Former Bradley All-American Bryan Namoff made up for scoring an own goal for the visiting Colorado Rapids by netting what proved to be the game-winner in D.C. United's 3-1 victory Saturday night at RFK Stadium. Namoff's first goal of the season, a diving header to finish off a corner kick service from Christian Gomez in the 56th minute, gave the Black and Red a 2-1 lead and is one of five nominations for the MLS Goal of the Week.
The MLS Goal of the Week is decided by a fan vote, which is being conducted online at http://web.mlsnet.com/sights/goal_of_the_week/ through 1 p.m. (CT) Wednesday. As of this posting, Namoff's goal was in second place with 31 percent of the vote, just one percentage point behind leader Alecko Eskandarian of the LA Galaxy.
Namoff joked on his Tweeter feed about scoring two goals: “Whoa two goals for me! Totally redeemed myself with goal #2. Great game today. Won! Thanks to the fans who came out.” To hear more from Namoff about Saturday night's game, visit the video features on United's official website: http://www.dcunited.com/news-stats/videos?bctid=29959391001.
Namoff once again played all 90 minutes from his right back position Saturday night and now is one of just two field players in MLS that has been on the field for every minute his team has played this season. He is thought to be under consideration for one of five reserve spots for the 2009 MLS All-Star Team, which will be announced today by Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear.
Namoff's picture also is spotlighted on the MLS website, www.mlsnet.com, accompanying the news story previewing Tuesday night's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal round. The defending Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion, D.C. United will host the Rochester Rhinos in semifinal action Tuesday night at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
Namoff's former Bradley All-American teammate, Gavin Glinton, had little time to celebrate his game-opening goal for the Carolina RailHawks Saturday night. Glinton put the USL First Division team on the board first in a 2-1 victory against Mexico's Tecos squad in the Futbol Tecate series by hitting the net in the 11th minute. Glinton reaggravated a hamstring injury in the 33rd minute, however, and left the field on crutches. Another former Brave, Luke Kreamalmeyer, played all 90 minutes in the Carolina midfield Saturday night.
A trio of current Braves – Grant Campbell, Chris Cutshaw and Bryan Gaul – are preparing for their summer postseasons. Campbell and Cutshaw are teammates for the Premier Development League's Chicago Fire Premier, which finished second in the PDL's Central Conference Great Lakes Division. The Fire Premier will open the PDL playoffs Friday against the Great Lakes Division No. 3 seed, FC London. The winner will visit division champion Kalamazoo Sunday. Meanwhile, Gaul is training with the Chicago Fire Super-20 squad in preparation for next week's Super-20 League North American Finals in Rockford, Ill.
