Seattle continued its surprising march with a third straight win over the weekend. Perhaps the most unlikely aspect of their run is the fact that their top two midfielders made their mark as the top fantasy performers at their position this week. There were certainly plenty of clean sheet performances but two stood out more than the others with a pair of unlikely goalkeepers producing identical fantasy scores for the top marks at their position over the weekend. Here is a look at the top individual performance by position from the MLS fantasy this past weekend.
GK: Sean Johnson, Chicago, Steve Clark, Columbus
Johnson and Clark both played starring roles for their respective clubs, each making five saves in clean sheet wins. Johnson helped the Fire snap a five-game winless drought with a 3-0 win over the Montreal Impact. Meanwhile, Clark helped Columbus snap an even longer winless drought as the Crew recorded their first victory since May 28th with a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution.
Honorable Mention: Nick Rimando, Real Salt Lake; Alec Kann, Sporting KC; Josh Saunders, New York City FC
D: Jamison Olave, Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake climbed to third in the Western Conference with its third win in four games thanks in big part to Olave’s performance at both ends of the pitch over the weekend. Olave was a rock on the back line for RSL, and he chipped in with the lone goal in the 1-0 win over FC Dallas. Olave has shown flashes of his ability to chip in on the attack and it was no surprise he managed to produce the best MLS fantasy score at his position based on his performance on Saturday.
Honorable Mention: David Horst, Houston; Victor Bernardez, San Jose; Drew Moor, Toronto FC
M: Clint Dempsey, Seattle
The final game of the weekend broke the mold following a relatively quiet weekend for MLS midfielders with a pair of Sounders producing the top two MLS fantasy scores at their position. Dempsey scored two of the Sounders’ three goals in their 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers and finished with a total of six shots to produce the top performance among MLS midfielders.
M: Cristian Roldan, Seattle
Dempsey’s Seattle teammate got in on the act as well with a goal, an assist and two shots in the 3-1 win over Portland. Felipe Martins of the New York Red Bulls and Federico Higuain of Columbus were both considered for this spot before Roldan delivered in the final MLS match of the week to bump those two midfielders down to honorable mentions at their position.
Honorable Mention: Felipe Martins, New York Red Bulls; Federico Higuain, Columbus
F: David Accam, Chicago
Accam was the star up front for Chicago in their breakthrough win as he recorded a goal, an assist and four shots in total in the 3-0 victory. It had been a long time coming for a Fire team that is still buried at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with just 22 points and it was certainly enough for Accam to earn top MLS fantasy honors at his position. Accam has been one of the few bright spots for this team, which has the fewest points of anyone in the MLS this season.
F: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls
Wright-Phillips continued his strong season for the Red Bulls, scoring a goal and adding an assist to help New York salvage a point in a 2-2 draw with DC United. Wright-Phillips finished the game with four shots but it was the multiple points that made the difference as he edged out Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco and New York City FC’s David Villa for the second-best MLS fantasy score at his position. Wright-Phillips is now one goal back of Giovinco and Villa, who are tied in the MLS Golden Boot race with 16 goals each. The Red Bulls are now in third place in the MLS standings with 37 points, four short of the neighbors in New York City, who pace the league.
Honorable Mention: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC; David Villa, New York City FC; Jacob Peterson, Sporting KC
