One of the goals he scored drew a delighted scream from the North American Soccer League commissioner. His playoff-bound team made the 23-year-old the face of its franchise. League MVP honors are his for the taking.

Yet Minnesota United FC forward Christian Ramirez still brings the tenacity of a player unable to make a youth select team on his first try, one who later languished on the bench for his first college team.

Scoring last week in a 1-1 draw against Tampa Bay gave Ramirez a league-leading 14 goals as a rookie. But he went home to watch the replay of the match, determined to know why he missed wide on two additional scoring chances.

"There's no point in playing if you become content," said Ramirez, whose unrelenting efforts earned him NASL Player of the Month honors for May/June and August.

Teams become successful when their best players also are their hardest workers. That's Ramirez.

After United won the spring season title to ensure a spot in November's playoffs, coach Manny Lagos challenged players to avoid complacency. Ramirez leads the charge for a team with one loss heading into its 10th match of the fall season, against Fort Lauderdale on Saturday at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine.

"Look at him," veteran defender Tiago Calvano said after practice earlier this week. "Everyone is inside, but he's still working on his finishes. That's why he's the top scorer, you know?"

Perhaps the best known of Ramirez's goals this season came off a bicycle kick against Indy Eleven in August.

Watching online, NASL commissioner Bill Peterson said he "started screaming and put my hands in the air. Then I got on the phone to Fox Sports. It was a fantastic moment for him and the league."

While proud of his mounting accolades this season, Ramirez still feels like the 10-year-old who always considered another buddy in Garden Grove, Calif., as the neighborhood's top pro soccer prospect.

He credits teammates such as Kevin Venegas and Justin Davis for their unheralded abilities to get the ball forward. Ramirez says the fleet-footed Miguel Ibarra, his best friend and roommate, deserves the league MVP award.

Being humble endears Ramirez to teammates. On the field, he is unselfish to a fault. Ramirez came up as a center midfielder valued for his vision and playmaking skills. The transition to a forward asked to finish has not been always smooth.

"He wants to play balls into guys and have a little more of a clever touch at times to break a defense down," Lagos said. "It's both good and bad."

Case in point, Ramirez watched the replay and discovered his second misfire against Tampa Bay last week came from a pass-first mentality. Looking for Ibarra took Ramirez's focus off the goal for a split second and caused his shot to sail wide.

Still, Lagos praised Ramirez as "a kid who's always going to put himself in the spot to create the moment. A lot of players, at all levels, tend to hide and not put themselves in those spots."

Disappointment only intensified Ramirez's desire to succeed.

Cut from an Olympic Development Program team at age 14, he captained the team to victory at nationals two years later. Given only two starts in as many seasons at UC-Santa Barbara, Ramirez transferred to Concordia University in Irvine, Calif., and became a NAIA All-America selection.

Ramirez, who crosses himself after goals and before eating in public, is realizing the soccer dream his father, Juan, didn't pursue after suffering a back injury during his days as a semipro goalkeeper.

"We all have high hopes, but if I stopped playing soccer today I'd be satisfied," Ramirez said. "I can say I got paid to play the sport I grew up playing."