Photo by Kory Brinton
SKC Nation knows Jimmy Nielsen is good. Nielsen puts his skill on display game-after-game yeilding highlights on the regular. We all saw Nielsen’s greatness on display when he came up big for Sporting KC in the shootout at the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final last year, that lead to #paintthewall. Everyone knows Jimmy Nielsen is good, but how good is the White Puma?
Nielsen’s name is already written all over Sporting Kansas City’s record books, but there is another keeper that puts a shadow over Nielsen’s numbers and that is Tony Meola. Meola holds eight of the 10 records all-time for Sporting Kansas City goalkeepers. The three records he doesn’t hold the number one spot in, are held by none other than the White Puma.
After just three seasons between the pipes for Sporting Kansas City, Nielsen stands as the all-time leader for Goalkeepers in both win percentage and goals against average. Nielsen also holds the records for goals against average in a single season (.79), minutes played in a single season (3060), and games played and games started during a single season (34). He comfortably sits in the top four of all 10 goalkeeper categories for the franchise.
With his fourth season as Sporting KC’s resident shot stopper on the horizon, let’s take a look at some of the records that Jimmy could claim as his own this year:
All-Time Leaders: Goalkeepers
Games Played:
- 1-Tony Meola (125)
- 2-Bo Oshoniyi (96)
- 3-Jimmy Nielsen (94)
Games Started:
- 1-Tony Meola (125)
- 2-Jimmy Nielsen (94)
Minutes:
- 1-Tony Meola (11,323)
- 2-Jimmy Nielsen (8,437)
Games Won:
- 1-Tony Meola (49)
- 2-Jimmy Nielsen (40)
Shutouts:
- 1-Tony Meola (37)
- 2-Jimmy Neilsen (32)
Save Percentage:
- 1-Tony Meola (74.2)
- 2-Jimmy Nielsen (71.5)
The 2012 season saw Nielsen take helm of Meola’s previous record of goals against in a single season. If the White Puma can continue with this pace, the 2013 season should see Nielsen steal five more records from Meola, bringing Nielsen’s name to the top of seven of the 10 record categories for all-time goalkeeper leaders by the end of the year.
