Wicks captures USL First Division statistical honor

PORTLAND, Ore. –
United Soccer Leagues announced today that Portland Timbers goalkeeper
Josh Wicks
was named the 2007 USL First Division goals-against average champion. Wicks allowed just 16 goals in 27 matches for a 0.603 goals-against average in 2007.
The first-year Timbers goalkeeper finished the 2007 regular season as the league leader in several goalkeeping categories including games played, minutes (2,385), shutouts (14), and goals-against average. Wicks, 23, also finished second in wins (13), third in goals allowed (16), and was tied for fourth in saves with 87.
In 2007, Wicks set Timbers’ modern single-season records for wins, shutouts, and goals-against average. He was named the USL First Division Player of the Week in Week 11 and was selected to the Team of the Week in each of the final two weeks of the regular season.
Other league statistical winners included former Timbers forward
Dan Antoniuk
, now with the Atlanta Silverbacks, who finished the season as the USL First Division’s scoring champion with 23 points and led the league with nine assists. Seattle Sounders forward Sebastien Le Toux and Montreal Impact striker Charles Gbeke shared the goal-scoring championship with 10 goals apiece.
Portland faces the defending-champion Vancouver Whitecaps in the first round of the 2007 USL First Division playoffs. The Timbers will host the second match of the two-game, aggregate-goals series on Sunday at PGE Park presented by Spirit Mountain Casino. The match will be featured on Fox Soccer Channel; kickoff is set for 5 p.m. The first game of the series will be at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver on Friday at 7 p.m.
Timbers’ first-round playoff tickets, starting at $12, are available at the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at
www.ticketmaster.com
or by phone at (503) 224-4400.