USL Week 9 Pro honors announced

Salles and Burke Players of the Week
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced the USL First Division and USL Second Division Team of the Week honors Tuesday for Week 9 of the season, honoring Rochester’s Mauricio Salles and Richmond’s Mike Burke as the Players of the Week, respectively.
Sitting in last place, the Rochester Rhinos advanced two positions in the table with a stunning 3-0 victory over the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps with Mauricio Salles playing a part in all three strikes.
With much of the play bogged down in the midfield throughout the first half, Rochester had the majority of chances. The first came in the 10th minute when Mauricio Salles put a head on a cross from Danny Earls but Vancouver goalkeeper Jay Nolly came up with a big diving save on the line. The Rhinos were looking to get on the board in 27th minute but Tiger Fitzpatrick put his 30-yard shot over the top, again just missing giving the Rhinos the lead.
Rochester broke through five minutes later on a 20 yard shot from Salles, which was deflected over a helpless Nolly for a 1-0 advantage.
Salles was at it again minutes later with two shots from close range but the Vancouver ‘keeper came up huge to keep his team close. Rhinos keeper Scott Vallow kept his team on top with two big saves in the 38th and then again in 43rd on close range efforts from Eduardo Sebrango and Steve Kindel. Midfielder Ze Roberto almost put Rochester up two right before the half, but his shot rang off the crossbar and into the crowd.
Rochester came out flying in the second half when Johnny Menyongar scored 11 seconds into the half, making the score 2-0, off a long ball from Vallow to Salles, who flicked it over to Menyongar to beat Nolly with a blistering volley from 10 yards out, sending the Rhinos bench and their rowdy fans into celebration.
Salles kept the party alive by scoring his second goal of the match in the 62nd minute after beating the offsides trap from a chip from Roberto, who had two assists in the match, and then Salles did the rest of the work by beating the keeper with a nicely placed shot to make the score 3-0.
Both teams were down to 10 men after Rochester’s John Ball received a straight red in the 65th minute but neither team could take advantage of the extra space. Salles almost completed the hat trick in the 81st minute but his shot was tipped over the bar before being subbed off the field to a standing ovation.
Tied 1-1 against Bermuda, Kickers midfielder Mike Burke came back from injury to help lead Richmond to victory in the second half of their encounter with the Hogges, finishing with a 4-1 win.
With storms in the area, a lightning delay was called in the 39th minute, forcing both teams to the locker rooms for nearly one hour. The storms gave way to a flurry of goals after the second half restart when Burke entered the game, coming back into the lineup after recovering from a cracked rib.
Burke made an immediate impact on the run of play, adding two assists back-to-back. His first occurred in the 49th minute when Evan Harding played a long cross, past the far post, which looked destined to cross the end line. Burke flicked the ball across the goalmouth to Bulow, inches from the target. Bulow tapped the ball past the goalkeeper, who off his mark and into the open net.
The tally gave the Kickers much needed momentum, leading to their next goal six minutes later. This time, it was Burke again when he played a free kick over the defense, finding McEachron at the six yard box. There was little Burgess could do to defend the header from McEachron, who hit the back of the net to put the home team up 3-1.
Soon after, Burke looked dangerous again when Pascale cleared the ball through the midfield. Burke carried the ball forward, dodging defenders across the top of the box. He struck a low ball through the defense but it glanced off a defender and Burgess smothered it for the save.