Week 14
W-League, PDL weekly honors announced
Formiga, Crocker Players of the Week
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced
Thursday its Premier Development League and
W-League Teams of the Week for the final week of
the season, honoring New Jersey’s Formiga and
Abbotsford’s Sean Crocker as the Players of the
Week, respectively.
Looking to lock up the top spot in the Eastern
Conference and finish unbeaten to claim the
W-League regular season championship, the New
Jersey Wildcats registered wins over
playoff-bound Northern Virginia and Western Mass
behind Brazilian forward Formiga.
With the Wildcats up 3-0 after the first half at
Northern Virginia, Formiga used the second
stanza as an opportunity to warm up for the
weekend, putting the game out of reach with the
next two strikes and boosting her total for the
campaign to nine. The 6-0 victory assured the
club the conference title and the all-important
home-field advantage in the conference
tournament.
Two
nights later against a Lady Pioneers side that
had given them their toughest test of the season
coming in with a 2-1 decision earlier in the
year, Formiga led the Wildcats in a rally. Katie
Schoepfer, who tallied the lone strike in the
earlier meeting, scored 18 minutes in to put New
Jersey in their first deficit of the season. It
was the third goal allowed on the year with the
only other score coming via a penalty kick to
Long Island in the opener.
Formiga found the back of the net in the 34th
minute to level the game and scored her 11th in
the 56th on an assist from defender Beth
McNamara, who helped lead the back line in
preserving the victory to finish the season
14-0-0 for the second time in three seasons.
In
a chase for a playoff spot, the Abbotsford
Rangers did one better by claiming the Northwest
Division championship as well over the weekend,
marking only the second time a Canadian side has
won a division title in the PDL. Sean Crocker
was key in the pair of shutout victories from
his midfield role, providing four goals after
having just one coming into the weekend.
Scoreless through the first half Saturday at
home against Cascade, Crocker went on a spree,
recording a hat-trick in a just a 13-minute
span. He found the back of the net in the 50th,
55th and 63rd minutes as they cruised to a 4-0
win and a shot at the division title.
Tacoma FC, who had played them to a 0-0 draw and
two one-goal decisions, came to Abbotsford the
following night hoping to finally register a win
against the Rangers. After 40 minutes of
scoreless soccer Crocker again broke the
stalemate, scoring on a free kick. The Rangers
went on to score twice more in the second half
en route to the 3-0 win and the division title.
|
PDL Team
of theWeek |
|
|
Pos |
Name |
Team |
Highlights |
|
|
G |
Brian
Levey |
Cape Cod |
18 saves,
one goal allowed in pair of wins |
|
|
D |
Eric
DiLorenzo |
Ottawa |
Goal, led
Fury to two shutout wins |
|
|
D |
Zach
Tierney |
St Louis |
Two
assists in 2-2 draw at Des Moines |
|
|
D |
Miles
Alden Dunn |
Bradenton |
Led
Academics to 4-1 win over Central
Florida |
|
|
M |
Karim
Boukhemis |
West
Virginia |
two goals
in 3-2 win over Virginia Beach |
|
* |
M |
Sean
Crocker |
Abbotsford |
Four goals
in pair of wins |
|
|
M |
Bruno
Guarda |
DFW |
Three
assists in 6-0 win over Austin |
|
|
M |
Danny
Bartulovic |
Cleveland |
Two goals,
assist in 4-2 win over Kalamazoo |
|
|
F |
Josh
Hansen |
So.
California |
Three
goals in 3-0 win over San Diego |
|
|
F |
Mkohkheli
Dube |
Michigan |
Two goals,
assist in 6-1 win over West Michigan |
|
|
F |
Andrew Hoxie |
Williamsburg |
Two goals, assist in 6-2 win atRichmond |
