Two Fresnans named to USL’s team of week; Chaney debuts with Earthquakes

A pair of Fresnans and Cal Odyssey Soccer Academy alums – Villyan Bijev and Elliott Hord – were named to the USL’s team of the week after helping their teams to wins over the weekend.

Clovis North graduate and Portland Timbers 2 midfielder Bijev scored twice in his team’s 4-0 win against OKC Energy FC on Sunday. Bijev chipped in a penalty in the 34th minute and doubled the lead with a low finish at the right post just after the start of the second half. The 23-year-old Bulgaria native has a team-high seven assists in his rookie USL season and is tied with Neco Brett for a team-best five goals.

Bullard High alum Hord provided the winning assist Saturday in Sacramento Republic FC’s 2-1 win against the Orange County Blues. In the 85th minute, Hord received the throw-in pass on the run and tapped a pass in the penalty area to Harry Williams, who put away the finish in the 85th minute.

It was Hord’s second consecutive start on the backline for Republic FC, joining the club last month after spending the summer with Fresno Fuego.

Republic FC clinched a playoff berth in Saturday’s win and extended its undefeated streak to eight games.

Eye on Fuego players – Former Fresno City College and Fuego standout Christian Chaney got some playing time during his one-day loan from Sacramento Republic FC to the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS.

Chaney, 22, entered as a substitute in the 86th minute, replacing Chad Barrett for the Quakes in Saturday’s exhibition against Mexico’s Pachuca CF at Avaya Stadium.

Chaney received a warm welcome on the field, as he was cheered on by the Fresno City College men’s soccer team, which made the one-hour drive to San Jose from Salinas, where they were playing in the Hartnell Tournament.

▪ Other former Fuego players are also having continued success after spending the summer in the Premier Development League. Sergi Nus is playing center back for No. 17-ranked Virginia and scored his first collegiate goal in the Cavaliers’ 3-1 win at James Madison, burying a first-half penalty that gave his team a 2-0 lead. ... At rival Virginia Tech, former Fuego teammate and goalie Ben Lundgaard is helping the Hokies to their first national ranking since 2008, tabbed at No. 12 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. Lundgaard, who was backup to Fuego starter Agustin Rey, was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s team of the week last month and has given up just one goal in four matches.

Colleges – Fresno State forward Julia Glaser and Nevada goalie Kelsey Quintos were named the Mountain West’s offensive and defensive players of the week.

Glaser, a freshman forward from Lörrach, Germany, scored twice over the weekend to help the Bulldogs to road wins at Portland State and UC Davis. Glaser scored the winner in the 89th minute against the Aggies.

Quintos, a former two-sport standout at Central High (soccer, softball) who spent the summer playing for the Fresno Freeze, recorded her ninth career shutout in the Wolf Pack’s 1-0 win against UC Irvine last week. It is the second weekly award from the Mountain West for Quintos, who also needs just three more shutouts for Nevada’s all-time record.

Fresno State (2-3) returns home for its final three nonconference matches, starting with Pacific at 7 p.m. Friday.

▪ Gabriel Batista’s goal two minutes into overtime saw the Fresno Pacific men clinch their first win of the season, 3-2 against Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday. The Sunbirds (1-0-1) trailed 2-1 for less than a minute, when Joey Belzil scored the equalizer in the 67th minute. It was the second straight overtime match for Fresno Pacific, coming off two periods of OT in a season-opening 2-2 draw at Stanislaus State. The Sunbirds next travel to Cal Poly on Sunday. Kickoff is 5 p.m.

The Sunbirds women’s team dropped its season opener 1-0 against Stanislaus State at Ramirez Field. The team will remain in the area, hosting Southern Oregon on Friday and playing Western Oregon at Stanislaus State as part of the Warrior Challenge.

Junior colleges – The Clovis Crush women’s and men’s soccer programs made plenty of noise in their home debuts Tuesday, powering their way to 4-0 and 12-0 wins, respectively, in a doubleheader against College of the Siskiyous.

They were the first wins in school history for both teams, and first official in-season games played at the Clovis Community College campus.

▪ The Fresno City men’s team continued its undefeated start to the season, going 3-0-1 through the first two weeks to earn the Rams the No. 1 spot in the California Community College Soccer Coaches Association rankings.

The Rams beat San Diego Mesa 4-0 and Irvine Valley 3-0 to reach the final of the Hartnell Tournament against the host Panthers. Fresno and Hartnell played to a scoreless draw, with the Panthers winning the tournament on penalties, 4-3.

The Rams will host College of the Canyons in a Friday doubleheader starting with the men at 3 p.m. and the women to follow.

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Two Fresnans named to USL’s team of week; Chaney debuts with Earthquakes."