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The Best XI for the Eastern Conference week 4. Read up on our methodology here, and you can find last week’s Best XI here.
Best XI - Week 4
Goalkeeper: Callum Irving, Ottawa Fury FC: 3030 pts
Ottawa’s first win in USL came with a big shutout on the road, and Callum Irving helped in a big way with three saves on the day. Irving sits in the top five of the Eastern Conference in saves this year with nine.
Defender: Quinton Griffith, Charleston Battery: 2900 pts
Quinton Griffith was instrumental in Battery’s five goal win over Rochester. He created a team-high four chances and posted an assist on the evening.
Defender: Harrison Delbridge, FC Cincinnati: 3780 pts
Like Griffith, Delbridge found himself contributing to the attack as a defender. He provided an assist and created two chances during FCC’s home opening victory.
Defender: Matt Bahner, FC Cincinnati: 3632 pts
Bahner makes his debut on the Eastern Conference Best XI after posting an assist and FC Cincinnati’s second highest passing accuracy at 84.8%.
Defender: O’Brian Woodbine, Charleston Battery: 3324 pts
Woodbine’s first start of the season for the Battery did not disappoint. He added an assist in Charleston’s 5-0 win over Rochester, with two chances and five interceptions thrown in for good measure.
Defender: Wesley Charpie, Saint Louis FC: 3082.3 pts*
Charpie provided two assists and created three chances against Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, helping his two match average this week with Saint Louis FC’s loss to FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
Midfielder: George Davis IV, Louisville City FC: 2942 pts
Davis IV’s goal in the 22nd minute started the scoring for Louisville in a 2-1 win over Tampa that moved the Kentucky club to the top of the Eastern Conference table.
Midfielder: Maikel Chang, Charleston Battery: 3678 pts
Scoring the fifth and final goal of the match, Maikel Chang added the exclamation point to an already perfect night for the Battery. Chang’s three shots on target were second only to teammate and fellow Week 4 Best XI member, Romario Williams.
Midfielder: Vincent Bezecourt, New York Red Bulls II: 4329 pts
Bezecourt has been the Baby Bulls’ go-to player so far this season. He added his fourth goal on the season, plus two assists, in a Friday night 3-1 win over Orlando City B.
Forward: Romario Williams, Charleston Battery: 5786 pts^
A first half hat trick from Romario Williams lead Charleston to fast start, and eventual victory, over their Old Guard Shield rivals in Rochester.
Forward: Djiby Fall, FC Cincinnati: 6694 pts^, Player of the Week
It’s hard to argue against Fall for Player of the Week this week after a career highlight performance for Cincinnati in its win over Saint Louis FC.
*Weighted Average of two matches this week = (1.0*Higher match Rating) + (0.3*Lower match rating)
^Players both reached over 5000 points. Player of the Week honors went to the one earned more points past 5000, in this case, Djiby Fall.
Honorable Mentions
Goalkeeper: Odisnel Cooper, Charleston Battery: 2380 pts
Defender: Justin Bilyeu, New York Red Bulls II: 2801 pts
Midfielder: David Abidor, New York Red Bulls II: 2331 pts
Forward: Steevan Dos Santos, Ottawa Fury FC: 2895 pts
Concluding Thoughts
Both Djiby Fall and Romario Williams crushed the 5000 point threshold, Fall’s Player of the Week honors saw him earn over 6000 points this week. Fall’s six goals have given him a comfortable lead in the USL’s Golden Boot leaderboard as well.
Charleston’s dominating performance over the weekend had them send four players to this week’s Best XI. All Battery players - Griffith, Chang, Woodbine and Williams - each make their debut among the best and brightest of the Eastern Conference. FC Cincinnati was in second in the club listing, sending three of their own to the Best XI honors this week.
This was definitely a week for newcomers to the Best XI, as nine players made their first appearance in the Team of the Week. With the month of April coming to a close, the season’s first Team of the Month is shaping up to be an interesting list of players.
What are your thoughts on this week’s Best XI for the East? Which player who was not listed do you think is most deserving of a spot? Which player has had the most surprising start to the season? Let us know in the comments below.