejected.jpg

Alex Bono (Toronto FC) | USA Today Sports


Alex Bono

Since Bono was called into the USMNT January camp, the first under new head coach Gregg Berhalter, things have not gone particularly well. He was among four players sent home before the USMNT two friendlies and, now, he has found himself on the bench in five of Toronto's last six matches behind Quinten Westberg.


On Monday, the preliminary 40-man USMNT Gold Cup roster was released, with five goalkeepers -- but no room for Bono. 


Alejandro Pozuelo

Life is all about relativity and context. Relatively speaking, Pozuelo's stock is down because there wasn't much room for it to rise. A red card will knock it down a bit, though. 


He, like the rest of TFC, are slumping, winless in their last four. It's no coincidence that Pozuelo has 1g/0a during that time. After a full season with Genk and immediately starting 10 matches for Toronto in a month and a half, the looming suspension-induced rest might not be the worst thing for Pozuelo. 


Sam Johnson

Amid a run of scoring four goals in five games, Johnson decided it was a good time to publicly lament how much more his teammates needed to pass him the ball on May 4.


That rant didn't age well because the Liberian international was benched last weekend for showing up 20 minutes late to a team meeting. He never made it off the bench and with RSL winning 3-0, he might have to wait a bit for a chance to get out of the doghouse.