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Ceus Earns 2nd Consecutive Team of the Week Honor

May 6, 2015 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Atlanta Silverbacks News Release


Atlanta Silverbacks Goalkeeper Steward Ceus
Atlanta Silverbacks Goalkeeper Steward Ceus
(Atlanta Silverbacks)

ATLANTA - Two matches into debut Atlanta Silverbacks season and goalkeeper Steward Ceus has two NASL Team of the Week honors. A pair of clean sheets with 11 saves against the league's most threatening offenses - the New York Cosmos on Match Day 4 and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Match Day 5 - has the Haitian international acquiring national acclaim.

"The team is working tremendously hard at limiting our opponents' chances," Ceus said. "Against the Strikers, I was able to come up with some big saves because of different situations, but the defense in front of me is putting me in a position to prevent the shots that are placed on goal."

Thanks in part to those clean sheets, the Silverbacks are unbeaten in six matches - 11 including the team's slate of preseason friendlies - dating back to the 2014 regular season finale. The five matches without a loss to open 2015 is the longest stretch to begin a Spring Season in the Club's NASL history. Seven points from five matches also equals the initial output of the 2013 Atlanta squad, which eventually won the Spring title.

"I think something special is happening here in Atlanta," Ceus said. "This team with these coaches and these players are working every second to make something special for these fans at Atlanta Silverbacks Park."

The 6-foot-6 Ceus made his debut on April 25 - when Atlanta hosted New York - after knee surgery less than six weeks prior. The 28-year-old navigated the Silverbacks (1-4-0, 8 points) to a pair of scoreless draws in his first matches, earning Team of the Week recognition in both. He silenced a combined strikeforce including Real Madrid's all-time leading-scorer Raul, Euro 2008 champion Marcos Senna, former captain of Flamenco Leo Moura and several former MLS-ers in the pair of games.

"To say it is an honor is an understatement," Ceus said. "This is still a newer league from me, and certainly a new team. But things have been done the right way from the start, and the hard work from everyone has produced moments like this for me."

Fort Lauderdale, one of the league's most prolific attacks, asked questions of Ceus early and often with four shots on frame, 10 corner kicks and another five threats resulting in either blocked shots or offside flags. The Strikers earned their first corner in just the 3^rd minute and sent Ceus sprawling into the post after an acrobatic save in the 14^th minute.

Ceus was drafted 37^th overall in 2009 by the Colorado Rapids and then-head coach Gary Smith - who led the Rapids to the 2010 MLS Cup, joining Atlanta in December of 2014. Ceus was one of Smith's first signing's for Atlanta in its current resurgence.

"Certainly, having him as a draft pick in MLS in Colorado to now, I could see a lot more of a calm and focused exterior," Smith told NASL.com in a separate story on May 5. "When he was a young player coming out of college, as you might expect, he was quite energetic, enthusiastic, and maybe not always controlled in what he was trying to achieve.

"But there's no doubt that, now, you see the product of a goalkeeper who's played in MLS. He's been abroad. He's got more experience both in soccer and in life. And, he's much happier in where his qualities and abilities lie and applying them in a game."

Ceus' honor is the sixth Team of the Week honor for Atlanta in five weeks. Center backs Simon Mensing and Rauwshan McKenzie and forwards Kyle Porter and Shaka Bangura have also received Team of the Week honors this season.

The Silverbacks next travel to Minnesota United on May 9 (7:30 p.m., ESPN3) before returning home to Atlanta Silverbacks Park on May 16 to host the Jacksonville Armada, presented by the Georgia State Soccer Association.




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Atlanta Silverbacks Goalkeeper Steward Ceus
Atlanta Silverbacks Goalkeeper Steward Ceus
   

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