TAMPA, Fla. — USL League One announced Monday that Zaca Moran and Ivan Magalhães were named to the Cleer Audio Team of the Week for week 27 after the duo’s performances against Forward Madison FC and North Texas SC last week.
This marks the third time that Magalhães has been named to the league’s team of the week after earning recognition in weeks 5 and 20. Moran makes his return to the team of the week after previously earning his first honor in week 3.
“I’m honored to be nominated and to help the team in this important push for the playoffs,” Magalhães said. “This is a special group of guys, everyone is working extremely hard and the results are showing. We’ll keep fighting hard so we can guarantee a spot in the playoffs.”
Magalhães sealed Richmond’s victory in Texas, Sunday night after the centerback powered in a header from a Nil Vinyals’ set piece in the 95th minute.
On top of his crucial offensive play against North Texas, the Brazilian led the team in clearances, tackles, touches, duels, aerial duels, duels won, and passes.
Against Forward Madison on Wednesday night, Magalhães led the team in successful passes, blocks, and possession gained.
“It was a great victory, a difficult game that we were able to win,” Moran said. “I’m happy for the team and happy for the goal! We’ll continue preparing to achieve our goals this season. I want to thank the league for rating my performance on the field.”
Moran was critical in steadying the middle third of the pitch in the matches against North Texas and Forward Madison.
Down in Texas, the Argentine won 60 percent of his duels as well as 100 percent of his aerials duels. He completed 39 good passes or crosses while notching four (4) clearances and three (3) tackles.
Against Madison, Moran led the team in passes in the opponent’s half, tackles, and blocks. He, again, won 100 percent of his aerial duels.
The Kickers return home for their final regular-season match of 2021 at City Stadium to host Henny Derby-rivals, Forward Madison, for the fourth and final matchup of the season, October 16. Kickoff for the match is set for 6:30 p.m.
At the match, presented by Noodles and Company, the Kickers will celebrate Fan Appreciation and Community Night while holding raffles throughout the night. The first 500 fans in the door will receive an Akira Fitzgerald Shirsey provided by RVAccess.
GK – Paul Christensen, Greenville Triumph SC: Christensen recorded a two-save shutout as Greenville became only the second side to defeat Omaha on its home turf on Saturday night in a 1-0 win.
D – Damia Viader, Union Omaha: The Spanish standout had one assist in Omaha’s 4-1 win against Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday night, and over the week recorded six key passes and made 20 recoveries and four interceptions defensively.
D – Ivan Magalhaes, Richmond Kickers: Magalhaes lifted Richmond to its fourth consecutive win with a stoppage-time goal against North Texas on Sunday night and had two solid games defensively with 14 clearances, 14 recoveries while winning 4 of 5 tackles.
D – Jonathan Ricketts, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC: Ricketts found the net with a good diving header to give the Red Wolves their opening goal in a 3-2 win against North Carolina FC and made four interceptions while winning 9 of 16 duels and 6 of 10 aerial duels.
D – Kevin Politz, Toronto FC II: Politz scored the only goal as Toronto FC II took victory against the New England Revolution II on Friday evening and completed 22 of 31 passes while making two interceptions and six recoveries.
M – Devin Boyce, Union Omaha: Boyce recorded one goal and one assist in Omaha’s midweek win against Fort Lauderdale and over the week had seven key passes while completing 71 of 86 passes overall and recording 13 recoveries.
M – Zaca Moran, Richmond Kickers: The Argentine produced one of the goals of the season to spark Richmond’s comeback victory against North Texas on Sunday night and across two games won 10 of 16 duels and 5 of 6 tackles while making 15 recoveries defensively.
M – Rey Ortiz, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC: Ortiz recorded one assist and had three shots in the Red Wolves’ 3-2 win against North Carolina FC while also completing 2 of 2 dribbles and recording four interceptions and four recoveries defensively.
F – Azaad Liadi, South Georgia Tormenta FC: Liadi notched the first hat trick in Tormenta FC’s League One history as he finished the night with six shots and four key passes in attack while also winning 7 of 10 duels defensively.
F – Greg Hurst, Union Omaha: Hurst recorded two goals and one assist in los Buhos’ 4-1 victory against Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday night as he put all three of his shots on target and notched two key passes overall.
F – Mitchell Curry, Fort Lauderdale CF: Curry had a stellar individual week with one goal and two assists for Fort Lauderdale against Union Omaha and South Georgia Tormenta FC, and also completed 3 of 4 dribbles and made five recoveries across the two games.
