PDL Feature
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
VSI Tampa’s Ben Sweat led the current and former PDL players who starred in college this weekend, with the standout South Florida junior defender taking TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Player of the Week award after the No. 4 Bulls defeated both No. 20 Southern Methodist and Tulsa to win the Hurricane Classic in Tulsa, Okla. and remain perfect at 3-0-0 to start the season.
Sweat scored the lone goal in the Bulls’ victory against SMU, his second game-winner of the season, with the quick left back pushing up to join South Florida’s attack. Sweat’s South Florida and VSI teammates Eric Osswald and Ashani Fairclough were both also named to the All-Tournamen team, while Reading United’s Lucas Baldin scored the game-winning goal for the Bulls in their second win of the weekend, a 2-1 victory against host Tulsa on Sunday night.
Sweat was joined on the TDS Team of the Week by the Austin Aztex’s Khiry Shelton, who continued his hot start to the season for Oregon State with two goals and an assist as the Beavers took a win and a draw at the Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic. Shelton has scored in each of Oregon State’s opening three games of the season, and will get to go up against one of his PDL teammates on Friday night as OSU visits Notre Dame and Dillon Powers.
Orange County Blue Star standout Joe Sofia was also named to the Team of the Week as he played almost every minute of UCLA’s overtime contests with Maryland and Virginia on their east-coast swing. The center back also bagged the game-winner for the Bruins in their victory against the Cavaliers.
Maryland’s Patrick Mullins was also selected after the New Orleans Jesters forward had a goal and three assists as the No. 6 Terrapins took a draw against Sofia’s Bruins, and then posted an impressive 6-0 victory against Cal on Sunday night. He was joined by former Kansas City Brass forward Coleton Henning, who had three goals in as many games for Furman last week, also earning Southern Conference Player of the Week honors.
Former Carolina Dynamo forward Martin Murphy earned ACC Player of the Week honors as he scored the game-winning goal in both of No. 1 North Carolina’s victories this weekend. Murphy scored the only goal in the Tar Heels’ 1-0 victory against West Virginia on Friday night, and then converted from the penalty spot against Boston College to give his side a 2-1 win on Sunday.
Notre Dame’s Ryan Finley, who starred this summer for Reading United, won the Big East’s Offensive Player of the Week award after recording two goals and an assist for the Fighting Irish at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Finley led his side to a pair of victories, getting the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win against San Diego State before assisting on the game-winner in a 2-1 win against Clemson, also earning All-Tournament Team honors.
Finley was joined by former Long Island Rough Riders defender Jimmy Nealis in being honored, with the Georgetown standout taking the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Week award as he helped the Hoyas concede just once as they took three victories during the week.
For the second consecutive week, Portland Timbers U-23s standout Steven Evans was named the West Coast Conference’s Player of the Week, with the Portland Pilots midfielder scoring both goals in Washington’s 2-1 victory against Cal State Bakersfield on Friday night. In addition to being honored by the WCC, Evans was named the 2012 Nike Portland Invitational MVP.
Evans' Timbers U-23s teammate Andrew Ribeiro also took home conference honors, being named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week after Creighton took a 1-1 draw against Akron and a 3-0 victory against Rutgers. Ribeiro's teammate with the Bluejays, and Reading United midfielder, Jose Gomez also took home MVC honors, earning the Offensive Player of the Week award as he had a goal and assist at the Ameritas Classic.
The Baltimore Bohemians’ Pete Caringi claimed America East Player of the Week honors after scoring all three goals for UMBC in their two contests last week. A two-time All-Conference selection, Caringi scored the game-winning goal in the Retrievers’ 2-1 victory against Robert Morris on Saturday, which followed a 1-1 draw against VCU last Thursday.
Xavier’s Luke Spencer, who played this summer for the Cincinnati Kings, took the Atlantic-10’s Player of the Week honors, scoring three goals and adding an assist for the Musketeers in their victories against Wright State and Cincinnati. The strong pair of performances also landed Spencer on the College Soccer News’ Team of the Week.
Spencer was joined in being honored by the Atlantic-10 by Orlando City U23’s David Graydon, who earned Rookie of the Week honors after scoring the game-winning goal for St. Louis in the Billikens’ 3-1 victory against UMKC.
IMG Bradenton’s David Geno took Player of the Week honors in the Atlantic Sun, scoring three goals for Eastern Tennessee State in their pair of victories against UNC Greensboro and No. 17 UAB. Geno leads the Atlantic Sun with seven points this season, scoring the game-winning goal in each of the victories.
Players from 2012 PDL Championship Game’s two teams earned honors in the Big South, with FC London’s Scott Shewfelt taking Defensive Player of the Week honors for Coastal Carolina and the Carolina Dynamo’s Shane Malcolm taking Attacking Player of the Week for High Point. Malcolm scored twice and added two assists as High Point took a pair of victories, while Shewfelt came on after a red card and saved a penalty as his side earned a 1-1 draw against Ohio State. Shewfelt then shut out Wright State in a 1-0 victory later in the week.
The Ventura County Fusion’s Gor Kirakosyan earned big West Offensive Player of the Week honors after he scored both goals in UC Irvine’s 2-0 victory against LIU Brooklyn on Friday night. Kirakosyan scored in the 19th and 51st minutes for the Anteaters, who are 3-0-0 to start the season.
Finally, former Indiana Invaders midfielder Gideon Asante took the Colonial Athletic Association’s Player of the Week award as he scored the game-winning goal in Old Dominion’s upset of No. 25 Central Florida. Asante scored in the 15th minute to give his side the lead, and then assisted on Tim Hopkinson’s goal four minutes later as the Monarchs took a 2-0 victory.