D.C. United announced today that midfielder Chris Pontiushas been selected as MLS Player of the Week for Week 22 by the North AmericanSoccer Reporters. Pontius scored two goals in the club’s first-ever meetingwith Vancouver Whitecaps FC, leading United to a 4-0 victory over the Canadianexpansion side. Pontius’ recognition earns D.C. United its third consecutivePlayer of the Week Award, as Dwayne De Rosario was honored in Weeks 20 and 21.
So far this season, Chris Pontius has registered seven goalsand two assists in 1,861 minutes of play. He has started in all of D.C.United’s 22 matches.
In 2010, he played 17 regular season games, making thestarting lineup 13 times and registering 1,189 minutes of play. Unfortunately, the forward’s season was cutshort due to a hamstring injury that plagued him for much of the MLS calendar.
Pontius joined the Black-and-Red in 2009 as the seventhoverall pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He scored his first professional goalin the 62nd minute of D.C. United’s season opener against the LAGalaxy. The young midfielder was used at nearly everyoffensive position on the field that season, and went on to play in all but twoof the team’s 30 League games (23 starts), tallying four goals and threeassists.
