A year ago, during St. 亚洲无码 City SC鈥檚 magical inaugural season, it seemed like the club was establishing a first or setting a record almost every time out.
Not so this season, but when Jake Nerwinski put a pass from Marcel Hartel into the net in the 92nd minute on Saturday, it not only set loose a joyful celebration from Nerwinski and his teammates, but it set an MLS record.
St. 亚洲无码 City SC has had 20 different players score goals this season, the most ever for an MLS club.
鈥淚s that on Jake鈥檚 goal?鈥 asked interim coach John Hackworth after the game. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty awesome. That鈥檚 pretty cool.鈥
It鈥檚 a product of the turnover on the roster 鈥 five of the goal scorers weren鈥檛 on the roster when the season began 鈥 and five goals were scored by players on the back line.
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鈥淲e look so much different than the last time we played Houston (in May), just personnel-wise,鈥 Hackworth said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e come together in these last couple months, and that鈥檚 really nice for everybody. I鈥檓 glad we set a record and hopefully that gives everybody a little bit of hope that we can come back and do it again next year.鈥
No one on the team has scored more than five goals (that鈥檚 the lowest total in the league for any team鈥檚 leading scorer), while nine players have scored one goal: Nerwinski, Chris Durkin, Henry Kessler, Hosei Kijima, John Klein, Joakim Nilsson, Tomas Ostrak, Josh Yaro and Njabulo Blom, who is no longer with the club.
If you鈥檙e looking for a 21st player to score, the options are, as you might expect, limited. Players who will likely be on the game-day roster for the season-ending Minnesota game and have yet to score are Jake Girdwood-Reich, Kyle Hiebert, Jannes Horn and Akil Watts. Those four have combined for 19 shots this season (eight of them by Hiebert), with only three on goal.
City2 takes chance
As the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, City2 had the second pick in MLS Next Pro鈥檚 pick-your-opponent playoff system. After top seed North Dallas took No. 7 seed Vancouver with its pick, City2 went even further and opted for the No. 5 seed, LAFC 2.
Coach Bobby Murphy said that while No. 8 seed Houston, which finished six points back of LAFC 2, was available, the team wanted to take advantage of making its opponent travel, which can be an adventure because MLS Next Pro teams don鈥檛 fly charters, and the two-hour time difference. Another West Coast team, Ventura County, was the No. 6 seed and was also available, but Murphy said they went with LAFC because City2 had just played Ventura County two weeks ago. City2 and LAFC 2 met just once in the regular season, with City2 winning 4-3 at CityPark in July.
The game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at CityPark. St. 亚洲无码 continues to be the place for MLS Next Pro. City2 set another single-game attendance record for that league on Sunday when it drew 12,022 fans for its final regular-season game, breaking its own record.
City2 midfielder Mykhi Joyner finished second in the league in goals with 16, two back of David Poreba of Chicago Fire 2. Joyner also tied for the lead in goal contributions with 20 and did it playing the equivalent of eight fewer games than Poreba.
Joyner, who signed a Homegrown contract with City SC this season that goes into effect at the start of 2025, is with the United States under-19 team this week in Valencia, Spain, where the team will face the U-19 squads of Sweden and Japan. This is Joyner鈥檚 first call-up with a U.S. national team.
Awards season
Voting began Monday for MLS postseason awards. Voting is divided into three groups: players, coaching staffs and media, with each group鈥檚 total making up a third of the final tally. Players and coaches are nominated by the club, with no team having more than two nominees in any category.
Roman Burki is City SC鈥檚 nominee for both the MVP and goalkeeper of the year awards. Last year, Burki won the goalkeeper of the year award, and while he has still been among the league鈥檚 best this season, the team鈥檚 overall finish will probably work against him. Interim coach John Hackworth is on the ballot for coach of the year; Bradley Carnell, who got fired midseason, was the runner-up for the award last season.
Cedric Teuchert and Hartel are both candidates for newcomer of the year. Hartel was named to the league鈥檚 team of the matchday this week, the fourth time in his eight games he鈥檚 made the first or second team on the team of the matchday. Tomas Totland is a candidate for defender of the year, and Yaro is up for the Impact Award for charitable efforts and community service.
City SC does not have a candidate for comeback player of the year or young player of the year, for players born after Jan. 1, 2002. City SC doesn鈥檛 have a lot of youngsters who saw extensive first-team playing time this season. Only Kijima, who played 782 minutes, played more than 200 minutes among City SC鈥檚 younger set.
Fans can vote for the goal of the year and the save of the year on the league’s website, .