Luquinhas celebrated his fifth goal of the season in the Red Bulls’ win on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of the Red Bulls)

Red Bulls midfielder Luquinhas was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for the 15th week of the 2022 MLS season, it was announced on Tuesday

Luquinhas scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday in the Red Bulls’ 2-0 win over Toronto FC that saw them move into second place in the Eastern Conference. His five goals are the second most on the Red Bulls this season and are tied for the most by a midfielder in their debut MLS season. The Brazilian has scored or assisted in two-thirds of his starts (six-of-nine) and the Red Bulls are 4-1-1 in those matches.

With the Red Bulls leading 1-0 in the 56th minute, the team intricately played the ball from defense to attack, which sprung forward Tom Barlow whose effort was saved into the path of Luquinhas. The midfielder raced onto the ball a few yards outside of the box and carefully hit a one-time chip over a diving Toronto defender and goalkeeper for the second goal of the match (Watch Here).

Luquinhas is the second Red Bulls player to win MLS Player of the Week this year, joining Lewis Morgan in Week 2. Only the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes have had multiple players win the MLS Player of the Week this season. He is the first Red Bull player to receive the honor in his debut MLS season since Luke Rodgers in 2011.

The Red Bulls will look to win consecutive games when they travel to face LAFC at Banc of California Stadium on Sunday, June 26 (3 p.m. ET, ABC / ESPN Deportes).

Before that, they will host New York City FC in a quarterfinal confrontation of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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.

2022 MLS Player of the Week
presented by Continental Tire Winners
Week Player Club
Week 1 Carlos Vela Los Angeles Football Club
Week 2 Lewis Morgan New York Red Bulls
Week 3 Dayne St. Clair Minnesota United FC
Week 4 Jesús Ferreira FC Dallas
Week 5 Javier “Chicharito” Hernández LA Galaxy
Week 6 Leonardo Campana Inter Miami CF
Week 7 Valentín “Taty” Castellanos New York City FC
Week 8 Cristian Espinoza San Jose Earthquakes
Week 9 Kamal Miller CF Montréal
Week 10 Ronaldo Cisneros Atlanta United FC
Week 11 Sebastián Blanco Portland Timbers
Week 12 Jamiro Monteiro San Jose Earthquakes
Week 13 Sebastián Ferreira Houston Dynamo FC
Week 14 Dejan Joveljić LA Galaxy
Week 15 Luquinhas New York Red Bulls

 

 

 

FOR YOUR SUMMER READING: A book about the highs and lows of the Rochester Lancers

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.