USL Announces Week Nine Teams of the Week

June 21, 2005 - USL First Division (USL-1) News Release


TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues announced the Week 9 Teams of the Week Tuesday, honoring Charleston's Usiel Vasquez, Harrisburg's Matt Tanzini, New Orleans' Pablo Araya and Cleveland's Jessica Rostedt. The U17 Triangle FC Girls and the U16 Kalamazoo Kingdom Boys were selected as the Super Y-League Team Clutch performances of the Week.

Battery forward and USL First Division Player of the Week Usiel Vasquez notched two game-winning goals this week as Charleston earned wins over first-place Richmond and third-place Vancouver.

With the Battery up 1-0, Battery midfielder Lazo Alavanja got on the end of a long clearance from the halfway line and snapped a header down to Vasquez. Vasquez lashed a first-time shot past Kickers goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale to put Charleston up 2-0.

Then, just two days later, Vasquez earned his second game-winner, third straight, in the 21st minute as Charleston midfielder Josh Smith was tackled as he shot the ball. The ricochet squirted out to Vasquez who fired past Whitecaps ‘keeper Mike Franks.

Vasquez is now tied for 10th in the league in goals with three. The rookie forward came to the Battery from Southern Connecticut and was originally drafted by the MetroStars of Major League Soccer.

Harrisburg midfielder and USL Second Division Player of the Week Matt Tanzini scored the game-winning goal and added an assist as the City Islanders took a 3-2 decision over the Western Mass Pioneers on Saturday night. The win moved Harrisburg to within three points of the third-place Pioneers in the standings, with two games in hand.

Tanzini got his first point of the night in the 55th minute when he took the rebound off a Steve Fisher shot and calmly passed it back to Fisher, who slotted it home for the easy goal, putting the City Islanders up 2-1.

Then in the 76th minute, Harrisburg's 2004 leading scorer slid in from the left wing and unleashed a right-footed drive that sailed past Pioneers goalkeeper Bryan O'Quinn and nestled inside the far post for the 3-1 lead. The points were the first of the year for Tanzini.

The Binghamton, NY native notched six goals and one assist for 13 points last season despite playing only 785 minutes on the season. He has played in the MISL for the Kansas City Comets and has also played for the U.S. National Futsal Team.

The New Orleans Shell Shockers were struggling at 1-5-0 going into the weekend, but PDL Player of the Week Pablo Araya helped pull them out of the slump with a pair of wins over 7-4-0 Mid South second-place Laredo Heat.

Trailing 1-0 Friday, Araya set up Jose Villegas for the equalizer in the 83rd minute and then scored the winner on an assist from Villegas in stoppage time for their first win since opening day May 14.

The following night, Araya scored all three goals in his side's 3-1 win over Laredo, striking early in the sixth minute on an assist from Anthony Peters. He pushed it to 2-0 in the 31st and completed the hat-trick in the 72nd on another assist from Peters to make it 3-0.

Araya, an 18-year old Chilean, has six goals and an assist in six games for the Shell Shockers in his first season.

The Cleveland Internationals W-League side showed well over the weekend with 12 goals in two victories over Cincinnati and Fort Wayne. W-League Player of the Week Jessica Rostedt played a key role with five of the tallies and two assists.

The Internationals avenged their home loss to Cincinnati the week before with a 7-2 thrashing in Cincinnati Friday in which Rostedt registered three goals and an assist. Trailing 1-0 on a sixth minute Ladyhawks goal, Rose Augustin, who was also named to the Team of the Week, leveled the score in the 19th minute and Rostedt scored two of the next three goals with tallies in the 24th and 31st minutes to make it 4-1. Rostedt went on to complete a hat-trick in the 63rd minute and set up Augustin's final strike of her hat-trick to cap the scoring for the night.

Back home two nights later, Rostedt added to her point total with another two goals and an assist in a 5-1 win over Fort Wayne. She found Jill Feree three minutes in for an early lead and scored in the 15th to make it 2-0. August converted a penalty in the 25th and scored her fifth of the weekend in the 33rd to make it 4-0 at the break. Rostedt completed the night with a goal in the 72nd minute on an assist from Feree.

In her second season with the Internationals, Rostedt has six goals and five assists in five games, ranking fourth in points and eighth in goals in the league. The 19-year old scored five goals in 10 games last season.

The U17 Triangle FC Girls won their first game of the season with a wild 4-3 affair against Atlanta Fire United. Paige Morrow was the star of the match, scoring all four goals for her side in the victory.

The Kalamazoo Kingdom U16 Boys kept their perfect season intact with a 1-0 road win over the Chicago Magic courtesy of Domenico Barone, who provided the lone goal to bump the team to 8-0-0 on the season.

USL First Division Team of the Week
Pos Name Team Highlights
G Chris Doyle Charleston Eight saves, one GA in pair of wins
D Frank Sanfillippo Rochester Goal in 5-0 win at Portland
D Adilson DeLima Atlanta Game-winner in 3-2 win over Vancouver
D Jason Perry Rochester Solid play in 5-0 win at Portland
M Lazo Alavanja Charleston Goal, assist in 2-1 win over Richmond
M Jeff Matteo Minnesota Goal, assist in 4-3 win over Puerto Rico
M Roland Aguilera Rochester Goal in 5-0 win at Portland
M Steve Klein Vancouver Goal in 2-3 loss at Atlanta
F Dan Antoniuk Portland Two goals in 2-1 win over Puerto Rico
F Corey Woolfolk Puerto Rico Three goals in pair of losses
* F Usiel Vasquez Charleston Two game-winners over Richmond, Vancouver

USL Second Division Team of the Week
Pos Name Team Highlights
G Brian Schaeper Cincinnati Four saves in 1-0 win at Pittsburgh
D Jason Karalexis New Hampshire Solid play in 2-0 win over Long Island
D Josh Rife Charlotte Solid play in 1-0 win over Wilmington
D Brandon Curran New Hampshire Solid play in 2-0 win over Long Island
M Ishmael Mintah Charlotte Game-winner in 1-0 win over Wilmington
M Omar McFarlane Western Mass Two goals in 5-3 win over Northern Virginia
* M Matt Tanzini Harrisburg Goal, assist in 3-2 win over Western Mass
M Jeff Hughes Cincinnati Game-winner in 1-0 win at Pittsburgh
F Chad Severs Harrisburg Goals, assist in 3-2 win over Western Mass
F Bjorn Hansen New Hampshire Game-winner in 2-0 win over Long Island
F Chris Vita Northern Virginia Two goals in 5-3 loss to Western Mass



USL First Division Stories from June 21, 2005


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