Major League Soccer announced today the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi for Matchday 22 of the regular season with Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp and midfielder Erik Thommy honored as two of the top 11 players in the league following the team's 2-1 road win in Colorado.
Pulskamp, who leads MLS with 75 saves this season, earned his third consecutive Team of the Matchday selection after equaling his MLS career high with eight saves. The 24-year-old goalkeeper was also credited with his second assist of the year, becoming the first goalkeeper in club history with multiple assists in a single season and joining Sporting Legend Tony Meola as the only goalkeepers with multiple regular season assists for the team all-time.
"We’ve seen those kinds of actions from (Pulskamp) — big saves in big moments that have not only kept us in games but preserved results for us. This was another example of him coming up in a big game," interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin said in his postgame press conference. "He was outstanding tonight, and it was another great performance from a young, promising player."
Thommy secured his second straight Team of the Matchday recognition by playing a part in both goals in the 2-1 win, assisting Dejan Joveljic in the fourth minute and then scoring the game-winning goal in the 53rd minute. The German playmaker has goals in back-to-back matches and has recorded five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in five career regular season appearances against the Rapids after scoring twice in the previous match-up last year.
"It’s well deserved — not just the goal from the last game but the goal and the assist tonight." Zavagnin said of Thommy postgame. "He was relentless on the flank and it wasn’t just the attacking part. He defended with incredible determination on that weak side covering for Tim (Leibold) and (Zorhan) Bassong as Colorado pushed higher up the field. For a lot of the games we’ve won on the road, he’s been the leader."
Sporting Kansas City returns home to host the Seattle Sounders at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday with Retro Night at Children's Mercy Park featuring a 25-year celebration of the 2000 Kansas City Wizards team that won the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup double.
Tickets are available online at SeatGeek and the Western Conference match-up will be available to watch on Apple TV with an MLS Season Pass subscription. Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light district featuring $4 domestic drafts, $5 wells and 50% off nachos for fans in SKC gear starting at 5:30 p.m.​​​​​​
