Columbus Crew SC Forward Receives Honors for Third Time This Season
Black & Gold forward named MLS Player of the Week after League-leading sixth brace of 2015 campaign last Saturday in the 2-1 win at Philadelphia
Soccer News: Columbus Crew SC forward Kei Kamara was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 28 of the 2015 MLS season. It is the third time this year that he has earned the honor after recording a two-goal performance at Philadelphia on Saturday, September 12. The announcement also marks the fourth time overall in 2015 that a Black & Gold player has earned the national recognition.
Kamara earned the award following his League-leading sixth brace of the 2015 MLS regular-season last Saturday, helping Crew SC to a 2-1 road victory at PPL Park against the Union. The two-goal effort was his sixth of the 2015 regular season and the 12th of his MLS career.
The brace gave the Sierra Leone international 20 goals for the 2015 regular season, a figure that continues to lead the League. Kamara’s 20-goal campaign is just the second in Crew SC history to reach that plateau, joining Stern John‘s 26 tallies in 1998. Additionally, the Crew SC forward’s six braces are two behind John’s eight multi-goal performances in 1998 for the all-time single-season club record.
Kamara becomes the third member of Crew SC to ever capture the MLS Player of the Week award at least three times in a single MLS campaign, joining Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who won it four times in 2008, and Stern John, who was recognized three times in 1998. Kamara’s trio of Player of the Week awards this season join with Ethan Finlay‘s recognition in Week Eight to make this the sixth season that Crew SC has had at least four Player of the Week award winners (1996, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2015).
Additionally, after previously receiving the honor in Weeks 12 and 23, Kamara becomes just the fourth player to win this award three times in 2015, joining Sebastian Giovinco of Toronto FC, who was recognized in Weeks 13, 14 and 19; Robbie Keane of the LA Galaxy, who won in Weeks 18, 20 and 25; and Bradley Wright-Phillips of the New York Red Bulls, who captured it in Weeks 3, 10 and 26.
Crew SC continues two-match road swing with a trip to the Nation’s Capital to face D.C. United in an Eastern Conference clash this weekend on Saturday, September 19. The match kicks-off at 7:00 p.m. ET (Time Warner Cable SportsChannel / CD102.5 FM / La Mega 103.1 FM).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from the NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com.
