Etienne Barbara Named NASL Player of the Month for April
Etienne Barbara
Maltese international and Carolina RailHawks forward Etienne Barbara has been named NASL Player of the Month for April. The vote is conducted by the NASL and voted on by selected members of the media.
Barbara has scored four goals in the RailHawks’ first four games, and he is tied with Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Faña for the NASL lead.
“It’s a great honor for Etienne and everyone with the team,” said RailHawks coach Martin Rennie. “He’ll be the first player in the NASL to get that award, so it’s great for him. It’s well deserved. Four goals in four games is quite a feat at any level of soccer, and he’s playing at a very high level. I hope he can continue to do that.”
According to the leagues press release, Barbara has scored four goals on 10 shots in 254 minutes played so far this season. He has accounted for all but two of the RailHawks’ six goals this season and has helped the club get off to a 2-1-1 start. Entering this Saturday’s game at Tampa Bay, the RailHawks are second in the NASL table with seven points, three behind leader Puerto Rico.
Faña made a good case for himself, scoring all 4 of his goals in the run of play. Barbara scored 3 goals in the run of play and all in his first 3 games. The 4th against Minnesota came on a penalty kick last Saturday evening.
“It’s a great honor for me to receive this award,” Barbara said. “Being my second season and playing in Malta I was able to come into the season prepared mentally and physically. I want to say thanks to the coaches and players because I cannot perform without them and they help me get better every day. Now we will do our best to continue and improve.”
Eighteen media members from NASL markets cast ballots for Player of the Month, with a first-place vote worth two points and a second-place vote worth one. Barbara was listed on 15 ballots, with nine first-place votes, for a total of 23 points. Faña was second with 19 points, Tampa goalkeeper Darryl Sattler third with nine points and Atlanta defender Mario Pérez fourth with one point.
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I would have voted for Fana.
All due respect to Barbara’s productivity, but I would have gone with Fana too. I feel like he’s contributing more to that team’s success, and PRI has been dominant in the first month.
Weren’t two of those goals PKs? Or did the one just hurt me that bad?
Jonathan Faña was the man for April and his team is in first place because of his hard work.
“The vote is conducted by the NASL and voted on by selected members of the media”.
Well that explains it!
Congrats to Barbara but I also believe, for obvious reasons the honor should have gone to Faña.
-4 goals in run of play
-Islanders on top, undefeated
Funny that one of Barbara’s goals came after a dubious penalty against the Islanders.
boooooo
Hooray for the Maltese Falcon!