Vancouver Whitecaps FC Forward Brian White Voted MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 23

NEW YORK (Monday, July 1, 2024) – Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Brian White was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 23 of the 2024 MLS season.

White scored his second career hat trick in the Whitecaps’ comeback 4-3 victory over St. Louis CITY SC at BC Place (Watch Highlights From His Performance Here). White became the first player in Whitecaps history to record multiple hat tricks and his trifecta was the fifth overall hat trick in the club’s MLS history. His first hat trick came against the San Jose Earthquakes on October 2, 2021. With his three goals, White tied Camilo Sanvezzo (39) for the most regular season goals in the club’s history MLS history. The Whitecaps erased a two-goal deficit to win for the fourth time in club history and the first since October 20, 2021, against the Portland Timbers, where they also fell behind 2-0. The club hadn’t overcome a two-goal deficit to win at home since June 15, 2013, against the New England Revolution.

With St. Louis up 2-0 in the 37th minute, White latched on to a long pass and his heavily deflected shot left the goalkeeper with no chance as it trickled into the goal (Watch Here). White then provided the equalizer after halftime with a FIFA Puskás Award contender as he instinctively flicked a scorpion kick effort from outside the 18-yard-box, which chipped the goalkeeper and into the net (Watch Here). The American forward completed his hat trick in the 61st minute as he headed home Ryan Raposo’s cross into the side-netting for his third goal of the evening (Watch Here).

White is the first Vancouver player to be named MLS Player of the Matchday since Ryan Gauld took home the honor on Matchday 21 of 2023. This is the second time White has earned the award (Matchday 29 of 2021), joining Camilo Sanvezzo (five times) and Kekuta Manneh (twice) as the only players in Vancouver Whitecaps history to win MLS Player of the Matchday multiple times.

The Whitecaps look to make it consecutive victories when they travel to face Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Wednesday, July 3 (8:30 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.