Defender Andreas Maxsø was announced to the MLS Team of the Matchday Starting XI on Monday afternoon after he notched the game-winning goal off a corner kick against Austin FC on Saturday night at DICK'S Sporting Goods Park.
Midfielder and set-piece taker Connor Ronan attempted to find the Danish international on the front post just seconds before on a different corner kick, but the second time was the charm as Maxsø's run to the back post and Ronan's deep delivery into the box connected for the lone goal of the night.
"His service has been good the whole season," Maxsø said of Ronan after the match. "I think I should have scored more goals, but we work [on them] on the training pitch. [Assistant Coach Chris Sharpe] is really good on the set pieces. It's important that we are dangerous. Today, it gave us three points."
It was the former Brøndby captain's efforts on both sides of the pitch that landed him in the TOTM lineup, as the defender held the back line down for a full 90 minutes on Saturday night, completing 14 clearances out of the box and contributing to goalkeeper Marko Ilić's first regular-season clean sheet alongside Andrew Gutman, Moïse Bombito and Sebastian Anderson.
"I thought today was a fantastic game for him," said Interim Head Coach Chris Little postgame. "He showed his experience. His starting positions, knowing where to position himself, dealing with crosses, the amount of first contacts he was getting on crosses was fantastic, and then he's got great leadership qualities. He's got a lot of experience, and that's why he was brought here to the club. We had two inexperienced players in the backline, Sebastian and Moïse, and he's done a really good job organizing them."
This is Maxsø's second TOTM honor of the season, as he was named to the Matchday 24 Starting XI after scoring the equalizer with FC Dallas in the Rapids' 2-1 home win over FC Dallas in July, which was also assisted by Ronan.
Team of the Matchday - Matchday 35
F: João Klauss (STL), Brandon Vazquez (CIN), Cristian Arango (RSL)
M: Facundo Torres (ORL), Ryan Gauld (VAN), Eduard Löwen (STL), Douglas Costa (LA)
D: Andreas Maxsø (COL), Tomás Avilés (MIA), Dave Romney (NE)
GK: Andre Blake (PHI)
Coach: Pat Noonan (CIN)
Bench: Roman Bürki (STL), Eriq Zavaleta (LA), Reed Baker-Whiting (SEA), Jonathan Osorio (TOR), Mateusz Klich (DC), Santiago Moreno (POR), Santiago Rodríguez (NYC), Cristian Espinoza (SJ), Georgios Koutsias (CHI)
