June 7, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release
TAMPA, Fla. – The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 13 of the 2022 regular season on Tuesday, with Indy Eleven forward Manuel Arteaga voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after recording a first-half hat trick against the Charleston Battery on Saturday night in a 4-3 victory for the Boys in Blue at Patriots Point.
Now in his second season with Indy, Arteaga broke out for his first goals this season against Charleston and in the process scored the first hat trick for the club since it joined the USL Championship prior to the 2018 season. The Venezuelan forward struck first in the 25th minute to double Indy’s lead and then added goals in the 28th and 37th minute to complete a 12-minute hat trick, one of the fastest in the USL Championship’s history after Dane Kelly’s eight-minute hat trick during the 2017 season for Reno 1868 FC against Tacoma Defiance.
Arteaga earned 69 percent of the ballot to claim the award. Atlanta United 2’s Robbie Mertz finished second on 15 percent after recording three goals across two outings for his side against Rio Grande Valley FC and Memphis 901 FC last week.
The Championship’s Player of the Week is selected by the USL National Media Panel, which is made up of representatives from each media market in the Championship.
GK – Austin Wormell, FC Tulsa: Making his first two starts of the season, Wormell made 10 saves on 11 shots on target faced as Tulsa drew with both the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Miami FC, posting a cumulative -2.53 Goals Minus Expected Goals rate across the two contests.
D – Rece Buckmaster, Memphis 901 FC: Buckmaster recorded a pair of assists and six chances created overall while making five interceptions and six recoveries and winning 2 of 2 duels defensively in Memphis’ 5-2 victory against Atlanta United 2.
D – Matt Mahoney, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: Mahoney scored the third goal of the night to cap a strong performance overall as he completed 67 of 75 passes, won 3 of 3 aerial duels and made nine recoveries and two interceptions in Colorado Springs’ 3-0 win against Las Vegas.
D – Alex Crognale, Birmingham Legion FC: Crognale helped Legion FC earn a shutout victory on the road in Phoenix, winning 5 of 6 duels and 3 of 4 aerial duels while making seven clearances and a key late game block to preserve a 1-0 win at Wild Horse Pass.
M – Robbie Mertz, Atlanta United 2: Mertz shone…