Columbus Crew SC forward Gyasi Zardes parlayed a career performance into MLS Team & Performance of the Week honors after recording his first career hat trick in a 3-2 win over Minnesota United FC on Sunday, Oct. 28, per a League announcement late Sunday night.
The victory sealed a Crew SC in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, marking the second straight postseason appearance for the Black & Gold.
In addition to upping his regular-season goal total to 19 - a personal career-high - Zardes recorded match-highs in shots (6), shots on target (3), and aerial duels won (6). The forward, who is the highest-scoring American in MLS this season, also completed 11 passes in the opponent's third for an 88 percent passing accuracy.
Crew SC is set to open the MLS Cup Playoffs on Thursday, November 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET by traveling to face D.C. United at Audi Field. As announced by MLS, this Eastern Conference Knockout Round match is set to be televised nationally on FS1 and Unimas. The match also airs locally on the radio on CD102.5 FM in English. The club’s official website, ColumbusCrewSC.com, is set to stream the English-language radio broadcast online as well as host the Spanish-language audio broadcast.
Crew SC's 2018 MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week honorees:
Week 1: Lalas Abubakar (D), Federico Higuain (M), Milton Valenzuela (D)
Week 2: Gyasi Zardes (F - Bench)
Week 3: N/A
Week 4: Gregg Berhalter (coach), Federico Higuain (M), Cristian Martinez (M), Pedro Santos (M - bench), Milton Valenzuela (D)
Week 5: N/A
Week 6: N/A
Week 7: N/A
Week 8: N/A
Week 9: Mike Grella (M - bench)
Week 10: Lalas Abubakar (D), Milton Valenzuela (D - bench)
Week 11: Gregg Berhalter (coach), Gyasi Zardes (F), Zack Steffen (GK - bench)
Week 12: Jonathan Mensah (D)
Week 13: Artur (M), Josh Williams (D)
Week 14: Federico Higuain (M)
Week 15: Harrison Afful (D)
Week 16: N/A
Week 17: N/A
Week 18: Eduardo Sosa (M)
Week 19: N/A
Week 20: N/A
Week 21: Wil Trapp (M)
Week 22: Harrison Afful (D), Patrick Mullins (F - bench)
Week 24: Gyasi Zardes (F), Federico Higuain (M - bench), Milton Valenzuela (D- bench)
Week 25: N/A
Week 26: N/A
Week 27: Harrison Afful (D), Justin Meram (M - bench)
Week 28: N/A
Week 29: Jonathan Mensah (D)
Week 30: Federico Higuain (M), Niko Hansen (M - bench)
Week 35: Gyasi Zardes (F)
