Tacoma Defiance forward Samuel Adeniran has been voted USL Championship Player of the Week for week 25 after a strong performance against Orange County SC. The Houston native scored a second-half hat trick en route to a 4-1 Tacoma victory on Saturday, October 9. It was the second hat trick ever in the club’s history, and first since its founding year. Adeniran is the first Defiance player to win the award this season.
Adeniran got the home side on the board early in the second half, firing a left-footed shot from just outside the area that curled past Orange County goalkeeper Abraham Romero in the 46th minute. He quickly found the back of the net again in the 52nd minute, when he received a pass from Danny Robles right outside the six-yard-box and was able to chip Romero to record his second goal of the night.
The Tacoma forward completed the hat trick in second-half stoppage time when he received a quickly-taken free kick, launching a shot past the goalkeeper from just inside the area to score.
The hat trick marked his eighth, ninth and tenth goals of the season for Tacoma, leading the team in scoring.
The Championship’s Player of the Week is selected by the USL National Media Panel, which is made up of representatives from each media market in the Championship. Adeniran earned 50 percent of the ballot to claim the award.
Defiance goalkeeper Christian Herrera was also named to the USL Championship Team of the Week bench after recording seven first-half saves against Orange County SC.
Tacoma looks to build off its big win as it takes on Las Vegas Lights FC on Wednesday, October 13 at Cheney Stadium (7:00 p.m. PT / ESPN+).
