March 12, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release
TAMPA, Fla. – The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 1 of the 2024 regular season on Tuesday, with Sacramento Republic FC forward Trevor Amann voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after he recorded two goals in his debut for Republic FC in a 2-2 draw against Orange County SC before a sellout crowd of 11,569 fans at Heart Health Park.
The 2023 USL League One Player of the Year and Golden Boot winner at Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, Amann wasted little time in opening his Championship account in his first appearance in the league. The 25-year-old opened the scoring in the 28th minute, playing Cristian Parano down the left side before darting into the penalty area to head home the Argentine’s precise cross. Amann added a second with 13 minutes to go with an impressive individual finish from the left side of the penalty area.
“Obviously it feels good to score goals,” said Amann. “That’s what I love doing, that’s part of my job on the team. But I think overall, there’s a few things that I probably could clean up as well and make better decisions in some areas. But overall, I think it was a decent performance, so we got to build from here and just keep getting better every day.”
Amann earned 45 percent of the ballot to claim the award. Birmingham Legion FC goalkeeper Matt VanOekel finished second on 27 percent after recording an eight-save shutout on the road in his side’s 1-0 victory against defending Championship title holder Phoenix Rising FC to open the campaign.
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.
USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 1
GK – Matt VanOekel, Birmingham Legion FC: The veteran recorded an eight-save shutout, his 43rd in the Championship’s regular season to move into a tie for third all-time, and recorded two punched clearances as Legion took a 1-0 victory on the road against Phoenix Rising FC.
D – Nicolas Cardona, Miami FC: The Puerto Rico international won 5 of 8 tackles, 11 of 14 ground duels and 2 of 3 aerial duels and made 13 clearances while captaining Miami FC to a 2-0 victory against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
D – Lucas Stauffer, El Paso Locomotive FC: The Locomotive newcomer put in a strong debut display, recording five chances created and two shots joining the attack on the left…