Sporting Kansas City's 3-1 win at Toronto FC on Saturday was punctuated by a handful of standout individual performances.
Kevin Ellis put forth a number of picture-perfect tackles against Toronto's Designated-Player-laden attack. Jimmy Medranda showcased his capabilities on the left side of defense. Jacob Peterson was a workhorse up top and sealed the win against his former team.
Then there's Tim Melia, who made four stops and earned his second MLS Save of the Week nomination of the year. The 29-year-old is one of five finalists for the weekly award with voting open online at MLSsoccer.com through 1:59 a.m. CT on Friday.
Sporting KC led 2-1 in the 35th minute when Melia thwarted Toronto's bid at an equalizer, diving at full extension to tip Michael Bradley's thunderous attempt inches over the crossbar.
Melia has enjoyed a breakout season in 2015, boasting an 11-2-3 record across all competitions and a 0.77 goals against average in league play. He has landed MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week honors four times since making his Sporting KC debut on May 3 and became the first goalkeeper in MLS history to record six shutouts in his first nine games for a new club.
Melia will lead Sporting KC against his former club on Wednesday as Real Salt Lake visits Sporting Park for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available at Ticketmaster.com.
