Wondo the Goal King
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, Oct 29, 2012
[MLS GOLEADORES] San Jose's Chris Wondolowski won the 2012 Golden Boot with 27 strikes -- nine more than his nearest rival -- and tied the
16-year-old record for regular-season scoring when he hit the net from the penalty spot in Saturday's 1-1 tie with Portland. For more on Wondo's achievement, the final 2012 Golden Boot tally, and MLS
scoring history ...
Wondolowski ...
... finished with 27 goals, matching the 16-year-old record set in MLS's inaugural 1996 MLS season by Roy Lassiter.
... is the first player in MLS history to score the most regular-season goals in three consecutive seasons. He won the Golden Boot in 2010 with 18 goals. In 2011 his 16 goals tied with D.C.
United’s Dwayne De Rosario, who won the Golden Boot on the assist tiebreaker.
... scored more goals than the entire Chivas USA team managed this season. (Chivas
scored 24.)
... is one of 10 players to hit the 20-goal mark in a season.*
2012 MLS Leading Scorers
| Player | Team (country) | Goals | Assists |
| Chris Wondolowski | San Jose (USA) | 27 | 7 |
| Kenny Cooper | New York (USA) | 18 | 3 |
| Alvaro Saborio | Real Salt Lake (Costa Rica) | 17 | 3 |
| Robbie Keane | Los Angeles (Ireland) | 16 | 9 |
| Thierry Henry | New York (France) | 15 | 12 |
| Eddie Johnson | Seattle (USA) | 14 | 3 |
| Freddy Montero | Seattle (Colombia) | 13 | 8 |
| Alan Gordon | San Jose (USA) | 13 | 7 |
| Will Bruin | Houston (USA) | 12 | 4 |
| Chris Pontius | D.C. United (USA) | 12 | 4 |
| Kei Kamara | Kansas City (Sierra Leone) | 11 | 8 |
| Saer Sene | New England (France) | 11 | 3 |
* MLS 20-GOAL CLUB
1996 Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay/USA) 27
2012 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose/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
1996 Eduardo Hurtado (Los
Angeles/Ecuador) 21
2008 Landon Donovan (Los Angeles/USA) 20
2007 Luciano Emilio (D.C. United/Brazil)
20
MLS LEADING SCORERS (1996-2012)
2012 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose/USA)
27
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
