Renan Ribeiro Named USL Championship Player of the Week
September 17, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release
Renan Ribeiro has been named the USL Championship Player of the Week for Week 28, becoming the first player in Hartford Athletic history to earn the honor after an outstanding showing in goal over the team's recent road trip.
Ribeiro was heroic in Hartford's 0-0 draw at Memphis 901 FC on Wednesday night, putting on a showstopping seven-save performance to keep his team from dropping a crucial point. He was peppered with six shots in the second half, and came up with one acrobatic denial after another. One of his top stops was in the opening minutes of the half, when he dove and fully extended to deflect a curling shot from Emerson Hyndman that was labeled for the top right corner. He added another stellar save in the 81st minute, springing to the left side of the net and getting his right hand a strong header from Leston Paul off a corner delivery.
The red hot keeper picked up right where he left off when Hartford traveled to Miami on Saturday, erasing the home side's most dangerous scoring opportunity of the night in lieu of a 3-0 win for the Green and Blue. He charged off his line to punch out an inswinging corner in the 29th minute, then leapt into the air to push Alejandro Mitrano's curling strike up and over the crossbar.
The 34 year old Brazilian signed with Hartford in November after spending four seasons in Liga Portugal, and a brief stint in the Saudi Pro League. He missed the first eight matches of the season due a quad injury, and has been nothing short of superb since making his American soccer debut on May 4th. In 21 starts, he's made 81 saves (third in the league, and second most in Hartford Athletic single-season history), collected six clean sheets, holds a 1.07 GAA and the league's best save percentage at 80% (minimum 15 games played).
Ribeiro and Athletic sit just three points below the Eastern Conference playoff line with six matches left on their schedule. They return home this Saturday, September 21st to host Oakland Roots SC at 7:00pm. Tickets are available at hartfordathletic.com/tickets.
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