NEW YORK (Monday, April 3, 2023) – Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Simon Becher was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 6 of the 2023 MLS season.
With just one goal in each of the first five games to start the season, Vancouver turned to the 23-year-old Becher to spark the attack against Canadian foe CF Montréal on Saturday night. Becher rose to the occasion, scoring two goals and providing an assist in the Whitecaps’ 5-0 victory (Watch Full Highlights Here).
In the 39th minute and with Montréal playing with 10 men, Whitecaps defender Javain Brown won a sideline challenge against a Montréal defender and played a beautiful ball to a running Becher, which the 23-year-old then crossed into the box to a wide-open Brian White for the club’s opening goal of the match (Watch Here). Five minutes later, Becher was on the receiving end of some stellar passing from his teammates, as a beautiful one-time pass from Ali Ahmed found Becher just outside the six-yard box for a left-footed redirect and a 2-0 lead (Watch Here). Becher added his second and final goal of the match in the 59th minute, as the dynamic young forward provided a sensational running finish off of a cross from Brown to punctuate a definitive 5-0 victory for the home team (Watch Here). All five Vancouver goals were scored between the 39th minute and the 59th minute of gameplay.
Becher also made MLS history with his performance, becoming the fastest player in league annals to reach four MLS goals, doing so in just his first 87 minutes of game action. The previous record was held by Columbus’ Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernández, who accomplished the feat in his first 89 MLS minutes in 2022. Becher also joined Octavio Rivero (2015) as the only players in Whitecaps history to score in each of their first three matches.
Becher is the first Whitecap to win Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire since Brian White on Matchday 29 of the 2021 season. He is the third different player aged 23 or younger to take home the honors in the first six Matchdays of the 2023 season, joining the Atlanta United duo of Thiago Almada (Matchdays 1 and 4) and Caleb Wiley (Matchday 3).
He is the first alumnus of MLS NEXT Pro to win MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire. A first-round selection of the Whitecaps in MLS SuperDraft 2022 presented by adidas, Becher signed a first-team contract with Vancouver in November 2022 after leading Whitecaps FC 2 of MLS NEXT Pro with eight goals, in addition to four assists in 22 appearances.
This week, Vancouver will host fellow MLS competitor LAFC in the first of two legs in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions on Wednesday, April 5 (10 p.m. ET) before returning to league play on Saturday night as they welcome the Portland Timbers to BC Place (10:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
