Week 12 pro honors announced

USL News Release

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

TAMPA, FL — United Soccer Leagues announced the Team of the Week honors for the 12th week of the USL season, honoring Portland’s Mandjou Keita as the USL First Division Player of the Week and Richmond’s Matthew Delicate as the USL Second Division Player of the Week.

The Portland Timbers extended their franchise-record unbeaten streak to 12 games Sunday with a dominating 4-0 victory over the Montreal Impact at PGE Park powered, in part, by the two-goal performance from striker Mandjou Keita, earning Player of the Week honors for the second time.

The former Guinean U23 National Team captain set the tone early with a header off a David Hayes free kick nine minutes into the contest that held as the lone strike through the remainder of the half.

Then two minutes into the second stanza, Keita finished some nice combination play on the right flank with a drive into the box and a shot that deflected past Matt Jordan.

Keita nearly completed a hat-trick in the 64th to make it 4-0, but the ball was intercepted at the last second by Simon Gatti, who under pressure passed it back to Jordan not knowing the keeper was also coming out on the play, and sending it into the back of the net for an own goal.

His four-point night is the difference between second and third in the league points table as he only trails Puerto Rico’s Cristian Arrieta, who has numerous penalties among his 15-point total.

The Richmond Kickers moved to 5-2-5 on the year with a 2-1 victory on the road over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Saturday evening with Matthew Delicate providing both tallies on the night, remaining in a tie for second in the league table with Wilmington.

The Kickers connected early when they capitalized on a defensive miscommunication in the 6th minute. Midfielder Adrian Bumbut delivered a cross from the right side, catching the defense and goalkeeper Danny Waltman off guard. As Waltman fumbled the ball, Delicâte snuck in and buried it from close range.

Before the close of the first half, the Kickers reclaimed the advantage when Delicâte unleashed the eventual game-winner. Midfielder Mike Burke delivered a corner from the right side, finding Gerson dos Santos in the air. His header lofted across the box to Delicâte, positioned at point-blank range, allowing the Kickers leading scorer to tuck it into the upper 90.

The two goals put Delicate in a tie for the league lead in tallies with seven on the year, and one point back of Wilmington’s Jamie Watson in points.

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