Week 22 will be a memorable one for veteran MLS forward Kei Kamara.
Sure, he scored a hat trick in a wild 6-3 win for the Colorado Rapids over the Montreal Impact at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. It was the second hat trick of his MLS career.
He also notched an own goal, putting together the very rare combination of scoring a hat trick and an own goal in the same game.
But on top of all that, Kamara reached double digits in goals scored for the season, now on 11. He has now scored at least 10 goals in a single season for five different teams in MLS, becoming the first player in the league to accomplish the feat.
Club |
Year |
Goals |
---|---|---|
Kansas City |
2010 |
10 |
Kansas City |
2012 |
11 |
Columbus |
2015 |
22 |
New England |
2017 |
12 |
Vancouver |
2018 |
14 |
Colorado |
2019 |
11 |
Kamara surpasses former MLS all-time scoring leader Jeff Cunningham, who scored double-digit goals in a season for four different teams in his MLS tenure.
The 34-year-old was upbeat after the game, telling reporters he was happy to be receiving the service in the box he's been asking for from his Rapids teammates.
"It was a good day," Kamara reacted with a smile to his banner performance. "Two hat tricks in your career, which is shocking, to say you have over 100 goals and two hat tricks, but I spread my goals, not just in one game and in one season."
When asked how he felt about being the first Rapids scorer to reach double-digit goals in some time, Kamara answered, "Because I wasn't here. That's my goal every year, you've got to hit double-digit goals."