USL Week 17 Pro honors announced

August 12, 2008 - USL First Division (USL-1) News Release


TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues announced the USL First Division and USL Second Division Team of the Week honors Tuesday for Week 17 of the season, honoring Miami's Josh Saunders and Richmond's David Bulow as the Players of the Week, respectively.

Since handing Atlanta a 3-0 loss in Miami two weeks prior, the Silverbacks have taken the result out on their opposition by putting nine goals on the board over the course of three games and were looking to avenge the defeat when the Blues came to town Friday evening.

Josh Saunders, however, had a different plan in mind. The veteran USL First Division netminder made a fantastic diving save in the 26th minute when a free kick by David Hayes was headed on goal by Jerson Monteiro from close range.

He would cap the night with another great stop eight minutes from time for one of his nine saves in the game. A give-and-go between Tony McManus and Chris Mahaffey allowed McManus to break away in a dead sprint to goal, but Saunders was in position to stop the powerful shot.

After starting the season slow, Saunders has climbed to fifth in the league in goals against average at 0.952, but leads the league with 12 shutouts, which ranks four better than second-place Sounders netminder Chris Eylander.

In a week in which the several USL Second Division teams missed opportunities to earn a playoff spot and the table went unchanged, it was the Richmond Kickers 5-0 victory propelled by two goals and an assist from David Bulow over fellow playoff side Crystal Palace stood out above the rest.

The Richmond Kickers took an early lead with a sixth minute tally to open the match. After a quick restart, midfielder Mike Burke curled a free kick from deep on the left wing to Bulow, who was positioned inside the six-yard box. At the near post, Bulow headed the ball into the back of the net.

Bulow nearly doubled the score 10 minutes later but goalkeeper Zach Thompson pushed it wide for a corner. Minutes later, Kickers midfielder Sascha Görres stole the ball in midfield and played it wide to Bulow on the right wing. Bulow carried it down the field and slipped it back to Görres, just outside the box. His low, left-footed strike sliced through the defense but slid inches from the left post.

Not to be denied again in the 29th minute, Bulow registered his second goal of the night after a scuffle inside the box. Bulow headed the ball on goal as Thompson came off his line to slow its momentum. As Kickers defender Trevor McEachron and a Palace defender battled to gain control of the ball, it rebounded back out to Bulow at close range. With his back to the goal, Bulow back-heeled the ball over the goal line.

Bulow and Burke connected again in the 58th minute for the third goal of the night. Bulow won the ball at midfield and eluded a defender as he fed the ball through to an onrushing Burke. One on one with Thompson, he buried his shot from 12 yards into the far right corner of the net.



USL First Division Stories from August 12, 2008


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