Tuesday, May 20, 2003
TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues announced today the Teams and Players of the Week for the fifth week of the season in the A-League, USL Pro Select League, Premier Development League and W-League, honoring Syracuse's Gabe Valencia, Carolina's Dwayne Bergeron, Thunder Bay's Doco Wesseh and Boston's Caitlin Fisher as Players of the Week.
The expansion Syracuse Salty Dogs are on a roll. After opening the season with two road wins, the club held its inaugural home match at P&C Stadium Saturday night and forward Gabe Valencia made it an even more special night for the 10,721 fans in attendance with a hat-trick in the 3-0 victory over Toronto.
The A-League Player of the Week was honored with a spot on the Team of the Week two weeks ago for a two-goal performance in the club's 3-1 win at Charlotte in its inaugural match.
Valencia, who now ranks second in the league in goals (5) and third in points (10), opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he one-timed a cross from Machel Millwood past Lynx goalkeeper Theo Zagar.
He made it 2-0 when he put away a rebound in the 25th minute and iced the match with his final goal in the 72nd on another rebound.
Valencia last played in the A-League two years ago with the Nashville Metros, tallying just four goals and one assist in 21 games. With the Hampton Roads Mariners in 1999, he recorded eight goals and two assists in 28 games.
Third-year Carolina Dynamo midfielder Dwayne Bergeron helped lead the club to a 4-1 road win over the 4-1-0 Reading Rage Friday night with two goals to earn the USL Pro Select League Player of the Week honor.
The Virginia Commonwealth product who has spent some time with the Virginia Beach Mariners of the A-League in past seasons put the Dynamo on the board early with the first tally of the match six minutes in.
With the score still 1-0 early in the second half, Bergeron notched his second of the night and what proved to be the game-winner in the 50th minute. Both goals were assisted by Steve Armas.
The Thunder Bay Chill opened with two wins for the first time in franchise history with the leadership of newcomer Doco Wesseh, who was honored as the PDL Player of the Week.
The former Chicago Eagles Select forward joined the Canadian club and guided the team to two wins on the road against the Wisconsin Rebels.
The Liberian scored both goals for the Chill in their 2-1 win Friday night, finding the back of the net in the 27th and 57th minutes.
The following night, Wesseh scored the opening marker two minutes into the second half as the team went on to a 2-0 victory.
With Chicago last season, he recorded seven goals and an assist in just six matches and in 2001 he finished with 10 goals and two assists in 15 games.
Boston Renegades defender Caitlin Fisher helped lead her team to a 4-0 road win over the New Jersey Lady Stallions a week after a 1-0 win over the same team, recording three assists to earn the W-League Player of the Week honor.
Up 1-0 going into the second half, Fisher helped push the lead to 2-0 two minutes into the second frame by setting up midfielder Stacey Stocco, who was also named to the Team of the Week for her two-goal performance.
Fisher found Stocco again in the 86th minute to secure the win with a 3-0 lead and capped the night off two minutes later with her third assist of the night on a goal by forward Carrie Kveton.
The second-year Renegade played just two matches for the two-time champion side last season, recording a goal and an assist.
