CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati midfielder Emmanuel Ledesma was voted the United Soccer League’s Player of the Month for September, the USL announced today. The midfielder has now claimed the USL’s Player of the Month twice, having previously claimed the award in June.
A 30-year-old native of Quilmes, Argentina, Ledesma scored three goals and added five assists while creating 16 chances in September. In six league games, FC Cincinnati went a perfect 6-0-0 with wins over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Louisville City FC, Toronto FC II, Penn FC, Richmond Kickers and Indy Eleven.
In 2018, Ledesma has earned a place on the USL Team of the Week seven times, while capturing the league’s Goal of the Week twice and Player of the Week once. On the season, Ledesma has scored 16 goals and added 15 assists in 30 games.
Ledesma is the only USL player who ranks in the top five in both goals and assists: he is tied for fifth in the USL in goals and holds the league lead in assists. He is also the only player in USL history to net at least 15 goals and 15 assists in a single season.
“Obviously, this means a lot to me, I work hard every single day,” Ledesma said. “But as I always say, this is a team award. It’s a lot of teamwork and a lot of hard work. It should be Team of the Month, not Player of the Month. But, I want to say thank you to my teammates who [have put me in this situation]. They have given me the opportunity to win the Player of the Month.”
An online fan vote comprises 51 percent of the final ballot, while the USL Technical Committee’s selections add another 25 percent to the final tally. A national panel of USL media make up the final 24 percent of voting.
Ledesma earned September’s award over Orange County SC’s Aodhan Quinn, Swope Park Rangers’ Hadji Barry, Sacramento Republic FC’s Josh Cohen, and Toronto FC II’s Tsubasa Endoh.
FC Cincinnati (23-3-7, 76 pts.) will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 13, when the team travels to Nashville to face Nashville SC at 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. CT). The match will be televised live on WSTR 64 and streamed live on ESPN+.
FCC will enter the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs as the tournament’s number one overall seed as the regular-season champion. The Orange and Blue will begin play when they host the Eastern Conference’s number eight seed at Nippert Stadium at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20. Tickets are on sale now.
For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. For more information about FC Cincinnati tickets - including 2018 USL Cup Playoffs tickets - call 513-977-KICK (5425) or visit fccincinnati.com/tickets.
