Solomon Asante named 2020 USL Championship Most Valuable Player

Ghanaian playmaker Solomon Asante for a second time has been voted the 2020 Championship Most Valuable Player, becoming the second player to claim the award twice in the league’s history.

The 30-year-old Ghanaian attacker follows in the footsteps of current Minnesota United FC forward Kevin Molino, who earned the award in the 2012 and 2014 seasons.

Last season, Asante became only the second player following Molino in 2014 to lead the Championship’s regular season in both goals and assists and this year, Asante notched his second consecutive assists crown with nine to his name in the season, and managed only six goals in the process.

Nowadays, though, we have additional numbers that measure the influence that Asante has had on Phoenix’s success. In addition to leading the league in assists, the 30-year-old former Ghanaian international led the Championship with 42 chances created in the regular season and tied for the league-lead with nine Big Chances Created according to Opta.

The former Berekum Chelsea also finished fourth in the league with 23 shots on goal, and sixth in the league with 52 shots.

Having now notched more than 40 goals and 30 assists in three seasons with Phoenix, however, the diminutive but dynamic forward continued to thrive this season in the desert, and may continue dazzling in the league for more seasons to come.

Asante earned 22 percent of the vote to win the award. Louisville City FC’s Cameron Lancaster finished second on 15 percent, while the Charlotte Independence’s Dane Kelly finished third on seven percent. Twenty-four players in total received votes for the award.

The 2020 USL Championship Awards were voted on by team technical staffs and executives and a league-wide media panel that included representation from every USL Championship market. Voting was conducted following the conclusion of the 2020 Championship regular season.

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