Following the first shutout and first victory of his six-year MLS career on Sunday, Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia is now in contention for his first MLS Save of the Week honor. The 29-year-old is one of five finalists for the weekly award with voting open online at MLSsoccer.com through 11:59 p.m. PT on Thursday.
Melia is nominated for his first of three saves in the 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire at Sporting Park. Brazilian Guly do Prado -- who joined the Fire in January after four years with Southampton in the English Premier League -- came close to opening his MLS goal scoring account with a well-struck shot from the top of the penalty area but Melia dove low to his left to push away the effort in the 13th minute.
Melia went on from there to make four punches, the most by an MLS goalkeeper in 2015, and he was also credited with five accurate keeper sweepings to set a new MLS season-high. His performance earned BurgerFi Man of the Match honors, as well as a place on MLSsoccer.com's Team of the Week.
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"It was great for me and even more important for the team. That's a result we really needed as a team moving forward and I hope we can build off that," Melia said postgame.
Melia will be a special guest tonight on The Sporting KC Show live from 7-8 p.m. CT on Sports Radio 810 WHB at Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen (1859 Village West Parkway) in Kansas City, Kansas. Fans are welcome to attend to meet Melia and take advantage of food/drink specials in conjunction with the broadcast.
