After netting his first MLS hat trick, St. Louis CITY SC forward Carlo Holse has been named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA for Matchday 29 of the 2026 season.
Holse bagged his first STL hat trick within the opening 21 minutes of St. Louis' 6-2 victory over the LA Galaxy on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire.
The hat trick was the second-fastest from the start of a match in MLS history, behind only Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar, who did so in 16 minutes (July 17, 2021). Holse is the second player in club history to produce a regular-season hat trick, doing so in just his 10th regular-season match with St. Louis.
Despite only playing 477 regular-season minutes since joining in the summer as a Designated Player, Holse has totaled 6g/2a, including two game-winning goal contributions.
The dominant victory saw CITY equal their regular-season record for goals in a game and their largest margin of victory.
St. Louis also extended their unbeaten streak in MLS regular-season matches to 18 games and 20 across all competitions. The 20-game unbeaten run is tied for the longest in MLS history, which was previously held by Red Bull New York (2016).
Holse is the third player in club history to be named MLS Player of the Matchday, joining João Klauss (twice) and Roman Bürki. He's is the first Danish player to win the award since San Diego FC’s Anders Dreyer took home the honor twice in 2025 (Matchday 1 and 31).
Holse and St. Louis CITY SC will look to set the league’s all-competition unbeaten record when they host Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a clash between the top two teams in the Western Conference on Wednesday at Energizer Park (8:30 pm ET | Apple TV).
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday 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 an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
