Milan Iloski named MLS Matchday 28 Player of the Week after hat-trick seals Philadelphia Union win

Milan Iloski has been named MLS Player of the Matchday for Matchday 28 of the 2026 season, after a decisive display in Philadelphia Union’s 4-2 victory over Orlando City. The forward scored his second hat-trick of the campaign and led his side to a sixth straight win.

As mlssoccer reports, the victory extended the Union’s unbeaten run under interim head coach Ryan Richter to 12 matches (10 wins, 0 losses, 2 draws) since the World Cup break; the 32 points collected in that span equal an MLS record.

The win came despite a depleted squad, with five regular starters missing through international duty. Among them were Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield, who made their debuts for the United States national team, as well as Andre Blake (Jamaica) and Danley Jean Jacques (Haiti).

The 27-year-old Iloski is the only player in MLS with more than one hat-trick this season and the third in Union history to achieve the feat twice in the same campaign, after Julián Carranza and Dániel Gazdag. His 16 regular-season goals are a personal best and leave him tied for fourth in the league’s scoring charts.

Iloski has now won the Player of the Matchday award twice, having also claimed it in Matchday 20 of the 2025 season. Philadelphia have produced three winners in the last four matchdays, with Bruno Damiani in Matchday 25 and Sullivan in Matchday 26. The Union return to action on October 10, when they host Real Salt Lake at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m. ET, Apple TV). According to mlssoccer, the Player of the Matchday is chosen through a process combining media and fan voting, with a panel of North American Soccer Reporters accounting for 75 percent of the vote and Instagram voting for 25 percent.