With three months gone in the Major League Soccer regular season, a frontrunner is starting to emerge in the Rookie of the Year race.

Atlanta United’s Julian Gressel continued his terrific season with a brilliant month of May. The Providence product scored twice and assisted on two other goals to earn SBI Rookie of the Month honors.

The German opened his MLS account on May 14 in the expansion club’s 1-1 draw at Providence Park with the Portland Timbers. He followed that up six days later with one of the team’s four tallies in the home win over the Houston Dynamo.

Gressel has switched into the role of provider in the win over New York City FC, handing out a pair of assists in the 3-1 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

The 23-year-old’s impressive month was leaps and bounds better than those of other rookies. Jack Elliott and Kortne Ford were among the solid performers in the first-year group, but no one touched the impact and output of Gressel.