MLS Columbus Crew SC

Columbus Crew SC Forward Gyasi Zardes Named Alcatel Major League Soccer Player of the Week

Published on May 15, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS - Columbus Crew SC today announced that forward Gyasi Zardes was voted Alcatel Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 11 of the 2018 MLS season. It is the first Player of the Week honor for Zardes, as well as the first such honor for the Black & Gold this season.

Zardes earned the award for Week 11, in which he played two matches in four days (as well as his third match in eight days overall) and scored three goals. Zardes scored the game-winning goal in Crew SC's 1-0 home victory over the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, May 9. Three days later, the 26-year-old forward registered a brace in a 3-0 win against the Chicago Fire at MAPFRE Stadium, including a 70th-minute strike which was nominated for MLSSoccer.com's AT&T Goal of the Week. Zardes' brace against Chicago marked the second time that the forward has scored two goals in the 2018 regular season, as he previously netted two strikes in a 3-2 home victory over the Montreal Impact on March 10.

Through 12 matches in the 2018 MLS regular season, Zardes has scored eight goals and is currently tied with Josef Martinez of Atlanta United FC for first place in the MLS Golden Boot race. Zardes' eight tallies in regular-season action mark his second-highest goal output behind only the 16 goals he scored in 2014 with the LA Galaxy. Additionally, Zardes is the only player to have started every match for Crew SC and currently leads the team in minutes (1,058), goals (eight), shots (26) and shots on target (13). His two game-winning goals in regular-season action tie him with Federico Higuain for most on the team.

This is the 53rd time in MLS history that a Crew SC player has been named MLS Player of the Week. Zardes joins current teammate Federico Higuain (three times) in having earned the weekly honor while a member of Crew SC.

The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from the NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.

The Black & Gold continue the 2018 Major League Soccer campaign by traveling to Gillette Stadium to face the New England Revolution on Saturday, May 19 (7:30 p.m. ET / CW Columbus, Spectrum Sports, BCSN2, CD102.5 FM, English and Spanish audio broadcasts available on ColumbusCrewSC.com).

Check out the Columbus Crew SC Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from May 15, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central