Eddie Johnson loves the big stage.
The Seattle Sounders forward earned Week 22 Player of the Week honors from the North American Soccer Reporters (see who and how the media voted here) by scoring his 10th goal of the season Sunday night against the LA Galaxy – and contributing to two others – in front of more than 60,000 fans at CenturyLink Field en route to a 4-0 thrashing of the defending MLS Cup Champions.
Johnson opened the scoring off a header in the 6th minute that sent the Seattle crowd – the second-largest in Sounders history behind Kasey Keller's final game before retirement – into a frenzy that didn't stop until the final whistle.
WATCH: Johnson heads Seattle into the lead
The 2006 World Cup veteran received six out of the 13 first-place votes and becomes the first Seattle Sounder to win the award since David Estrada in Week 2. Also receiving first-place votes were FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, Montreal's Felipe and Alessandro Nesta, Chicago's Austin Berry and fellow Sounder Mauro Rosales.
2012 MLS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week22: Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders)
Week21: Jairo Arrieta (Columbus Crew)
Week20: Calen Carr (Houston Dynamo)
Week 19: Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 18: Álvaro Saborío (Real Salt Lake)
Week 17: Danny Koevermans (Toronto FC)
Week 16: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
Week 13-15: Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact)
Week 12: Emilio Rentería (Columbus Crew)
Week 11: Dwayne De Rosario (D.C. United)
Week 10: Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
Week 9: Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 8: Steven Lenhart (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 7: Chris Pontius (D.C. United)
Week 6: Dan Kennedy (Chivas USA)
Week 5: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
Week 4: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
Week 3: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
Week 2: David Estrada (Seattle Sounders)
Week 1: Kalif Alhassan (Portland Timbers)
