SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes forward Cade Cowell has been named the MLS Player of the Week for Week 3. Cowell and midfielder Jackson Yueill were also selected to Major League Soccer’s Team of the Week. The young duo combined for three goals and two assists in the Quakes’ 4-1 victory over D.C. United on Saturday.
Cowell, 17, scored the game-winning goal and tallied two assists on Saturday. He currently leads the league with three assists and is tied with the LA Galaxy’s Chicharito with five total goal involvements (goals + assists) so far in 2021. He is one of two players to be named to the MLS Team of the Week in each of the last two weeks, joining Seattle defender Brad Smith.
The MLS Player of the Week honor is the first of Cowell’s career. He was also one of four finalists for the award in Week 2. Cowell, who doesn’t turn 18 until October, has now been nominated for MLS Player of the Week accolades twice in just seven career starts to date.
Cowell is the third-youngest player to ever be named MLS Player of the Week. Freddy Adu, born in 1989, won the award twice in 2005, and Santino Quaranta, born in 1984, won the award in 2001.
Yueill, 24, scored two goals, including a spectacular contender for MLS Goal of the Week. It marked the first multi-goal game of his career.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA (MAY 1)
On forward Cade Cowell’s performance:
“Firstly, I am happy for him. If he is playing, it’s because he deserves it. I repeat what I said last week: he listens. He is humble. He knows he has to keep growing and this is the way. He is capitalizing on his performances with goals and assists. The most difficult thing in soccer is to maintain that level of performance. We will have a calm approach to him as we have been doing so far. He is defending his position, which he has earned.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CADE COWELL (MAY 1)
On his thoughts on tonight’s performance:
“Matias [Almeyda] always gives me so much confidence to go out there and just be myself and make mistakes so that’s always a plus. I felt pretty tired towards the end, but it was all good to play the full 90 minutes."
On his decision-making process when playing tonight:
“My main focus is always to beat my defender one-on-one. Then next is to look up and see where the keeper is, and I saw that he was off his first post, so I kicked it as soon as I saw he was off. It ended very well so I was very happy with that. I just try to beat the defenders and see where the keeper is at.”
On whether the game has slowed down for him:
“I definitely feel a lot more comfortable on the ball and I feel more freedom to make mistakes and not try to be so perfect. That definitely helps, but up top is pretty fast. I try and play as quick as possible. I’m still learning how to do one-touch passes, checking in, and all that. But I definitely am more comfortable the more I play so that helps a lot.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER CHOFIS (MAY 1)
On Cade Cowell’s potential:
“Cade is a great player. We should go step by step with him. He has the best possible coach he can have at this moment. I think Matias [Almeyda] will be able to help him immensely. He knows how he will guide Cade. He is honestly a great player and I have no doubts that he will have a great career. We just need to go step by step with him because some players have excellent starts but will slow down. He has great potential.”
