Needham and Ombiji Players of the Week
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced the USL First Division and USL Second Division Teams of the Week for the 15th week of the season, honoring Puerto Rico’s Jay Needham and Harrisburg’s Brian Ombiji as the Players of the Week, respectively.
In a meeting of two teams in good form Saturday, the Puerto Rico Islanders extended their unbeaten streak to six games in San Francisco while ending California’s four game unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory.
A week after playing the Victory to a 1-1 draw at home, the Islanders traveled the span of the States to visit the expansion club for the first time with rookie Jay Needham providing the offense as well as the defense. The Islanders shut down a California side that had won just two nights prior in Minnesota 2-1 to go 2-0-2 in their last four, with three on the road.
Needham scored his first professional goal in the 41
st
minute on a free kick from Alejandro Gonzalez and then proceeded to guide the club to the shutout.
The rookie out of Southern Methodist University was a 2007 DC United SuperDraft pick after playing 14 games during the 2006 season for the DFW Tornados in the USL Premier Development League.
The Harrisburg City Islanders have kept pace with the defending champion Richmond Kickers the entire season and climbed within two points at 10-2-5 with a 2-1 victory over the league leaders Saturday. The win secured a postseason berth for the fourth-year club after missing the playoffs last year for the first time.
The match was scoreless through the first hour before Ricky Schramm connected for the visiting Kickers, but forward Brian Ombiji only needed five minutes to level the score when a scramble in the box saw Brian Devlin set up Ombiji for the equalizer from short range.
Three minutes from time Ombiji got his head on a Matt Tanzini free kick, redirecting it just outside of the reach of goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale for the game-winner and extending Harrisburg’s unbeaten run to six games (5-0-1).
| USL First Division Team of the Week | ||||
| Pos | Name | Team | Highlights | |
| G | Ryan McIntosh | Atlanta | Eight saves in 0-0 draw at Portland | |
| D | Jay Needham | Puerto Rico | Goal in 1-0 win at California | |
| D | Chris Williams | Miami | Goal in 4-1 win at Carolina | |
| D | Justin Thompson | Portland | Led team in 0-0 draw against Atlanta | |
| D | David Hayes | Atlanta | Led team in 0-0 draw at Portland | |
| M | Zinho | Miami | Two assists in 4-1 win at Carolina | |
| M | Kenji Treschuk | Seattle | Assist in 2-2 draw at Vancouver | |
| M | Sean Cameron | Miami | Goal in 4-1 win at Carolina | |
| F | Alen Marcina | Vancouver | Goal in 2-2 draw against Seattle | |
| F | Hamed Diallo | Rochester | Two goals in 4-2 win over Minnesota | |
| F | Yuri Morales | California | Two goals in 2-1 win at Minnesota | |
| USL Second Division Team of the Week | ||||
| Pos | Name | Team | Highlights | |
| G | Caleb Patterson | Cleveland | Shutout in 1-0 win over Charlotte | |
| D | Andrew Marshall | CP Baltimore | Two assists in 8-1 win over Bermuda | |
| D | Mark Schulte | Cleveland | Goal in 1-0 win over Charlotte | |
| D | Dustin Bixler | Harrisburg | Led team in 2-1 win over Richmond | |
| M | Romelle Burgess | New Hampshire | Goal in 3-2 win over Wilmington | |
| M | Matthew Mbuta | CP Baltimore | Two goals in 8-1 win over Bermuda | |
| M | Val Teixeira | New Hampshire | Goal, assist in 3-2 win over Wilmington | |
| M | Jamie Sampson | Western Mass | Assist in 2-2 draw at Bermuda | |
| F | Jamie Holmes | Wilmington | Three goals,
wo assists in two wins, loss | |
| F | Brian Ombiji | Harrisburg | Two goals in 2-1 win over Richmond | |
| F | Nathan Micklos | Cincinnati | Three goals in 3-3 draw against Charlotte | |
* Players of the Week
