Over 210 minutes in goal last week, Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia made 13 saves (plus two more in a penalty shootout) while conceding just one goal between Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final victory over the Philadelphia Union and Saturday’s 1-0 victory away to the Portland Timbers in league play.
[ FOLLOW: All of PST’s MLS coverage | Standings | Stats | Schedule ]
Melia was supposed to be the backup in Kansas City, with Chilean World Cup veteran Luis Marin the new no. 1, finally bringing stability to the position 15 months after the retirement of Jimmy Nielsen. Instead, Marin was gone after three months and Melia, an MLS pool goalkeeper in 2014, was thrust into the starter’s role.
[ MORE: Week 31 Team of the Week — Who joins Melia this week? ]
Since making his first start on May 3, Melia has put together nine clean sheets in all competitions (eight in league play) and started all five of Sporting KC’s Open Cup games en route to the 2015 title. On Saturday, Melia did again to the Timbers what he’s done once already this season: put in a man-of-the-match performance to keep the unlikeliest of clean sheets. For his heroics Saturday night, Tim Melia is this week’s MLS Player of the Week.
MLS Players of the Week
Week 1: Tyler Deric, Houston Dynamo
Week 2: Chris Wondolowski, San Jose Earthquakes
Week 3: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls
Week 4: Kaka, Orlando City SC
Week 5: Harrison Shipp, Chicago Fire
Week 6: Jaime Penedo, LA Galaxy
Week 7: Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas
Week 8: Ethan Finlay, Columbus Crew SC
Week 9: Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas
Week 10: Mauro Diaz, FC Dallas
Week 11: Chad Barrett, Seattle Sounders
Week 12: Kei Kamara, Columbus Crew SC
Week 13: Krisztian Nemeth, Sporting Kansas City
Week 14: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC
Week 15: David Villa, New York City FC
Week 16: Matias Perez Garcia, San Jose Earthquakes
Week 17: Darlington Nagbe, Portland Timbers
Week 18: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC
Week 21: Cyle Larin, Orlando City SC
Week 23: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC
Week 24: Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy
Week 25: Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy
Week 26: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls
Week 27: Didier Drogba, Montreal Impact
Week 28: Kei Kamara, Columbus Crew SC
Week 29: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC
Week 30: Cyle Larin, Orlando City SC