After making history by becoming the youngest-ever MLS player to record a hat trick at 18 years and 196 days, FC Dallas forward Ricardo Pepi has been named MLS Player of the Week for Week 15.
The homegrown talent was the catalyst in a 4-0 win over the LA Galaxy at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, striking for his team's first three goals before teammate Jader Obrian provided the late insurance tally.
Pepi broke a scoreless deadlock in the 27th minute, depositing a through ball from Andres Ricuarte that sent him in against Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
Pepi then doubled FCD's advantage just before the halftime whistle, heading down a corner kick from fellow homegrown attacker Jesus Ferreira before launching a clinical finish to the far post.
The forward then capped off his scoring barrage in the 50th minute, converting another clinical finish from atop the 18-yard box via a set-up from winger Szabolcs Schon. That helped Pepi best current Austin FC forward Kekuta Manneh, who achieved the previous record as a member of Vancouver Whitecaps FC (was age 18 and 283 days).
Summed together, Pepi helped secure a vital three points for FC Dallas as they look to climb back into the Western Conference playoff mix. In 14 appearances (nine starts) of a breakout campaign, Pepi now has eight goals across 782 MLS minutes.
Pepi and FC Dallas return to action July 31 with a road matchup against Sporting Kansas City at Children's Mercy Park (8:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
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.
