After a two-goal substitute performance Wednesday evening, Luke Haakenson has been named to the Major League Soccer team of week nine.
The second-year player spent the entirety of his rookie year on loan with Charlotte Independence of the USL Championship, but has accumulated 132 substitute minutes this season, and scored his first two Major League Soccer goals to spark and then complete a come-from-behind victory over Toronto FC. Haakenson had one other shot on target, completed 1/3 passes, and made two tackles in 38 minutes on the pitch (including stoppage time), his longest appearance so far at the MLS level.
This is his first Team of the Week performance – and given he didn’t make one last year in USL, it’s his first since his college days at Creighton University. He is the fifth selection for Nashville this season, with Joe Willis getting the nod after Week Three, Alex Muyl and Walker Zimmerman both members of the TOTW after Week Four, and Hany Mukhtar after a brace in Week Seven. Haakenson finished third in MLS Player of the Week voting, behind New England Revolution’s Carles Hil and Sporting KC’s Daniel Salloi.
Fellow 2020 SuperDraft pick Jack Maher, who scored Nashville’s opening goal in the 3-2 victory after being recalled from a loan to San Diego Loyal Sunday, made the TOTW bench.
Club and Country 