Stenberg Named to USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 6

April 16, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release

The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 6 of the 2024 regular season on Tuesday, with Phoenix Rising FC Captain John Stenberg being named to the squad for his game-winning goal against Colorado Springs on Saturday, April 13.

In just his second start of the season, Stenberg scored his first goal after Dariusz Formella volleyed a shot into the center of the six-yard box following a corner kick. Stenberg was first to react to the deflection, hammering a shot high into the corner of the goal. The strike was the defender’s first goal since he quieted the crowd in Charleston during the 2023 USL Championship Final.

Back in Charleston, Battery forward Nick Markanich was voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after he notched three goals and one assist across two victories against Louisville City FC and Indy Eleven that maintained the Battery’s undefeated start to the season and moved the side to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Currently in his second season with the Battery, Markanich has made a sparkling start to the campaign. A nominee for the Championship’s Player of the Month award in March, the 24-year-old moved into second in the race for the Golden Boot after a standout week for the defending Eastern Conference title holders. Markanich first notched a pair of first-half goals as the Battery ended Louisville City FC’s perfect start to the season last Tuesday night with a 3-2 win at Patriots Point.

He then bagged a highlight-reel finish and an assist as Charleston rallied for a 4-2 win against Indy Eleven at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. A native of Bourbonnais, Ill. who competed collegiately for Northern Illinois University, Markanich had numerous friends and family in the crowd that had made the trip for the game, making the goal and the result all the sweeter.

“It’s always nice to have family there, it was awesome,” said Markanich following the game. “After I scored, I made sure they knew it was for them. I had 30 or so [family and friends] from both Illinois and Indiana [in the stands].”

Markanich earned 83 percent of the ballot to claim the award. The Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Cal Jennings and Oakland Roots SC’s Johnny Rodriguez each received eight percent after each scoring twice in their respective club’s victories over the weekend, with Jennings leading Tampa Bay to a 5-2 result against Miami FC and Rodriguez rallying…