New York, NY -- (Sports Network) - Los Angeles Galaxy forward Edson Buddle was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 8, it was announced on Monday

Buddle scored three goals to help lead the Galaxy to a 5-1 win at FC Dallas on Sunday. The victory keeps L.A. within one point of the top spot in the Western Conference.

"[It was] was good for us," Buddle said. "We did well in the first half and did a good job with the ball. We were capitalizing on good possession all day and that was good."

With the Galaxy up 1-0 in the 31st minute, Buddle chested a long ball down to Landon Donovan, who played the ball back to him. Buddle then muscled his way through three defenders and finished with a forceful strike into the upper left corner of the goal.

After an FC Dallas own goal, Buddle struck again in the 39th minute when he knocked in an errant clearance of Donovan's corner kick, giving the Galaxy its fourth goal in a 15-minute span.

Buddle finished off his hat trick knocking in a David Beckham cross in the 85th minute. It was Buddle's third career hat trick, placing him fifth on the all-time MLS list behind Stern John (5), Diego Serna (4), Mamadou Diallo (4), and Cobi Jones (4).

"The pitch is a very good pitch to play on," Buddle said. "Today, we were able to find each other early and move the ball well. We played a little bit differently today as far as our formation. We used that very well today and want to continue that on the road, which is tough."

The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). Full disclosure of the votes can be found at www.soccerreporters.com.

Below are the 2008 player of the week winners to date:

Week 1: Terry Cooke (Colorado Rapids)

Week 2: David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 3: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew)

Week 4: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 5: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 6: David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 7: Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

Week 8: Edson Buddle (Los Angles Galaxy)