With only a handful of league games in April, every division was finally underway during May. This gave us our best look yet at who would be setting the pace early on, with some teams exceeding the preseason expectations and others already not living up to them. Despite the natural unpredictability, there’s a few clubs with players featuring in my selections for April and May – that really should be expected to some extent. Here’s who I think deserved particular recognition this month:
Now let’s delve into each selection individually, starting with our keeper:
Katelyn Kellogg –
Grindavík goalkeeper
American shotstopper Katelyn had a heroic start to the month, saving 3 penalties across 2 cup games. The first was in regular time against KR with the other 2 coming in the shootout to deny ÍA, and setting up a Quarter-Final against Valur.
Meanwhile, Katelyn was also keeping her net relatively quiet in the league as well, conceding just 3 goals in 4 games, with a cleansheet against HK.
Barbára Sól –
Breiðablik Defender
Following their 2 wins in April, Breiðablik have remained perfect through 7 games in the league. In this post we are only interested in the 4 wins from May, in which the team conceded just 2 goals as Barbára played a vital role in defence. That alone is worthy of high praise, but she also scored the winning goal against main title rival Valur – a goal which could reverberate for much of the season.
Sigurjón Már –
Njarðvík Defender
It’s clear that Njarðvík are set for a better season than in 2023, in which they stayed up by a single mark in goal difference. To start this campaign, they went undefeated in 5 games across May, with 4 of them being wins. With 11 goals scored, it might have also made sense to include someone like Oumar Diouck who scored 5 of them, but Sigurjón played every minute this month as part of a defence that let in just 2 goals with 3 clean sheets.
Arnar Daníel –
Grótta Defender
Grótta might not have had quite the same record for stopping opponents scoring as the previous entries, but Arnar has still had a great month. Their season opener was a draw with Afturelding where they only conceded an own goal, then they followed that up with a shutout win over Keflavík. Arnar was man of the match in the subsequent 2-2 draw with Grindavík, in which he also scored a goal, but his most memorable performance from May was still to come. After putting the ball in his own net in the 8th minute, Arnar gave Grótta a 3-2 lead with a 71st minute goal in the right net. Leiknir would equalise with a late penalty, but Arnar was on hand again in stoppage time to grab the winning goal.
Katie Cousins –
Valur Midfielder
Like in April, I’m featuring a midfielder for the title holders. This time it’s Katie, who had an exceptional start to the month in May. The former Þróttur player got her first league goal for Valur in the 7-2 demolition of Víkingur, and was integral in their comeback win over Keflavík. In that game, Katie was the lynchpin of most of her sides attacks and got the assist on the winning goal by Nadía Atladóttir.
Hildur Katrín –
ÍH Midfielder
A self-described “Number 10” wearing the #9 jersey, Hildur scored 6 goals in May. The first of the campaign came in a 7-1 win over new team Dalvík/Reynir – a scoreline that for most clubs would mark the highpoint in goal margins, but for ÍH was far-surpassed 2 weeks later in the only other game that Hildur scored in during May, as they beat Sindri 15-0
Considering that my own rules for these selections claim that “context is everything”, you may wonder how impressive it really is for a player to cash-in on goals in a game that is frankly not close, and Sindri have been no strangers to beat-downs having lost the prior game 10-0 as well. However, that match seems to have been the figurative push that Sindri needed to start showing more quality, as they drew the next one 2-2 with one of the title-favourites in KR, and then lost just 3-2 to a good KH team. All this to say: a lot of good goalscorers failed to score any at all against a team that Hildur managed to put 5 past.
Arnar Laufdal –
Augnablik Winger
Augnablik came very close to a perfect record in May, succumbing only to a single loss – an 8-goal thriller with ÍH. In science, they say that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Arnar Laufdal may disagree as that loss is the only game this season in which he hasn’t scored, while every one that he has scored in has been a victory for the team. Not quite finding his way to a hat-trick in May, he started the season with a goal in each of the first 2 games, then bagged a brace in each of the following 2.
Elín Björg –
Haukar Forward
Another club-position repeat from April, but this time Elín gets the honour for a month that was strong in quality and quantity of goals. Her season started with a pair of them, including what I thought was the best of the match, in a 6-3 win over a decent Fjölnir side. Haukar only played twice more in the league that month, but Elín added another goal against Dalvík/Reynir and had a hat-trick against Álftanes.
Kristófer Dagur –
BF108 Striker
A cursory glance at the football career of Kristófer Dagur shows us a 13-year absence from the sport (at least in terms of official KSÍ games). Unlucky for some, but not for this striker who scored 6 goals as BF108 went 4 for 4 with wins in May. Kristófer certainly wasn’t away from sports entirely in that period, as he played on the left wing in Handball. Thankfully, I’ve heard no reports of him using his hands to score either of the goals against Hörður and Uppsveitir, nor among the 4 he had against Stokkseyri.
Krista Eik –
Völsungur Striker
Völsungur are another team with the maximum possible points total to start the season, and with a very consistent goal scorer. From 4 team wins in May, Krista Eik bagged both goals in their opening victory over Álftanes and followed that with a hat-trick against Sindri. The month was rounded out by a goal in each of the other games as Krista already approaches her goal total from last season.
Max Leitch –
Hafnir Striker
Another month, another English player selected – you’ll have to trust me that it’s not from bias to my former home country. MAx is also another player to have scored at every opportunity for his club in May, as Hafnir won all 3 of their matches in the month. The Englishman, previously of Dorking Wanderers, is their top-scorer over that span of games. He started the season off right with a hat-trick against Spyrnir, with subsequent goals against Léttir and Álftanes to reach the total of 5.
Honourable Mentions
There were a few players suggested by followers on Instagram which I couldn’t fit into the lineup, mostly because of others beating them out at their position or from their club. Here they are anyway:
- Simon Dominguez Colina – Völsungur midfielder
- Jakob Gunnar Sigurðsson – Völsungur striker
- Erla Karitas Jóhannesdóttir – ÍA winger
- Gunnar Flosi Grétarsson – Stokkseyri winger
- Bjarki Sigurjónsson – KÁ striker
- Benedikt Svavarsson – SR
- Alexander Aron Davorsson – Álafoss
- Hrannar Ari Örvarsson – Þorlákur
TEAM OF THE MONTH RULES
- One player per club, per month
- No player can appear in consecutive months
- Must be based on performances in KSÍ matches in the given month
- Women’s and men’s categories, and all divisions and cups are treated equally
- Context is everything, so performances are weighted to that
- Goals scored aren’t everything, but it is the easiest metric for me to find evidence of, especially when it comes to lower leagues.
- Playing positions are somewhat flexible in order to fit the format
- I’m open to messages suggesting players for the team of a month if it’s before I have posted it, but not after.