Hat trick earns Albion SC PROS striker Amani Walker NPSL Player of the Week honors
Image credit: NPSL
The entire Albion SC PROS squad had a performance to remember last weekend in Albion’s 7-3 home thrashing of fellow Cali club City of Angels FC. And perhaps no one will recall the match as fondly as forward Amani Walker, who coolly bagged a hat trick.
Walker’s three-goal performance earned him a hard-to-win NPSL accolade: Mitre National Player of the Week. With 96 teams in the league, even weekly awards are very difficult to come by in the NPSL.
“It’s an honor to get Player of the Week,” Walker said in the press release announcing the winner. “I was in the right position to be able to prosper and to get those goals.”
The 27-year-old front man got plenty of help from his teammates, too. Albion striker Tre Hayes pitched in a goal and two assists, and forward David Luquen netted two tallies of his own. The home side had already built a 6-0 lead at halftime.
“It was a full team effort,” Walker added. “You know, being up six at the half it obviously wasn’t just me, but we came out with a goal and I think we accomplished it.”
Photo credit: Keith and Michelle Dereld
With the victory all but locked up, Albion subbed out quite a few starters to begin the second half. City of Angels attacker Byron Rivera capitalized, netting a hat trick of his own after the break to allow the visitors to save face. Rivera’s final goal even came on a bicycle kick.
But the first-half barrage was ultimately too much to overcome for City of Angels FC. A seventh Albion goal off the foot of Walker allowed him to complete the trifecta and kept the scoreline out of reach.
“The guys came out firing … electric in front of goal,” said HC Korytoski. Read more about our 7-3 win. Link in the bio 👆#AlbionNation pic.twitter.com/VS8mey8HSH
— ALBION SC PROS (@albionscpros) May 8, 2017
Walker’s award-winning day helped move the Albion SC PROS (4W-0D-4L, 12 points) into fourth place in the NPSL Southwest Conference standings. His coach definitely felt the NPSL picked the right man to win the distinction this week.
“It was well-deserved,” Albion manager Ziggy Korytoski said. “His hat trick the other day made the game. He’s been working really hard. He’s a great guy to work with and he’s starting to find a bit of rhythm. I’m very happy for him.”
After losing in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, Walker and his PROS teammates will try to rebound Saturday in their return to NPSL action at Oxnard Guerreros FC.
You can follow Kevin on Twitter @KJboxing.
