After his hat trick Saturday, forward Clint Dempsey of the Sounders is Major League Soccer’s player of the week, as voted by national writers. Seattle’s wild, 4-4 draw with the Timbers at Providence Stadium in Portland was due largely to Dempsey’s first hat trick in his MLS career and the first three-goal performance in the league this season.
Dempsey leveled the match 2-2 with his first goal in the 24th minute when he collected a pass from Obafemi Martins and scored from the center of the box. Trailing 4-2 in the 85th minute, Dempsey again collected a pass from Martins in the box and slotted it into the net for his second goal.
Dempsey in the 87th minute converted a penalty kick to tie the game, completing Seattle’s comeback road draw in the opening match of the 2014 Cascadia Cup.
The award marks the first for a Sounders player this season and the first since Martins in Week 29 last year.
The Sounders (2-2-1) play at Western Conference-leading FC Dallas (4-0-1) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2183038 https://sportspressnw.wpengine.com/?p=2183038">1 Comment
Well earned. Last year this match would have been a loss and if it wasn’t for Clint it would have been. He and Martins seem to be starting to become familiar with each other.