TAMPA, Fla. – FC Cincinnati midfielder Emmanuel Ledesma has been voted the USL Player of the Month for September as he recorded three goals and five assists to help lead FCC to its first silverware in club history, the 2018 USL Regular Season Championship, while also setting a USL single-season record for assists in the league’s modern era.

Ledesma continued what has been a historic individual campaign with five assists in Cincinnati’s opening three games of the month, with his three-assist outing in the club’s 4-3 victory against Toronto FC II moving him to 15 assists for the season to surpass the previous mark of 12 assists held by Reno 1868 FC’s Chris Wehan (2017) and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s Matt Dallman (2013). He then added three goals over the remainder of the month, including a pair of tallies in the 4-1 victory against the Richmond Kickers on September 26 that clinched the 2018 USL Regular Season Championship for the club.

“Obviously, this means a lot to me, I work hard every single day,” said Ledesma. “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.”

Ledesma received 51 percent of a weighted poll that included the USL Technical Committee, a national panel of independent media representing every USL market and an online fan vote held at USLSoccer.com. Orange County SC’s Aodhan Quinn and the Swope Park Rangers’ Hadji Barry finished tied for second with 16 percent apiece after Quinn recorded four goals and four assists to lead OCSC to the top of the Western Conference and Barry scored in all five Rangers games over the month to set a new USL record for consecutive games with a goal, a streak that reached eight games overall.

USL Player of the Month – September