Charlotte FC Midfielder Ashley Westwood Voted MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 26

NEW YORK (Monday, July 15, 2024) – Charlotte FC midfielder Ashley Westwood was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 26 of the 2024 MLS season.

Westwood assisted on all three goals in Charlotte’s 3-1 road victory over Supporters’ Shield leaders FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium on Saturday night. With his performance, Westwood became the first player in Charlotte FC history to record three assists in a regular-season match and he has also set a new personal single-season best with five assists this year. The club captain, Westwood leads the team in key passes (36) and is tied for the team lead in assists (five). All three assists were to players aged 23 or younger, marking the second time in club history that Charlotte has had three different players aged 23 years old or younger score in the same match. Charlotte is currently second in MLS in goals allowed (24) and first in clean sheets (nine) for a side that sits sixth in the Eastern Conference (35 points, 10-8-5).

• Ashley Westwood’s Post-Match Press Conference LINK

Charlotte opened the scoring in the 20th minute as Liel Abada pulled the ball back to Westwood, whose inch-perfect, one-timed cross found Iuri Tavares at the back post to give the visitors a 1-0 lead (Watch Here). Just two minutes later, Westwood helped double the lead by slipping a pass to Abada who did the rest with a powerful left-footed finish (Watch Here). After Cincinnati halved the deficit, Westwood provided the assist on the third goal in the 66th minute as his cross from a corner kick was met by Kerwin Vargas and the young forward headed home his finish for the 3-1 victory (Watch Here).

Westwood becomes the fourth different Charlotte FC player to be named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra and the first since Brandon Cambridge on Matchday 13 of 2023. Charlotte is one of five clubs to have four different players named MLS Player of the Matchday since the start of 2022. The last English player to earn the honor was Billy Sharp for the LA Galaxy on Matchday 33 last season.

Charlotte looks to win consecutive games in Ohio when they travel to face the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field on Wednesday, July 17 (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.