USL announces Week 8 honors
June 10, 2003 - A-League (A-League) News Release
TAMPA, FL -- United Soccer Leagues announced today the Teams and Players of the Week in the A-League, USL Pro Select League, Premier Development League and W-League for Week 8, honoring Milwaukee's Dino Delevski, New Hampshire's Dushawne Simpson, Greenville's Haven Bruce and Hampton Roads' Meredith Flaherty as Players of the Week.
A-League newcomer Dino Delevski is quickly moving up the scoring table after a late start by his Milwaukee Wave United. Delevski led his team to a pair of wins over Portland and Minnesota to earn the A-League Player of the Week honor.
Saturday night, Milwaukee hit the road to face the rival Thunder and came away 1-0 victors on Delevski's 31st minute strike.
The following night at home, Wave United rolled to a 4-0 win over the Portland Timbers with two goals and an assist from Delevski.
Delevski found Todd Dusosky off a free kick to give Milwaukee the early lead in the sixth minute. With a 2-0 lead in the 33rd minute, he put the match out of reach with goals in the 33rd and 36th minutes on assists from Matt Schmidt and John Ball.
The New Hampshire Phantoms have picked up the scoring pace with USL Pro Select League Player of the Week Dushawne Simpson leading the way. Simpson tallied two goals and two assists in 2-0 win over San Diego Gauchos and a 3-2 loss to the New York Freedoms.
The Phantoms opened the week with a narrow 3-2 loss in New York. Simpson gave New Hampshire the lead with the game's opening tally in the 28th. He scored the go-ahead goal again in the 54th only to see the Freedoms charge back for two scores and the win after exiting the game in the 63rd minute.
On Friday, Simpson providing assists to Ryan Ackerman in the 18th minute and Bruno Herrera in the 48th to put his team back to .500 for the season at 4-4-0 with the 2-0 win over the Gauchos.
The Greenville Lions picked up their first win of the year Friday and nearly their second the following day with a scoring explosion from PDL Player of the Week Haven Bruce, who recorded five goals and an assist.
Trailing 1-0 at home to West Virginia Friday, Bruce scored the equalizer just before halftime. Two minutes after the Chaos took the lead again in the 63rd, Bruce leveled the score once more for Greenville. He then set up Kenny Cutler for the go-ahead goal in the 68th minute and finished his hat-trick with what proved to be the game-winner in the 74th minute.
The following night, Greenville fell behind again only to have Bruce prove to be the hero. The visiting Chesapeake Dragons built a 2-0 lead just 11 minutes into the match, but Bruce scored two straight in the 30 and 43rd minutes to level the score going to halftime. After a scoreless second half, the match went to overtime, where the Dragons would pick up the win with a goal in the 98th minute.
Meredith Flaherty of the Hampton Roads Piranhas is the definition of versatile, earning the W-League Player of the Week honor for outstanding play in goal and in the field.
In Friday night's battle of the unbeatens in Charlotte, the Piranhas defeated the Lady Eagles, 2-1, behind Flaherty's stellar night in goal.
With Leisha Alcia receiving the start the following night in Asheville, Flaherty, who also plays defender, entered as a midfielder in the 59th minute with a 1-0 Piranhas lead. Tied 1-1 after a 76th minute Asheville goal, Flaherty put her stamp on the game at the end of regulation. In stoppage time she found the back of the net for the game-winner on an assist from Janet Davis and then set up Kristy Ritchie for the final tally of the night.
Flaherty was the WUSA New York Power's second round draft pick, 15th overall, in 2002. Flaherty played goalkeeper for the W-1 Tampa Bay Extreme in 2001, recording 14 games, 1314 minutes, 22 goals allowed for a 1.51 goals against average and a 5-6-2 record with three shutouts. She played eight games at defender for 557 minutes in 2002 for the Extreme.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK
A-League
Pos Name Team Highlights
G Jim Larkin Milwaukee Two shutout wins over Minnesota, Portland
D Craig Demmin Rochester Goal-line save in 2-0 win over Pittsburgh
D David Wright Pittsburgh Solid play in 0-0 draw against Charleston
D Steve Lawrence Milwaukee Solid play in 1-0 win at Minnesota
M Roland Aguilera Virginia Beach Two goals, assist in 5-0 win over Atlanta
M Nikolas Zuniga Calgary Goal in 1-0 win at Cincinnati
M Andrew McDermott Charlotte Equalizer in 1-1 draw against Richmond
M Martin Nash Montreal Goal in 1-0 win over Toronto
F Dino Delevski Milwaukee Three goals, assist in pair of wins
F Dante Washington Virginia Beach Goal, assist in 5-0 win over Atlanta
F Semir Mesanovic Indiana Two goals in win and loss
USL Pro Select League
Pos Name Team Highlights
G Mark Torguson California Eight saves in 2-1 win over So. California
D Sean Carey Western Mass Solid play in 2-0 win over San Diego
D Josh Witham No. Virginia Solid play in 1-0 loss at Wilmington
D Steven Franzke New York Assist on winner in 3-2 win New Hampshire
M Mersim Beskovic Westchester Goal in 3-2 win over Reading
M Federico Molinari Western Mass Goal, assist in 5-0 win over San Diego
M Ryan Ackerman New Hampshire Goal in 2-0 win over San Diego
M Sean Riley New York Winner in 3-2 win over New Hampshire
F Tony Bussard California Two goals in 2-1 win over So. California
F Dushawne Simpson New Hampshire Two goals in 3-2 loss, two assists in 2-0 win
F Glenn Murray Wilmington Goal in 1-0 win over No. Virginia
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