VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC centre back Pa-Modou Kah was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 22 of the 2015 MLS season.
Kah turned in a dominant performance, notching his first-ever professional brace, in the Whitecaps FC’s 3-0 win over Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field. Kah notched the first two goals of the match – his opening tallies of the season – to help the Canadian club retake the top spot in the Western Conference and record a league-leading seventh road win.
Kah opened the scoring in the sixth minute for his first goal as a Whitecaps FC player. Nicolas Mezquida whipped in a free kick from the right flank that glanced off of Kendall Waston and bounced out to Kah. The Gambia native then fired a beautiful half-volley past Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei to take the lead.
The Norwegian international would double the score in the 49th minute with a slick finish from another set-piece play. Cristian Techera took a corner kick and played a little give-and-go with Kekuta Manneh. Techera then drove a low shot into the box that Kah masterfully back-heeled into the far corner to secure the win.
Kah is the first Whitecaps FC player to earn Player of the Week honours this season and the first defender since Real Salt Lake center back Chris Schuler received the honour back on August 11, 2014. Earlier this year, Whitecaps FC keeper David Ousted was named the Player of the Month for June and striker Octavio Rivero took home the award in March.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC return to MLS action Saturday, August 8, when they host Real Salt Lake at BC Place at 7 p.m. PT - TV: TSN, RADIO: TSN 1410, MOBILE: Bell mobile devices, ONLINE: TSN GO.
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
