Wondo joins exclusive scoring club

• by Mike Woitalla  @MikeWoitalla, Sep 21, 2012

[MLS GOLEADORES] San Jose's Chris Wondolowski is the first player in a decade to surpass the 20-goal mark in an MLS season. The 29-year-old Northern California product, who scored his 20th and 21st goals in Wednesday’s 2-2 tie with Portland, has five games left to score six goals that would tie the all-time regular-season scoring record.

Not since 2002, when Carlos Ruiz struck 24 and Taylor Twellman 23, has an MLS player scored more than 20 goals.

The last player to finish with 20 was Landon Donovan in 2008.

Roy Lassiter, who scored 27 goals in MLS’s inaugural 32-game season of 1996, holds the single-season scoring record. Wondowloski and the Quakes have played 29 of its 34 regular-season games.

Wondolowski joined MLS in 2005 but in his first six seasons scored only seven goals for the Houston Dynamo and San Jose. He broke out in 2010, winning the Golden Boot in 2010 with 18 goals. He scored 16 last season, tied with D.C. United’s Dwayne De Rosario, who won the Golden Boot on the assist tiebreaker, having set up 12 goals to Wondolowski's three assists.

Nine other players have scored 20 or more goals in an MLS regular season.

MLS 20-GOAL CLUB
1996 Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay/USA) 27
2000 Mamadou Diallo (Tampa Bay/Senegal) 26
1998 Stern John (Columbus/Trinidad & Tobago) 26
2002 Carlos Ruiz (Los Angeles/Guatemala) 24
1996 Raul Diaz Arce (D.C. United/El Salvador) 23
2002 Taylor Twellman (New England/USA) 23
2012 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose/USA) 21*
1996 Eduardo Hurtado (Los Angeles/Ecuador) 21
2008 Landon Donovan (Los Angeles/USA) 20
2007 Luciano Emilio (D.C. United/Brazil) 20
* Wondowloski’s San Jose Earthquakes have five more regular-season games in 2012.

2012 MLS Leading Scorers
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose/USA) 22
Kenny Cooper (New York/USA) 14
Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake/Costa Rica) 14
Thierry Henry (New York/France) 13
Eddie Johnson (Seattle/USA) 13

MLS LEADING SCORERS (1996-2011)
2011 Dwayne De Rosario (D.C. United), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose) 16
2010 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose) 18
2009 Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas) 17
2008 Landon Donovan (Los Angeles) 20
2007 Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) 20
2006 Jeff Cunningham (Real Salt Lake) 16
2005 Taylor Twellman (New England) 17
2004 Eddie Johnson (Dallas), Brian Ching (San Jose) 12
2003 Carlos Ruiz (Los Angeles), Taylor Twellman (New England) 15
2002 Carlos Ruiz (Los Angeles) 24
2001 Alex Pineda Chacon (Miami) 19
2000 Mamadou Diallo (Tampa Bay) 26
1999 Stern John (Columbus), Roy Lassiter (D.C. United), Jason Kreis (Dallas) 18
1998 Stern John (Columbus) 26
1997 Jaime Moreno (D.C. United) 16
1996 Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay) 27