Adrien Pérez named USL Championship’s July player of the month

Adrien Pérez turned a July scoring burst into a league honor, and the shape of the run mattered as much as the totals. His two goals and one assist in Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s 3-1 win over Phoenix Rising FC at Weidner Field gave the Switchbacks a match-defining finish and set the tone for a month that ended with the USL Championship naming him July Player of the Month.

The July 4 performance earned Pérez Player of the Week honors for Week 17/18 on July 7, then carried into the monthly award after he kept delivering across multiple matches. The league’s voting process blended three separate voices: fans voting on USLChampionship.com, current USL Championship players and a technical committee. That structure rewarded more than one hot night, and Pérez’s month fit the criteria with the kind of finishing and movement that can tilt a game before the final whistle.

Pérez’s January move to Colorado Springs made the July surge even more notable. He signed with the Switchbacks on Jan. 12, 2026, bringing a résumé that already showed production across the league: 16 goals and 11 assists over the previous three USL Championship seasons, including nine goals and nine assists for Louisville City over the prior two seasons. Those numbers framed him as a proven scorer, but July suggested something more complete, with sharper timing in the box and the consistency to keep showing up in dangerous areas.

Charleston Battery midfielder Emilio Ycaza had won June’s Player of the Month award, and Pérez’s turn in July kept the monthly honors tied to players shaping the league’s most consequential stretches. For Colorado Springs, that matters because one forward in rhythm can change how a match opens, how an opponent defends and how quickly a game can swing back toward the Switchbacks. Pérez’s month looked less like a passing streak than a second-half breakout built on repeatable final-third work.