June 13, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) News Release
TAMPA, Fla. – USL League One today announced the Team of the Week for Week 11 of the 2022 regular season with Richmond Kickers midfielder Jonathan Bolanos named Player of the Week. Bolanos dished out a record-tying three assists in the Kickers’ dominant 4-0 victory over Charlotte.
In Richmond, 20-year-old Ethan Bryant opened the scoring early after a Derrek Chan mishap near goal led to a perfect service from Jonathan Bolanos. Again finding success on the left side, Bolanos fired in a cross that Matthew Bentley redirected nicely into the back of the net to double the Kickers lead. The final two Kicker goals would see Bryant and Bentley complete their braces with Bryant hammering in another Bolanos pass into an empty net and Bentley heading in a deflected Bolanos cross.
“It’s a huge confidence booster after being out for a month,” Bolanos said. “I think being back, I’ve been feeling quick, I’ve been feeling normal. Being in the right areas and being aggressive, doing as much as I can to help the team in the attack, it felt good to me.”
The Kickers’ emphatic victory serves as the second consecutive win over the Independence for the first time in the pair’s seven-year series history. With the win, the Kickers tied the League One record of two players with a brace in the same match, and, individually, Bolanos tied the league record of three assists in a single match. By the conclusion of the match, Richmond reestablished itself at the top of the league table and as the league’s highest-scoring side.
“We’re all in it together,” Head Coach Darren Sawatzky said after the match. “We talk about it every day. It doesn’t matter who plays. There were different guys that got opportunities tonight, and we’re all in it to make sure we win games. If everyone is willing to defend and keep teams off of the scoresheet, we’ll win more games.”
In a goal-filled Week 11, all but three field players recorded a goal or assist and three tallied a brace. Richmond, Northern Colorado and South Georgia all see multiple representatives placed on the list, while Chattanooga, Madison, Omaha and Tucson have one player featured on the Team of the Week.
GK – Pablo Jara, South Georgia Tormenta FC: Jara recorded three saves and denied a Northern Colorado penalty in Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Greeley. Jara nearly had his fourth clean sheet of the season if not for an unlucky deflection that gave the Hailstorm their equalizer nine…