Phoenix Rising’s Junior Flemmings named USL Player of the Month

Phoenix Rising FC forward Junior Flemmings was named USL Championship’s August Player of the Month, the league announced on Thursday.

“I think it’s a collective effort, a team effort first and foremost,” Flemmings said in a press release. “It’s just a testimony to how hard we’ve worked over the first couple of weeks and I think we just keep going.

“There’s no individual award without the team, and we keep moving forward as a team. … When you have that high level of confidence, anything is possible, things are just happening naturally. When I get the ball, I know what to do, and it just keeps going.”

Flemmings scored seven goals and created eight chances over the course of six matches in the month of August.

Three of those finishes came in Phoenix Rising’s 5-2 win over rival New Mexico United for what was the Jamaican international’s first hattrick in USL Championship.

And of the seven goals, two were deemed good enough to be named the league’s Goal of the Week.

Phoenix Rising forward Junior Flemmings with your official #USL Championship Week 6 Goal of the Week: #RisingTogether pic.twitter.com/om7iCTSJ32

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) August 6, 2020

Phoenix Rising FC forward and Jamaica🇯🇲 international Junior Flemmings with your #USL Championship Week 8 Goal of the Week. #RisingTogether pic.twitter.com/3Azscum5ad

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) August 20, 2020

Flemmings’ goal tally is now up to 11 and he currently sits atop the scoring charts as the league’s leader for the Golden Boot.

“Junior’s had a fantastic month. I think that you can see individually he’s been very dangerous, creates a lot of opportunities, scores a lot of goals,” Phoenix Rising manager Rick Schantz said in the release.

“His finishing has been clinical this season. I expect that usually when he’s going against two defenders or three defenders it would be difficult, but he shows you how hard he works and how competitive he is week in and week out.”

Coincidentally, the Jamaican wasn’t named to USL’s Team of the Week in either of the two weeks he won Goal of the Week.

However, he was named the league’s Week 7 Player of the Week and also received honorable mention honors (bench) in Week 9.

PRFC captain Solomon Asante — who was USL’s Week 9 Player of the Week — was also nominated for the league’s Player of the Month award.

However, the Ghanaian finished fifth in voting.

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