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De Ro a deserving winner
D.C. United midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was voted MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 21 after he registered a hat trick in a wild 3-3 draw against his former team, Toronto FC, at RFK Stadium.
De Rosario has won the award in consecutive weeks – the first player to do so since Kenny Cooper, then with FC Dallas, did so for Weeks 18 and 19 of the 2008 season. The LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan also won consecutive Player of the Week awards, for Weeks 4 and 5 of 2008.
De Rosario put his team ahead in the 19th minute with a powerful long-range effort that over-powered Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei’s hands on its way to the top corner of the goal. Early in the second half, after Toronto had equalized, De Rosario put United ahead again by taking advantage of a missed clearance to coolly finish past Frei.
Toronto then scored twice to take a 3-2 lead, but in the 88th minute, D.C. midfielder Austin da Luz was fouled while chasing a rebound in front of goal. De Rosario converted the ensuing penalty kick to tie the game and complete his hat trick.
De Rosario has been on a great run since joining D.C. United in June from the New York Red Bulls, scoring six goals in six games for the club. The six-time MLS All-Star has been especially dangerous against three of his former teams, scoring in each of the contests against Toronto, San Jose, and New York.
De Rosario’s nine goals this season have him tied for fourth in MLS with FC Dallas’ Brek Shea.
CSN Vote: De Ro. The fact that his scored thrice against the team that brought him home as the face of the franchise only made it more bittersweet.
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