For the second straight week, Sounders FC forward Clint Dempsey has been named Major League Soccer’s Player of the Week and headlines the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week. The U.S. National Team captain had two goals in Seattle’s 3-2 road win over previously-unbeaten FC Dallas on Saturday, giving him five goals in his last two matches. In addition, Head Coach Sigi Schmid was named to Team of the Week for the first time this season.
Dempsey scored on a first-half free kick to equalize the match, then added the game-winner late in the second half to run his total to a league-leading six goals in just four matches. Schmid, meanwhile, used his sixth different starting lineup this season to navigate his squad past FC Dallas.
Dempsey and Schmid were joined on Team of the Week by goalkeeper Jaime Penedo (LA Galaxy); defenders Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Andrew Farrell (New England Revolution) and Mark Bloom (Toronto FC); midfielders Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake), Federico Higuain (Columbus Crew), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers) and Vincent Nogueira (Philadelphia Union); and forward Robbie Keane.
Sounders FC’s representatives on Team of the Week have been:
Week 1: DeAndre Yedlin.
Week 3: Djimi Traore.
Week 5: Clint Dempsey.
Week 6: Clint Dempsey, Sigi Schmid.
LOAN WATCH
David Estrada played his first match with the Atlanta Silverbacks on Sunday, playing 90 minutes in a 4-0 loss to the New York Cosmos. Estrada went on loan from Sounders FC to the 2013 NASL runner-up on April 3. On the other side, another Sounders FC loanee, Jimmy Ockford, was on the bench for the Cosmos, but didn’t see action in the match, a rematch of last year’s NASL Championship match.
Atlanta will host the San Antonio Scorpions on Saturday while New York will face FC Edmonton.
Meanwhile, Eriq Zavaleta has started four matches at center back for Chivas USA while on loan from Seattle. The 2013 first-round SuperDraft pick will not be eligible in Saturday’s match between Chivas and Seattle because it is prohibited in the rules of loans between two MLS clubs.
GOING STREAKING
Sounders FC’s 3-2 win over FC Dallas on Saturday extended its April unbeaten streak to 12 matches dating back to April 2, 2011. In that stretch of April matches, Seattle is 7-0-5.
