Matt Pickens Voted MLS Player of the Month for October

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (Nov. 1, 2007) – Major League Soccer today announced that Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens was voted as the MLS Player of the Month for October by the Professional Soccer Reporters Association after recording a 2-0-1 record and helping the Fire clinch the final playoff berth in the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs. 

Pickens allowed only one goal in October as he recorded a 2-1 win over New England Revolution on Oct. 6, and then posted back-to-back shutouts -- a 0-0 tie versus D.C. United and 1-0 win over the LA Galaxy -- to close out the season and send the Fire into the playoffs.

With two shutouts in regular season play in October, Pickens eclipsed the Fire's single-season shutout record with ten for the year, surpassing Zach Thornton's record of nine clean slates set in 2001. The Washington, Mo.  native also helped the Fire allow the fewest goals (1) and record the best goals against average (0.33) in MLS for the month of October.

In his fourth MLS season, Pickens anchored a Chicago defense that allowed just 31 goals with him between the posts. With a career 1.20 GAA and 102 saves over 40 games played, Pickens is one of the first Chicago Premier products to graduate to the senior team.

Pickens and the Chicago Fire travel to face D.C. United on Thursday night for game two of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series. The game can be seen live on ESPN2 at 6:30pm CT.

The Major League Soccer Player of the Month is selected following each month of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).

2007 MLS Player of the Month Awards

April: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards)

May: Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls)

June: Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls)

July: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew) 

August: Troy Perkins (D.C. United)

September: Luciano Emilio (D.C. United)

October: Matt Pickens (Chicago Fire)