With a score of 128 points, HICKENHÖPPER FC led the league this round. Sebastian Giovinco (TOR, $12.5) was captain and scored 28 points on two goals, while his teammate, Jozy Altidore ($10.3) scored a goal and added an assist for 15 points. Rounding out the top three was Benny Feilhaber (SKC, $10.6), who had an assist and 17 points. !BL4CKnRED’s overall lead grew to 44 points.
Positional Leaders
Goalkeepers
Jesse Gonzalez (DAL, $4.9) posted a clean sheet and 11 points to lead the position. Behind him was a trio of players who earned clean sheets and 10 points -- Zack Steffen (CLB, $4.8), Joe Willis (HOU, $5.1), and Bobby Shuttleworth (MIN, $5.1). For United, Travis Worra ($4.5) scored 4 points.
Defenders
In addition to being the current top scorer in Fantasy MLS, Florian Jungwirth (SJ, $6.1) bested last round’s 17 point performance with 18 points this round, leading all the defenders and sharing the lead among all positions. This round he notched two assists and a clean sheet. Matt Hedges (DAL, $7.1) paired a goal with a clean sheet for 14 points, while three players tied on 13 points -- Laurent Ciman (MTL, $5.9), Matt Besler (SKC, $6.5), and Markus Hagglund (TOR, $5.3) — each of whom had a clean sheet of his own. DCU’s defense was lead by Bobby Boswell ($5.4) and Sean Franklin ($5.2) with 4 points, followed by Taylor Kemp ($5.6) with 3, and Kofi Opare ($4.3) with 2.
Midfielders
Benny Feilhaber’s 17 points led the midfielders. Rodney Wallace (NY, $7.8) scored a goal and added two assists for 15 points and second place, while Michael Bradley’s (TOR, $9.1) 12 points were matched by Miguel Ibarra (MIN, $8.1), who had two assists. D.C. had Jared Jeffrey ($5.4) and Lloyd Sam ($8.4) with 4 points, Luciano Acosta ($8.9) and Lamar Neagle ($7.5) with 3, Ian Harkes ($5.8) with 2, and both Marcelo Sarvas ($7.0) and Sebastien Le Toux ($6.4) with 1.
Forwards
C.J. Sapong (PHI, $8.0) scored a hat trick and 18 points, leading the forwards and tying with Jungwirth for the overall lead. The pair of Mauro Manotas (HOU, $7.8) and Chris Wondolowski (SJ, $8.6) scored 16 points each, with Manotas scoring adding an assist to two goals, and Wondlowski tallying three assists. For DCU, both Patrick Mullins ($8.3) and Jose Ortiz ($6.7) scored 1 point.
Looking Ahead
Columbus and Toronto play twice, while everyone else plays once. This is the second consecutive two-game week for Toronto, so keep in mind that coach Greg Vanney just left players like Giovinco, Victor Vazquez, and Eriq Zavaleta at home for the second of their two games. Use Toronto players at your own peril. In goal, Jesse Gonzalez has 3 clean sheets in five games, and I like him at home against NYC. In defense, go with Ike Opara (SKC, $5.6) at Orlando, and in midfield I like Romain Alessandrini (LA, $9.8) at the Red Bulls. At forward, it’s hard to argue against Nemanja Nikolic (CHI, $9.7), with five goals over his last five games, at home against Seattle.