NEW YORK (Thursday, May 4, 2023) – San Jose Earthquakes forward Cristian Espinoza was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Month for April 2023.
In leading San Jose to a 2-1-2 record in the month of April, Espinoza continued to pull the strings for the Earthquakes offense and was the only player in MLS play to score or assist in five matches during the month. He led the league with five goals in the month and scored in four consecutive matches from April 1-22, including game-winning goals against the Houston Dynamo (April 1) and Sporting Kansas City (April 15).
In his fifth MLS season, Espinoza (six goals) sits just one goal off his career-high of seven, set in 2022, and the Argentine is the lone player in the league to produce at least six goals and three assists in 2023. His six goals are the third-most in MLS through Matchday 10 trailing only Seattle’s Jordan Morris (eight) and LAFC’s Dénis Bouanga (seven), and his nine goal contributions are tied for the third-most in MLS, behind only Atlanta’s Thiago Almada (11) and Philadelphia’s Dániel Gazdag (10). Additionally, Espinoza’s playmaking ability has been critical to San Jose’s resurgence under head coach Luchi Gonzalez in 2023, as he leads the league in key passes with 26 and is one of only two players in MLS with at least 20 key passes and five goals, joining Almada (22, five).
Since the start of the 2022 season, the 28-year-old forward (13 goals, 17 assists) is one of only seven players in MLS with at least 30 goal contributions. He continues to cement his place in Earthquakes lore, as his three assists in 2023 have moved him into a tie for second in club history with 47, trailing only Shea Salinas (50).
Espinoza is the first Earthquakes player to win MLS Player of the Month since Eduardo López in September 2021 and the 10th different player in club history to receive the honor. Seven of the last 10 winners of MLS Player of the Month dating back to October/November 2021 were born in Argentina, including Almada (February/March 2023), Sebastián Driussi (April & July 2022), Luciano Acosta (June 2022), Lucas Zelarayán (February/March 2022), and Valentín ‘Taty’ Castellanos (October/November 2021).
Espinoza and the Earthquakes put their five-match home unbeaten streak on the line as they welcome undefeated LAFC to Levi’s Stadium on Saturday, May 6 (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass). The ‘Quakes last played a regular season match at Levi’s Stadium on Aug. 2, 2014, a 1-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC in the first sporting event in the stadium’s history. Saturday’s game against the 2022 MLS Cup champions will feature one of the club’s best crowds in the past decade with over 40,000 people expected in attendance.
MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
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