USL News Release

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

TAMPA, FL -- United Soccer Leagues announced the Team of the Week honors for the ninth week of the USL season, honoring Charleston’s Tyler Hemming as the USL First Division Player of the Week and Western Mass’ James Thorpe as the USL Second Division Player of the Week.

The 2008 US Open Cup finalist Charleston Battery lost the league’s Rookie of the Year in Osvaldo Alonso to the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer. But it appears the midfielder they picked up essentially in return from MLS is filling in quite nicely as Tyler Hemming helped lead the club to a win and a draw in Austin over the weekend that pushed the lone unbeaten club into the top spot in the table.

The young Canadian returned from Cyprus earlier in the week after making his first National Team appearance for the senior international side, coming off the bench in a 1-0 victory.

Coming into the two-game series against the Aztex, Hemming had seen action in seven of their nine matches on the year and had one assist. His trans-Atlantic trek must have suited him well as he notched a pair of assists in Friday’s 2-0 victory.

Charleston started off well in only the 11th minute when Hemming forced his way through the middle before slipped a pass forward to Darren Spicer. Spicer out-paced his defender and finished neatly at the near-post.

Charleston sealed the win in the 66th minute as Matt Bobo scored his first goal for the club. Hemming drove in a perfectly placed driven corner kick into the center of the box and Bobo snapped a header under the crossbar to make it 2-0.

Hemming joined the Battery from Toronto FC, where he spent the last two seasons. Prior to that, Hemming spent two years with the Ottawa Fury of the PDL, seeing action in 29 games for the club in its first two years of existence.

The Western Mass Pioneers started the season off in dreadful form, losing their first four matches by a combined 9-1 aggregate score, but have turned this around over the past few weeks and pushed their current form over the last five to 3-1-1, pulling out of last place. Goalkeeper James Thorpe has been a key contributor as the new netminder over that span with a record of 3-1-1 and two shutouts.

This past week, things started off shaky when he tweaked his groin in the first half of Friday’s home fixture against Crystal Palace, but he fought through the injury as Adrian DuBois gave the club a 2-0 lead. Thorpe posted seven saves on 11 shots in the match with the lone goal in the 2-1 victory coming via a late 82nd minute penalty kick.

The following night against Real Maryland, Thorpe again took the field and posted his second shutout of the year, posting six saves on 11 shots in a 2-0 victory as they hosts were outshot for the second night in a row.

Thorpe spent last year with DC United after two seasons in the PDL, where he excelled with the Cape Cod Crusaders (2007) and Colorado Rapids U-23 (2006). In 14 PDL matches he had an impressive 14-3-4 record and eight shutouts with a goals against average of 0.94. His career with DC included just one start, but instead of the CONCACAF Champions League appearance being a highlight, he found himself sent off just 32 minutes in against Mexico’s Cruz Azul. In reserve league play he made seven appearances (five starts), earning a 3-2 record with a 2.85 GAA.

USL First Division Team of the Week
Pos	Name	Team	Highlights
G	Nic Platter	Minnesota	Six saves in 0-0 draw at Rochester
D	Cameron Knowles	Portland	Assist in 1-0 win over Montreal
D	Cristian Arrieta	Puerto Rico	Two goals in win, draw against Cleveland
D	Matt Bobo	Charleston	Goal in 2-0 win over Austin
D	Brent Sancho	Rochester	Led team in 0-0 draw against Minnesota
M	David Testo	Montreal	Goal in 2-1 win at Vancouver
M	Pato Aguilera	Cleveland	Goal, assist in loss, draw at Puerto Rico
M	Tyler Hemming	Charleston	Two assists in 2-0 win at Austin
M	Jeff Harwell	Austin	Goal in 1-1 draw against Charleston
M	Felix Brillant	Montreal	Led team in 2-1 win at Vancouver
F	Kendall Jagdeosingh	Puerto Rico	Goal in 2-2 draw against Cleveland

USL Second Division Team of the Week
Pos	Name	Team	Highlights
G	James Thorpe	Western Mass	13 saves, 1 pk allowed in pair of wins
D	Yomby William	Richmond	Led team in 5-0 win over Harrisburg
D	Ben Clark	Western Mass	Assist in 2-0 win over Real Maryland
D	Graham Tatters	Wilmington	Led team in 1-0 win over Bermuda
M	Mike Videira	Western Mass	Goal in 2-0 win over Real Maryland
M	Mike Burke	Richmond	Two assists in 5-0 win over Harrisburg
M	Kenny Bundy	Wilmington	Assist in 1-0 win over Bermuda
M	Diego Martins	Charlotte	Two goals, assist in 6-0 win over Bermuda
M	Adrian Dubois	Western Mass	Two oals in 2-1 win over Crystal Palace
F	David Bulow	Richmond	Two goals in 5-0 win over Harrisburg
F	Dustin Swinehart	Charlotte	Two goals in 6-0 win over Bermuda