ST. LOUIS, MO – St. Louis CITY SC midfielder Carlo Holse was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA for Matchday 29 of the 2026 MLS season.
Holse scored his first career MLS hat trick in the opening 21 minutes of the match as St. Louis CITY SC defeated the LA Galaxy, 6-2, on Sunday night. Holse’s 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 on July 17, 2021. Holse is the second player in club history to produce a regular-season hat trick, accomplishing the feat in just his 10th regular-season match with St. Louis CITY SC. Despite only playing 477 regular-season minutes since joining in the summer as a Designated Player, Holse has totaled six goals, two assists, and two game-winning goal contributions.
St. Louis’ dominant 6-2 victory saw them equal their regular-season record for goals in a game and largest margin of victory. With the victory, St. Louis 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 in 2016.
Holse kicked things off just 90 seconds into the match, as club-record signing Rafael Navarro found the Danish midfielder on a counterattack for a sliding finish. It was once again Navarro to Holse in the seventh minute, with the Brazilian slipping in the midfielder who placed a one-timed strike into the far corner. Holse then completed the second-fastest hat trick in MLS history by slipping behind the Galaxy defense, controlling down a pass from Chris Durkin with his chest and then volleying home his third goal of the evening.
Holse is the third player in club history to be named MLS Player of the Matchday, joining João Klauss (twice) and Roman Bürki. Holse 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).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA 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.
