U23s Update: Wharton Named PDL Player of the Week, Close out Regular Season Against Lane United, Kitsap Pumas

With a week remaining in the USL Premier Development League regular season, the Portland Timbers U23s find themselves firmly entrenched in the PDL playoff race with 6 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, good for second in the Northwest Division at 21 points, with only Kitsap Pumas ahead of them at 25 points (8-0-1) with two matches remaining.

Since the U23s only loss of the season to Kitsap on May 29, the Saplings have gone on a 7 match unbeaten run, highlighted by two victories over Seattle Sounders U23s on June 21 and June 26, the latter of which saw U23s midfielder Todd Wharton net a brace and earn himself PDL Player of the Week honors for Week 9 of the PDL season.

Timbers Academy product Ben White leads the U23s in scoring with 4 goals and 1 assist, Wharton has 3 goals and 1 assist, and fellow Timbers Academy product Foster Langsdorf has recorded 2 goals and 1 assist, while goalkeeper and Timbers Academy product Collin Partee has only allowed 3 goals through 7 matches, a 0.428 Goals Against Average that would place him second in the PDL if he had 120 more minutes played (750 minutes minimum; Partee has played 630).

The U23s will close out the regular season with matches against Lane United (1-6-2, 5pts.) at Willamalane Center in Eugene on Friday and against the front-running Kitsap Pumas (8-0-1, 25pts) on July 8 at Gordon Field in Bremerton, WA.

Playoff details will be announced at a later date.

PDL Press Release

Portland’s Wharton Named Player of the Week

Scored both goals as Timbers U-23s defeated Sounders U23

PDL News Release

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

TAMPA, Fla. – Portland Timbers U-23s midfielder Todd Wharton has been named the PDL Player of the Week for the ninth week of the 2015 season after he scored both goals to lead the Timbers U-23s to a 2-0 victory against Sounders FC U23 on Friday night.

With the victory, the Timbers U-23s solidified their place in the playoff positions in the Northwest Division as they opened a five-point lead on their Cascadia rivals in third place.

PDL Team of the Week

GK – Nathan Ingham, K-W United FC: Posted back-to-back shutouts as United took two wins, and now leads the PDL with seven shutouts this season

D – Aurelien Norest, FC London: Helped London remain in playoff contention with a pair of shutout victories

D – Fernando Machado, Des Moines Menace: Had an assist, and was solid defensively as the Menace defeated Thunder Bay to move to the top of the Heartland Division

D – Mitchell Taintor, Real Boston Rams: Two excellent performances as the Rams extended their winning streak to four games and kept their playoff hopes alive

M – Thomas Fouhy, GPS Portland Phoenix: Scored the only goal as the Phoenix took victory against Seacoast United to move level at the top of the Northeast Division

M – Jeremy Ebolo, D.C. United U23: Scored twice and added an assist in the United U23’s victory against Lehigh Valley United Sonic

M – Todd Wharton, Portland Timbers U-23s: Scored both goals as the Timbers U-23s took victory against Sounders FC U23

M – Austin Jepson, St. Louis Lions: Scored three goals in three games as the Lions took seven points from their trip to Canada

F – Logan Miller, Kitsap Pumas: Had two goals and two assists to lead the Pumas to victory against Lane United

F – Luke Lawrence, Albuquerque Sol F.C.: Had both goals as the Sol closed in on a playoff berth with a 2-0 win against Laredo

F – Chris Karcz, Jersey Express: Scored a hat trick as the Express took a big win against the Westchester Flames

Honorable Mention – Albuquerque: Lucas Champenois, Manuel Campos; Boston: Peguy Ngatcha,  Amadu Kunateh; Bradenton: Myles York; Carolina:Stephen Chapman, Jonathan Ray; Chicago: Joey Calistri, Andrew Conner; Cincinnati: Alejandro Garcia; Connecticut: Giorgi Mandzulashvili; Des Moines:Shawn Lawson, Leigh Veidman; F.A. Euro: Federico Curbelo, Julio Cesar Dos Santos; Golden State: Paolo Cardozo; Houston: George Kelley, David Perez;Jersey: Sylvain N’Guessan, Carlos Silva; K-W United: Sergio Camargo; Kitsap: Nick Hamer, Cory Keitz; Laredo: Leon Taylor, Martin Moreno; Las Vegas:Lucas Cawley, Craig Carney; London: Pierre Mangold, Alejandro Pastor; Miami: Hugo Leroux, Carlos Garcia; Michigan: David Goldsmith, Russell Cicerone;Midland/Odessa: Sean Boyle, Walker Hume; Mississippi: Kelley Gulley; New York: Brian White, Zach Knudson; Sounders U23: David Olsen, Brandt Bronico; St. Louis: Vadim Cojocov, Paul Dean; SW Florida: Quade Marinell, Billal Qsiyer; Thunder Bay: Dominic Roberts, Daniel Farias; Tucson: Nestor Jaramillo, Devante Dubose; Ventura County: Carlos Martinez; West Virginia: Dion Peters, Dan Smee.