March/April Player of the Month

With the Wizards not having a game this weekend, they are done with play for the first full month of the season. That means that it's time to decide who was this month's Down the Byline Player of the Month. For me, the award this month came down to 3 players, and their play over the course of the entire month. Those 3 are Davy Arnaud, Kevin Hartman, and Claudio Lopez.

Arnaud played in 6 of the team's 7 games over the first month and a half of the season, scoring 3 goals and an assist. He continues to be one of the hardest working players in the league.

Hartman recorded 3 shut outs in the months of March and April over San Jose, Seattle, and New York. In the second game of the season, Hartman set the MLS saves record, passing Tony Meola.

Lopez leads the team in assists through the first month and a half of the season, with 3. He's also chipped in 2 goals.

So with that I set about deciding who was the player of the month. As I looked over each of the games in my head again, I started to lean away from Lopez and more towards either Hartman or Arnaud. Both of them had been very important to the team in the first month of the season whether it be keeping the team in games in front of goal, or being the guy that teams have to worry about dropping a 25 yard bomb on them. In the end though, I decided to go with Kevin Hartman.Photo courtesy of Thad Bell

Hartman not only had his 3 shutouts, but he also kept KC in games, particularly the Chicago game, where even though he gave up 2 goals, he stood on his head in the second half keeping the Wizards in the game for them to make their come back and get the draw.