USL News Release

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

TAMPA – United Soccer Leagues announced today the Premier Development League Team of the Week for the 12th Week of league competition honoring the Austin Aztex’s Jamie Watson as Player of the Week.

Watson earned Player of the Week honors after netting a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over the defending PDL Champion Laredo Heat on Thursday, July 3 and, just three days later, scoring the game-winner in a 1-0 win over the Mississippi Brilla. The two weekend wins propelled the Aztex to their first club accomplishment – the 2008 PDL Mid South Championship. It also secured the first-year club a berth in the 2008 PDL Playoffs, a feat captured by only one other team to date, the 11-1-0 Michigan Bucks.

The busiest team in the PDL last week was Thunder Bay, who went 3-1-0. Brandon Swartzendruber started the Chill off with an assist against the Kansas City Brass on Monday, June 30 and then contributed a goal and another assist against the Springfield Demise on Wednesday, July 2. He followed that performance with a two goal game against the sturdy Des Moines Menace on Friday, July 4 before netting the only Canadian goal in Thunder Bay’s 5-1 collapse at the hands of the Menace on Saturday, July 5.

The goalkeeper on Team of the Week showed up in a huge game between the top two sides in the PDL’s Northeast Division. Brooklyn’s Alex Patovic faced 12 shots and saved five sure goals to earn a shutout in a 0-0 draw with the Newark Ironbound Express. Barely outdone was Newark’s keeper, Tomer Chencinski, who faced six shots and finished the match with three saves.

Receiving an honorable mention between the pipes was the San Francisco Seal’s Eric Conner, who posted the same five save/shutout game as Patovic in a 2-0 win over the Bakersfield Brigade. The Seals are now positioned for a playoff run that, if successful, will be their first appearance since the PDL Seals lost in the 1996 final. Conner will assuredly be doing his part in helping the Seals to reach that plateau, he currently ranks 10th in the PDL in both Goals Against Average (0.857) and Shutouts (4).

To reach the playoffs the Seals must navigate the annual logjam that is the Southwest Division. The Fresno Fuego are looking to take the division for the second season in a row, but that feat will be a little more difficult given the departure of 2007 PDL MVP Pablo Campos on Monday, July 7 to Gothenburg, Sweden. Even without their top scoring threat, Fresno (26 points) holds a four point advantage on the second place Los Angeles Legends (22 points). To bypass the Legends, the Seals (21 points) must take three points away from Los Angeles this Saturday, July 12. One thing on the Seals have going for them is that all of their remaining matches are in San Francisco.

Week 12
PDL Team of the Week
Pos	Name	Team	Highlights
GK	Alex Patovic	Brooklyn	5 Saves, SO in 0-0 draw between Northeast Division leaders
D	Justin Khale	Rhode Island	Defensive MVP in 1-1 draw with the New Hampshire Phantoms
D	Dwyane Demmin	Mississippi	1G, 1A in 3-3 draw with the Houston Leones
D	Alfonso Galvan-Motu	Ventura County	1G, SO in 2-0 win over Southern California
M	Thomas Boltnar	Des Moines	1G, 1A in 5-1 win (Thunder Bay); snapped 9-game win streak
M	Carlos Caly-Franca	Chicago	GWG in 1-0 win over Kalamazoo; 1st & 2nd place teams in MW
M	Boris Gatzky	Richmond	GWG in 90th minute for 1-0 upset of Fredericksburg
M	Leonardo de Barros	Baton Rouge	1G, 1A in 3-1 win over Houston Leones
F	Justin Dasah	Ottawa	Hat-trick in 3-2 win over Westchester Flames
F	Brandon Swartzendruber	Thunder Bay	4G, 2A Week for the Chill (3-1-0 Week for Thunder Bay).
F	Jamie Watson	Austin	2G, 1A Week (3-1 over LH) (GWG in 1-0 win over MB).
Honorable Mentions
GK	Eric Conner	San Francisco	5 Saves, SO in 2-0 win over Bakersfield (Seals outshot 11-7).
M	Mark Briggs	Kalamazoo	Hat-trick in 5-2 win over West Michigan
F	Tom Wollard	Hampton Roads	3G Week for the Piranhas: (2-1 over OCB) (2-0 over RKF)