USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 13
The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 13 of the 2024 regular season on Tuesday, with Phoenix Rising FC goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo earning an honorable mention (on his birthday) for his 10-save shutout on the road in Las Vegas over the weekend.
This is the third time this season Rios Novo has been named to the USL Championship Team of the Week. He currently ranks second in the league in saves with 42. His 10-save performance vs. Vegas was the second most saves in a single game in Rising history, surpassing Andre Rawls’ nine-save performance against Sacramento Republic FC in the 2021 season. Carl Woszczynski holds the franchise record for a 13-save game during Arizona United’s 2015 season.
Monterey Bay F.C. goalkeeper Antony Siaha was voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after recording 13 saves across a pair of shutouts against the Charleston Battery and New Mexico United as his side earned a four-point week.
Currently in his third season with Monterey Bay, the Cameroonian shot-stopper was at the top of his game over the past week of action. Siaha posted a six-save shutout on Wednesday night against the Charleston Battery – who entered the week as the second-high scoring side in the Championship – including a key late save to preserve a point in a 0-0 draw.
The 26-year-old then raised his performance another notch on Sunday evening with a seven-save shutout against Western Conference leader New Mexico United in a 1-0 victory at Cardinale Stadium. Siaha’s performance was highlighted by an 82nd-minute penalty save to deny New Mexico’s Mukwelle Akale that kept the hosts ahead. Combined over his two performances, Siaha posted a Goals Prevented mark for the week of -3.55 to help Monterey Bay break a recent winless run as the side returned to third place in the Western Conference.
“The whole team was locked in together,” said Siaha following the contest with Charleston. “It’s our collective goal to keep clean sheets, but we’ve been letting a lot of goals in recently, so this was big for us. Everybody wanted it tonight, it was all about intensity and mentality. Now we’re going to do our best to continue it.”
Siaha earned 58 percent of the ballot to claim the award. Louisville City FC forward Wilson Harris finished second on 17 percent after scoring a pair of goals in LouCity’s 5-1 victory against Detroit City FC on Wednesday night to move to 10 goals this season, currently second in the race for the Championship’s Golden Boot.
The Championship’s Player of the Week is selected by the USL National Media Panel, which is made up of representatives from each media market in the Championship.
USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 13
GK – Antony Siaha, Monterey Bay F.C.: The Cameroonian goalkeeper posted 13 saves across two shutouts against the Charleston Battery and New Mexico United, including a penalty save against New Mexico, to record a Goals Prevented mark for the week of -3.55.
D – Ben Ofeimu, Indy Eleven: The 23-year-old posted 14 clearances and two goal line clearances among his five blocked shots while also winning 4 of 6 duels in Indy’s 2-1 victory on the road against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
D – Delentz Pierre, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: The 23-year-old scored an outstanding long-range strike that proved to be the game-winner against Oakland Roots SC and then helped the Switchbacks preserve a shutout, winning 3 of 4 ground duels and making eight clearances at Weidner Field.
D – AJ Paterson, Birmingham Legion FC: The Grenada international recorded one assist and had two big chances created while completing 30 of 37 passes overall in Legion’s 3-1 victory at El Paso Locomotive FC while recording three interceptions and two clearances defensively.
D – Triston Hodge, Hartford Athletic: The Trinidad and Tobago international notched one assist and three chances created in Hartford’s 1-1 draw with Rhode Island FC and won 8 of 9 ground duels while making three clearances and six recoveries defensively.
M – Florian Valot, Loudoun United FC: The French midfielder recorded a goal and an assist as United took its third consecutive victory with a 3-0 win against FC Tulsa while also completing 41 of 51 passes and winning 2 of 2 tackles.
M – Jake Morris, Louisville City FC: The 25-year-old scored once and had three shots and three chances created in LouCity’s 5-1 victory against Detroit City FC while completing 49 of 66 passes and playing 180 minutes across LouCity’s two wins on the week.
M – Kyle Scott, Orange County SC: Scott scored his first goal for OCSC and completed 50 of 55 passes while winning 6 of 11 duels in the side’s 3-2 victory against Detroit City FC on Saturday night.
F – Tyler Pasher, Birmingham Legion FC: The Canadian scored once and had five shots overall while recording two key passes in Legion’s 3-1 victory against El Paso Locomotive FC and won 7 of 13 duels while completing 24 of 33 passes overall.
F – Wilson Harris, Louisville City FC: The 24-year-old recorded a pair of goals in LouCity’s 5-1 victory against Detroit City FC on Wednesday night and had three shots on target while completing 11 of 14 passes and winning 4 of 6 ground duels.
F – Charlie Dennis, Tampa Bay Rowdies: The English attacking midfielder scored the only goal as the Rowdies handed Sacramento Republic FC its first defeat across all competitions and had four chances created overall while completing 15 of 17 passes and winning 11 of 20 duels.
Coach – Robbie Neilson, Tampa Bay Rowdies: Neilson’s side put in a dominant display in handing Sacramento Republic FC its first loss of the season in all competitions as the Rowdies outshot Sacramento 20-6 and had 10 shots on target while only allowing 18.5 percent of the play to occur in Tampa Bay’s defensive third.
Bench: Rocco Ríos Novo (PHX), Robby Dambrot (LDN), Shawn Smart (LV), Elijah Wynder (LOU), Aaron Molloy (CHS), Thomas Amang (OC), Mark Doyle (RI)
