Another day, another award for FCE’s Shaun Saiko: He’s NASL Player of the Month By Steven Sandor Posted on June 1, 2012 1 0 531 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Shaun Saiko The accolades keep coming for Shaun Saiko. FC Edmonton’s poster boy has been named the NASL’s May Player of the Month. Saiko scored four goals and added on assist in May action, including a hat trick against the Carolina RailHawks that saw him score two long-range beauties. Saiko was twice named the offensive player of the week during the month, and has a total of five goals and two assists on the season. FCE has 10 goals overall in NASL play, so Saiko can claim to have figured in on 70 per cent of the team’s offence. “Shaun is one of the original members of our team going back to our exhibition season in 2010,” said FCE technical director Joe Petrone in a release issued by the club on Friday afternoon. “He’s the perfect example of the talent that can be found in Canada. This honour is well-deserved.” How The 11 voted: Saiko. We are very early in the season, so it’s too early to start predicting end-of-season awards. But, if Saiko continues this form, we won’t be talking about him as a team MVP, but as a league MVP. And it really is quite remarkable that we are recognizing a player on a team which hasn’t been able to translate a lot of Saiko’s marquee performances into wins. Edmonton sits in sixth in the eighth team NASL, mainly because of its struggles in defending set pieces. But as long as the ball is at Saiko’s feet, FCE is a threat to score from 35 yards in.
