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Story courtesy USL Public Relations
Latham led the Silverbacks to a convincing 4-2 win on the road against the Lady Eagles to clinch first place for Atlanta in the Atlantic Division. Atlanta was heading into this conference showdown following their first setback of the year, a 0-0 draw against Tampa Bay and fell behind early to Charlotte. However, that was when Christine Latham came alive and scored three of the Silverbacks four goals in a twenty two minute span that put Atlanta up for good. Those three goals now put Latham’s total for the season to 13 which is good for second place in the league. She only trails her teammate, Sarah Steinmann, who leads the league with 19 goals.
Washington forward Christie Welsh scored three goals and added three assists in two wins for the Freedom to help them tie the Boston Renegades for first place in the Northeast Division. Washington has a game in hand over the Renegades, but finish the regular season with a brutal three game stretch where they host Long Island and then travel to Boston and Connecticut to finish the year. During that stretch Washington will try and avenge their only loss of the season when they fell at home to Boston 1-0.
Richmond midfielder Jessica Varela helped continued the Kickers Destiny hot play of late as she scored two goals and added one assist in their 3-2 victory over the Carolina Dynamo. After a tough start to the season which saw Richmond lose their first five games, the Kickers Destiny have now rolled off four wins in a row and look to continue their win streak when they host Bradenton on Saturday and then travel to Carolina to face the RailHawks in the final game of the regular season.
United States International star Tiffeny Milbrett scored two goals and had one assist in leading the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 3-1 victory over the Fort Collins Force. Milbrett now has ten points on the season and the Whitecaps will need her to be productive if they are going to make a run in the playoffs. Right now they are battling with Real Colorado for second place in the Western Conference and currently hold a three point lead on the Cougars.
Two FC Indiana players had huge weeks in helping the Lionesses continue to cruise through their schedule. Jenny Jeffers anchored a defense that only allowed four shots on goal over a two game span and also added an assist on the week.
Midfielder Fatima Leyva scored one goal and added three assist over the two game week, and controlled the middle of the field throughout their two contests. FC Indiana looks prime to make a run deep into the playoffs and have outscored their opponents by a remarkable 64-3 margin.
W-League Team of the Week
| Pos | Name | Team | Highlights |
| GK | Joy McKenzie | Rochester | 9 saves in shutout at Laval |
| D | Mary Casey | Northern Virginia | GTG and helped defense allow only 3 shots |
| D | Jenny Jeffers | FC Indiana | 1 assist and helped D allow only 4 shots in 2 games |
| D | Kim McMullen | Hampton | 1 goal and anchored defense to first shut out of year |
| M | Jessica Varela | Richmond | 2 goals and 1 assist in 3-2 victory over Dynamo |
| M | Victoria Huster | Boston | GWG and well-rounded performance against Passion |
| M | Collette McCollum | Pali | 2 goals and 1 assist in just 55 minutes |
| M | Fatima Leyva | FC Indiana | 1 goal and 3 assists in two wins |
| F | Christie Welsh | Washington | 3 goals and 3 assists over two win weekend |
| F | Tiffeny Milbrett | Vancouver | 2 goals and 1 assist in 3-1 win over Fort Collins |
| F | Christine Latham | Atlanta | 3 goals in 4-2 win at Charlotte to clinch division |
| Reserves (Honorable Mentions) | |||
| F | Danielle Hubka | Cleveland | GWG and most dangerous player on the field |
| F | Fortuna Velaj | Connecticut | 2 goal weekend including GWG against New Jersey |
| M | Kelly Hammond | Northern Virginia | GWG in 1st home win of the season |
PDL Team of the Week
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced today the PDL Team of the Week for the 13th week of the USL season and the eleventh edition of the PDL Team of the Week for the year honoring Orange County Blue Star’s Goalkeeper Kris Minton as Player of the Week.
Minton had one of the best weekends of the season in carrying the Blue Star’s to three victories in three days. Along the way he picked up two clean sheets and only surrendered one goal in 270 minutes. He also saved his most spectacular save for last as he stopped a penalty kick to preserve his second shutout of the weekend. Adding to Minton’s remarkable weekend was the fact that two of the wins came against teams battling for the playoffs. Orange County eliminated the San Jose Frogs playoff chances and put a hurt on Ventura’s push for the playoffs.
Going into this weekend the Blue Stars had only two wins on the season and by more than doubling their win total over the weekend, finished their season on a high note.
Perhaps the most dramatic goal of the week came off the foot of Newark Ironbound Express defender Joseph Ruesgen who scored in the 90th minute to give his team a huge 1-0 victory over the New Jersey Rangers. The Ironbound Express was down two men to ejections and fighting for their playoff lives when Ruesgen fired a powerful shot past Ranger goalkeeper Erik Geiger to keep Newark’s playoff ambitions full of life.
In one of the most exciting games of the week forward Spencer Schomaker scored two goals to help propel the Tacoma Tide past the Cascade Surge 4-3. The win kept the Tide atop of the Northwest Division along with Vancouver Whitecaps Residency with 31 points. Tacoma finishes their season at home with a pivotal matchup against the Yakima Reds who currently sit only three points behind Tacoma and Vancouver and can tie Tacoma if they are victorious on July 19.
In another matchup with playoff implications Kalamazoo defender Terry Alvino anchored the Outrage defense to a 0-0 draw at home against Fort Wayne. That tie clinched a playoff berth for Kalamazoo as the Indiana Invaders will not be able to catch the Outrage. Alvino leads the Outrage in minutes played this season and Kalamazoo will need his steady play if they want to make any noise in the playoffs.
Defender Hugo Samano helped El Paso do what no team has ever been able to do in Mississippi, and that is beat the Brilla on their home field. Down 2-0 at halftime it did not look good for the Patriots, but a second half explosion helped carry El Paso to the victory and also kept the Patriots in the lead as they race against the Laredo Heat for the number two playoff spot in the Mid South Division. Samano found the back of the net twice in the final four minutes of the game which turned a one goal defeat into a one goal victory. The Patriots will try and take some momentum from their comeback victory into their final week of play when they take on two powerhouses in the Mid South Division. Wednesday night they will travel to Laredo to take on the Heat who they are two points ahead of and then close out the regular season at home on Saturday against the first place Austin Aztex.
PDL Team of the Week
| Pos | Name | Team | Highlights |
| GK | Kris Minton | Orange County | Allowed only 1 goal in 270 minutes in 3 weekend wins |
| D | Hugo Samano | El Paso | 2 goals in 3-2 win at Mississippi |
| D | Terry Alvino | Kalamazoo | Anchored defense in playoff clinching performance |
| D | Joseph Ruesgen | Newark | GWG in 90th minute to keep playoff hopes alive |
| D | Javier Gonzalez | Brooklyn | 1 goal in playoff clinching 3-2 win |
| M | Stuart Hayers | New Orleans | Solid play and GWG in upset win over Austin |
| M | Scott Rowling | Reading | Active entire weekend in four point road trip |
| M | Leonardo De Barros | Baton Rouge | 1 goal and dangerous all game in 2-1 win over Austin |
| F | Spencer Schomaker | Tacoma | 2 goals and constant pressure in 4-3 win |
| F | Doug DeMartin | Michigan | 2 second half goals in great 3-3 tie with Chicago |
| F | Peter Lovell | San Francisco | 3 goal weekend in two victories |
| Reserves (Honorable Mentions) | |||
| F | Brandon Swartzendruber | Thunder Bay | GWG and picked up an assist in 3-2 win over Kansas City |
| GK | Evan Bush | Cape Cod | Clean sheet in top of the table clash with Ottawa |
| F | Cristian Neagu | Fredericksburg | 3 goal and 2 assist weekend |
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