In terms of its duration, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a player on a scoring heater like Oakland Roots SC’s Peter Wilson.

The Liberian forward scored for a sixth consecutive outing last Saturday night on the road against Las Vegas Lights FC, making him only the 11th player in the USL Championship era to put together a six-game scoring streak, and the first since Santi Moar for Phoenix Rising during the 2021 season.

Over that span, which began with his two-goal performance off the bench against the Charleston Battery on September 15, Wilson has bagged eight goals, which has carried him into the thick of the race for the USL Championship Golden Boot.

• ON THE FRONT FOOT: An offseason arrival from Norway’s FK Jerv, Wilson has put together one of the best seasons in Roots’ history. His 15 goals rank second in the USL Championship while he boasts a strike rate of a goal every 137.4 minutes. Those are currently the second-best marks for Roots in a single season since it joined the Championship, trailing only Óttar Magnus Karlsson’s 19 goals and 135.7 mins/goal strike rate in the 2022 campaign.

• SURGING FORWARD: The 29-year-old reached those marks thanks to a remarkable second half of the season, beginning with his tally in Roots’ 2-0 win at Loudoun United on July 19. That began a four-game scoring streak for Wilson, and after being held off the scoresheet against Monterey Bay FC on August 31, he picked up where he left off, starting the run that’s moved him within a goal of the Charleston Battery’s Cal Jennings, the current Golden Boot leader on 16 tallies.

• EYES ON THE PRIZE: After Roots were eliminated from contention for the USL Championship Playoffs on Wednesday night with Orange County SC’s victory against San Antonio FC, the side has two games to play and end the season on a high note. While team success will have to wait until next season, helping Wilson earn a major accolade – and potentially tie Hadji Barry’s USL Championship record eight-game scoring streak – would provide a silver lining to the end of the campaign.

Wilson’s run of form has taken what looked like somewhat of a formality for Jennings when it comes to the Golden Boot and made it competitive again. Jennings remains the frontrunner – particularly with three games left for the Battery over the final eight days of the regular season – but Wilson’s form could pip him at the post, leaving one of the league’s most prolific all-time scorers in second place for the Golden Boot for the second time in his career.

As Oakland heads to face New Mexico United on the national stage on Sunday evening (5 p.m. ET | CBS Sports Network), the visitor’s star striker will be one to watch as he pursues one of the league’s marquee awards.