Magee becomes first GK to win Player of the Week award

In a decision that is sure to create discussion, LA Galaxy emergency goalkeeper Mike Magee was voted by the North American Soccer Reporters as the Player of the Week for Week 15.

The 26-year-old Magee, who had never won the Player of the Year award in his nine-year MLS career as a midfielder, was honored for his ability to maintain a clean sheet against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday in his first ever appearance as a goalkeeper.

"Bruce [Arena], he gave me all the confidence," Magee told MLSsoccer.com after the match. "He said to have fun with it and don’t worry about it."

After starting goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts fell injured in the 24th minute, back-up Josh Saunders received a red card two minutes before the break, leaving the Galaxy without a goalkeeper by trade. Magee, who had started in midfield, volunteered for the duty and made four saves en route to a 0-0 shutout in 48 minutes of action, including three in the final 10 minutes.

"I nominated myself," said Magee. "I think I looked around. Looking back, I don’t know why.

"When I first went in there, I wasn’t nervous at all," he said. "I only thought I had to make it 10 minutes, and then we’d have a great plan at haltime where I’d be back on the field. And then we got back in [to the locker room], and it started hitting me that I was going back in goal, and that was pretty nerve-wracking."

Magee becomes the first goalkeeper to win the award this year and the second Galaxy player since Landon Donovan in Week 6. Of the 13 media members who submitted a vote, Magee earned six first-place votes, more than any other player on the weekend.

WATCH: FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS - SJ 0, LA 0