Charleston Battery forward Cal Jennings has been named a finalist for the 2025 USL Championship Player of the Year, the league announced on Friday.
The Player of the Year nomination comes after Jennings was named All-League First Team for the 2025 regular season. The striker continued his streak as one of the most prolific scorers in Championship history en route to his third career All-League selection.
In his first year with the Battery, Jennings co-led the league with 23 goal contributions (17 goals and six assists). Jennings set a career single-season high with the 23 goal contributions and finished second in the league’s Golden Boot race. Eight of Jennings’ 17 tallies were match-winners.
The striker recorded 89 shots, 30 chances created and 94 duels won as part of Charleston’s league-leading attack, and posted a +8.57 Goals Added mark in the regular season. He and fellow All-League forward MD Myers combined for 32 regular season goals, making them the Championship’s top goalscoring duo.
Among Jennings’ signature performances were braces against Rhode Island FC, San Antonio FC, Detroit City FC and Indy Eleven, all match-winning efforts.
Jennings also tied a league record for most consecutive games with a goal involvement (goal or assist) when he did so in nine straight matches from March 15 through May 24, tallying 11 goals and two assists in that span.
By the end of the year, Jennings had ascended to the third-most goals scored all-time in Championship regular season history (81).
Additionally, Jennings led Charleston with six Team of the Week selections, won the Week 11 Player of the Week and was a nominee for Player of the Month for May.
Jennings is aiming to be the second consecutive Battery player to be named Championship Player of the Year after Nick Markanich was crowned as the league’s MVP in 2024 following his historic and record-setting campaign.
Alongside Jennings as finalists for the award are Peter Wilson of Oakland Roots SC and Taylor Davila of Louisville City FC.
The winner of the Championship Player of the Year award will be announced by the league on Fri., Nov. 21, at 1 p.m. ET.
The 2025 USL Championship Awards were voted on by club management and a league-wide media panel that included representation from every USL market.