Tampa, Fla. – United Soccer League announced on Monday that Western Mass Pioneers forward Alec Hughes has won the 2024 League Two Golden Boot, awarded to the player that scored the most goals in the 2024 season.

Hughes scored 16 goals in 13 matches, leading Western Mass Pioneers to a second-place finish in the Northeast Division. On June 21, Hughes poured in a 22-minute hat trick against Boston City FC, and scored in five of the Pioneers’ first six games, including three consecutive braces between the end of May and beginning of June. He poured in goals while staying relatively fresh, playing fewer than 900 minutes over 14 matches.

The 22-year-old was a regular starter for the University of Massachusetts in four straight seasons ahead of this summer, and now Hughes has one eye on the playoffs. He’ll hope to bring the Pioneers back to the upper echelon of playoff performers, after the club’s best-ever finish in the national semifinal in 2021.