USL Western Conference Best XI - Week 7

With Real Monarchs on a bye this past week, and San Antonio getting their lone goal from a penalty kick in a shutout, the door was wide open for other teams to make their way on to our weekly best XI and they did. Colorado Springs and Orange County both are represented for only the second time in six weeks, while Reno takes home their third appearance.

Goalkeeper: Diego Restrepo - San Antonio FC, 2760 pts

Restrepo logged a four save shutout win as San Antonio continues to be one of the best defensive teams of the season.

Defender: Colton Storm - Swope Park Rangers, 2322 pts

Storm put in a balanced offensive and defensive performance against Whitecaps 2. Not only did he help hold the Whitecaps to a single goal, he created two chances, one of which became a goal.

Defender: Jordan Burt - Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 2457 pts

Burt picked up five interceptions and took three shots as he helped guide the Switchbacks to a 3-0 victory against Tulsa.

Defender: Josh Suggs - Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 3151 pts

Suggs provided an offensive threat out of the backfield, creating four chances as a defender, one of which ended up an assist, while still helping the Switchbacks earn a shutout victory.

Midfielder: Irvin Parra - Seattle Sounders 2, 3109 pts

Parra picked up a brace in the form of an early penalty kick and a second half goal in just over an hour of play to help lift Seattle to a 2-0 shutout victory.

Midfielder: Chris Wehan - Reno 1868 FC, 3686 pts

Wehan delivered on all sides of the attack in Reno’s first win of the season, netting a goal, an assist, and creating three chances.

Midfielder: Mastanabal Kacher - Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 3965

Kacher proved to be far too big of a threat for the Roughnecks to maintain, picking up a brace for the Switchbacks with only three shots on goal.

Midfielder: Jerry van Ewijk - Orange County SC - 4834 pts

van Ewijk was an absolute terror to Los Dos all night, recording a penalty kick goal, a goal from the run of play, one assist, and five created chances. If he is able to sustain that kind of performance, Orange County will be a potent threat moving forward.

Forward: Wuilito Fernandes - Orange County SC - 3086 pts

After coming on early for an injured Lacroix, Fernandes created three chances while adding a goal of his own as Orange County ran over Los Dos in a 4-0 shutout.

Forward: Lebo Moloto - Swope Park Rangers - 3308 pts

Moloto was a thorn in Vancouver’s side, scoring a goal and recording an assist in a 3-1 victory. He added in a 60% win rate in all duels to help assert his dominance.

Forward: Dane Kelly - Reno 1868 FC - 5000 pts, Player of the week

No surprise here. Kelly ran over Phoenix as he netted a hat trick, five total shots, and one additional created chance. He proved exactly why he has the honor of being the USL’s all-time goal leader.

Honorable Mentions:

Goalkeeper: Moise Pouaty - Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 2390 pts

Defender: Brian Nana-Sinkham - Seattle Sounders 2, 2228 pts

Midfielder: Shane Malcolm - Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 2702 pts

Forward: Aaron King - Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 1826 pts

Thoughts:

In a week where the teams that have previously dominated the team of the week (San Antonio and Real Monarchs) coming up short, many teams capitalized in a big way. van Ewijk of Orange County and Kelly of Reno put in performances that not only earned them team of the week mentions, but pushed them towards team of the month awards.

Will the teams without many mentions continue to gain momentum or will the old guard return to grab a majority of the spots? Let us know in the comments!