South Georgia’s Gabriel Cabral earns Player of the Week honors following one goal, one assist performance

TAMPA, Fla. – USL League One today announced the Team of the Week for Week 15 of the 2022 regular season with South Georgia Tormenta FC midfielder Gabriel Cabral named Player of the Week. A week after scoring his first professional goal in match-winning fashion, the Brazilian midfielder provided a goal and an assist to propel Tormenta FC to a 2-1 win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.

South Georgia vaulted up the League One table to third overall as its first home victory of the season came against Chattanooga on Saturday. In a match controlled by the Red Wolves for most of the 90 minutes, Tormenta FC made the most of its chances. The breakthrough came in the 37th minute as Jamil Roberts converted a well-placed Gabriel Cabral cross into a goal. After conceding the equalizer in the 45th minute, Cabral came through again, tapping in a Kazaiah Sterling ball in the 81st minute to seal the victory.

“Winning Player of the Week means a lot because it was our first win at home on a very tough day for Tormenta Nation,” Cabral said on Monday. “I’m honored to score the game-winning goal and glad that football brought us together when life got hard.

“Now that we won at home, we won’t let results get away anymore,” Cabral added. “Goalkeeper Pablo Jara received the Player of the Week honors last week, and it shows that we are doing things correctly and trusting the process that the coaching staff has set for us. We have a very passionate team, and we work so hard day in and day out to achieve the highest goals we have for ourselves this year.”

In a diverse Team of the Week, nine of the 11 teams in action in Week 15 placed a representative on the weekly list. South Georgia Tormenta FC and Forward Madison FC place two each on the Team of the Week after a pair of 2-1 victories, respectively.

GK – Carlos Merancio, FC Tucson: “El Gato” showed off his cat-like reflexes against Northern Colorado amidst heavy downpour in Tucson. The Mexican shot-stopper tallied a season-high six saves while facing the highest expected goals mark of Week 15 to secure a home draw.

D – Ryen Jiba, Union Omaha: In his first professional season, the 21-year-old South Sudanese defender recorded the second assist of his professional career and totaled two chances created, four clearances and won 77% of his ground and aerial duels in Omaha’s 1-1 draw with NCFC.

D – Christian Lue Young, North Carolina FC: Lue Young tallied the first helper of…