Metro Connection: Chris Wondolowski ties RBNY legend (and Carlos Ruiz)

In Week 24 of MLS 2014, Chris Wondolowski scored a goal. It was a special goal at the time because it was the 70th-minute equalizer in a game against Philadelphia that San Jose had been losing since the 5th minute, and losing 2-0 since the 14th minute, until Sam Cronin thundered in a riposte from distance in the 59th. And now Wondo had the equalizer, and San Jose had a shot at a point on the road that they very much required.

The point didn't happen. The Union bounced back and won the game. But Wondo's goal was his 10th of the season, which meant he had just hit double-digit goals for the fifth consecutive season (all for the Quakes). And that is quite a record of consistency. Well done, Wondo.

Only two other players in the history of MLS have done it.

Carlos Ruiz set the mark. He scored 24 goals in his first season in the league with LA in 2002, followed that with two more double-digit seasons for the Galaxy, and then tacked on another pair of goal-laden seasons for FC Dallas.

The other man to reach this rarefied level of scoring consistency is Juan Pablo Angel: Metro legend.

JPA's scoring record for the New York Red Bulls is well known. He arrived in 2007, set a new record for MLS goals in a single season for RBNY (19) and rolled off three more consecutive double-digit scoring seasons for the club.

And then he was shipped out, somewhat ignominiously, because Hans Backe and Erik Soler apparently didn't like the way Angel and Henry combined.

He still had it, indeed, he still has it. Angel is back in Colombia at the club where he started his career, Atletico Nacional, and has won two league titles and a domestic cup under the management of another familiar face from RBNY's history, Juan Carlos Osorio. (Hush now, it's over. He's moved on. So should we.)

But before he headed for home, Angel lingered in MLS for one more season - spending most of it with LA Galaxy until being moved across the hall to Chivas USA to make room for Robbie Keane. And in that season playing for two clubs in one stadium, Angel notched 10 goals (three for LA; seven for Chivas) and registered his fifth consecutive season of double-digit scoring in MLS.

It is perhaps unfortunate that Angel's record in MLS (and mostly for RBNY) became a little less extraordinary this week: Bradley Wright-Phillips broke JPA's club record for goals scored in a single MLS season on Saturday, 8/23; Wondo stepped up to make Angel one of three, instead of just one of two, players to have tallied double-digit goals in the league for five consecutive years.

But JPA set a lot of records with his work at RBNY. And this means he is destined to see many of his records broken. He'll be retiring at the end of the current Apertura season in Colombia, where he presently has five goals in 10 appearances.

He still keeps tabs on his old teams. Angel tweeted congratulations to BWP for his recent success:

Congrats to @TheRealBWP on his 20th goal Of the season #RBNY #SingleSeasonGoalsRecord keep up the… http://t.co/elC66mbzpg

— Juan Pablo Angel (@JUANPABLOANGEL) August 24, 2014

Perhaps once JPA has finished playing soccer, he'll stop by the Arena to see whether BWP can have a go at some of the other records he left behind.