The USL Championship announced Thursday that Charleston Battery forward Nick Markanich was named the league’s Player of the Month, presented by Konami eFootball. The award puts a bow on Markanich’s record-setting month of April.
Markanich became the top scorer across all domestic leagues in the U.S. when he ended April with 11 goals (his current total is 12). In April alone, Markanich scored eight goals and three assists in April, including a run of four consecutive games with a goal and a haul on April 27 against Las Vegas Lights FC.
Currently, Markanich has more goals himself (12) than 17 Championship teams do overall. Markanich scored the most goals (11) across the first nine matches of the season in league history since Dom Dwyer’s mark of 12 in nine in 2013. Markanich was also part of the M&M Boys duo with MD Myers where both players scored in four consecutive games together, setting a new league record.
“Nick has improved daily since he stepped foot in Charleston last year and is playing with confidence, aggression, and selflessness,” said Head Coach Ben Pirmann. “It is not a surprise to see him get the return that he has thus far.
“We always look at these awards as team accomplishments. Nick is scoring now, but he also does the dirty work in and out of possession to help his teammates. We have had a good season so far but it’s still early, I hope our players and team can win awards in November.”
Perhaps the most noteworthy performance on Markanich’s April explosion was his four-goal, one-assist match against Las Vegas. Markanich became the first player in the Battery’s Championship era to record a haul and just the second player in league history to have a 4G/1A match.
Sitting at 12 goals through 10 games, Markanich is in a position to challenge the league’s single-season goalscoring record of 25 goals.
It is Markanich’s first time winning the league’s Player of the Month award after being nominated three times since joining the Battery in 2023. He was also named Player of the Week twice in April (Weeks 6 and 8).
Markanich earned 72% of a weighted poll that included the USL Championship Technical Committee, a national panel of independent media representing every USL market and an online fan vote held at USLChampionship.com.
