New York City FC desperately needed someone to step up to end their brutal seven-game winless streak in Major League Soccer.
Down seven players against the Columbus Crew, there were doubts NYCFC would be able to end their miserable skid with just three games to go before the two-month-long FIFA World Cup break.
But Hannes Wolf had other ideas: He scored a hat trick, leading New York City to a dominant and reassuring 3-0 win over the Crew on Sunday evening at Yankee Stadium.
Mark Radigan
Wolf scores in bunches (again)
"It's my first professional hat trick, so that's a good feeling," he said following the win over Columbus. "But most importantly, the team won. It was one of those days where I was just in the right positions, and things sometimes come into flow...The first two times, I got perfect assists from my teammates. I found myself in good spots."
On all three goals, Wolf was playing more centrally instead of Nico Fernández Mercau, who assisted on the last two goals. The Austrian was getting in behind and finding himself in the right spot each time, converting on all three of his shots.
