Bradley senior forward Chris Cutshaw scored the tying goal for the Chicago Fire Premier Sunday, helping his team to a 2-1 victory against Kalamazoo Sunday in the second round of the Premier Development League divisional playoffs.
The Fire Premier earned a 1-0 victory against FC London Thursday at a neutral site in Ft. Wayne, Ind., in the opening round of the divisional playoffs. Avenging its only loss of the PDL regular season, Chicago then rallied for the 2-1 win Sunday at Kalamazoo behind Cutshaw's 67th minute penalty kick goal and Richie Edgar's 78th minute free kick strike.
Chicago, which improved to 12-1-5 against PDL competition and 13-2-5 overall this summer, will face the Ocean City (N.J.) Barons in the PDL national quarterfinals Friday at 6 p.m. in Des Moines. The Des Moines Menace will host the Cary Clarets in a second quarterfinal game, with the two winners set to square off in semifinal action Saturday night at 8:30. The PDL national final will be played Aug. 8 at a yet-to-be-determined site.
Cutshaw is joined on the Fire Premier roster by fellow Bradley senior Grant Campbell.
Namoff Wins Goal of the Week, Leads MLS In Minutes Played
Former Bradley All-American Bryan Namoff has gained plenty of attention for his defensive work for D.C. United in his nine years as a pro, but last week he gained some attention for his offensive work. Namoff's diving header against Colorado July 18 was deemed the MLS Goal of the Week following a week-long, online fan vote.
In addition to the weekly award, Namoff has taken over the Major League Soccer lead for minutes played by a field player so far this season. Namoff once again played all 90 minutes at right back for D.C. United in Saturday's 2-2 draw at San Jose and now has played all 1710 possible minutes through the Black and Red's 19 games this year.
According to the MLS stats posted on the league's official website, Namoff now shares the league lead for minutes played this season with Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad. Namoff and Onstad are the only two players that have played every minute in 19 games this year, while seven other players have played every minute through their respective teams' 18 games.
In addition to Saturday's game at San Jose, Namoff also played the full 90 minutes in Tuesday's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal win against Rochester. Namoff and United face another non MLS game this week by hosting C.D. L.A. Firpo in the first leg of a Champions League series Tuesday night at RFK Stadium. United then will visit the Houston Dynamo in MLS action Saturday night. Both games this week will be televised live by Fox Soccer Channel.
Kreamalmeyer Hits Net Twice Last Weekend
Former Bradley midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer scored a goal in each of Carolina's two games this past weekend, helping the RailHawks split a pair of USL First Division games. Kreamalmeyer scored his third goal of the year in the 87th minute of Friday's 2-1 loss at Charleston. He then netted his fourth goal in the 43rd minute for a 2-0 Carolina lead in an eventual 4-0 victory against Miami Sunday afternoon at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Kreamalmeyer shares the RailHawks team lead with four goals and he is tied for second on the team with eight points. In his first year with Carolina, Kreamalmeyer has helped the RailHawks (10-5-3) to a franchise record for wins in a season. Although currently in fourth place in the USL First Division standings with 33 points, Carolina is just two points out of the three-way tie for first between Charleston, Portland and Puerto Rico. Carolina is the only team in the league with at least 10 wins.
Four-time Bradley All-American Gavin Glinton did not play in either of Carolina's two games last week due to a hamstring injury.
