Player of the Week Pontius Rewarded for Hard Work

DC United came into Sunday’s match against the New York Red Bulls as an underdog but four goals and 90 minutes later, they came out on the good side of a 4-1 thrashing of their I-95 rivals. Chris Pontius, the injured midfielder-turned-forward, put on a soccer clinic on the cold and rainy Sunday night at RFK by scoring three goals and putting the Red Bulls in their place. The next day, the MLS awarded Pontius’ efforts by giving him the Player of the Week Award. It is his third POTW Award and first of 2012.

There was no question after the match who would win the award. Pontius’ offensive explosion outshined the likes of Thierry Henry’s free kick, Sporting KC’s first loss of the season, and the entire LA Galaxy payroll. With four goals on the year, Pontius is tied with fellow striker Maicon Santos as the team’s leading scorer. Also keep in mind those four goals came in a span of eight days.

Last season, DC United’s promising year was suddenly derailed by a broken leg injury to Pontius. The injury kept the young midfielder out for the rest of the season, and DC United only won one match after. Because of the late season slump, DC narrowly missed the playoffs for a third year straight. Pontius couldn’t control it, but many fans attributed his injury to the reason DC missed the playoffs. It was a shame because Pontius was experiencing his best season as a professional with seven goals at the time of his injury. It was frustrating for him, because he had a hamstring injury which limited him in 2010.

The entire offseason and some of preseason was spent rehabbing and recovering. At the beginning of this season, Pontius was finding himself out of the starting XI and sometimes out of the dressed 18. Slowly but surely, Pontius finally got back to 100 percent and has been consistently named in Ben Olsen’s starting line-up and on Monday afternoon, Pontius was finally rewarded for all the hard work he’s accomplished.

On Sunday, the “noobie forward” immediately made an impact by scoring in the first ten minutes of the match. Anybody who follows soccer — even slightly —  knows about the effect an early goal can have on a match. Pontius took advantage of a Red Bulls defense with a rookie left-back and without their delinquent centerback Rafa Marquez, and shoved three goals down their throat. If it wasn’t for the heroics of the Red Bulls keeper, Ryan Meara, Pontius could have had one or two more.

I think I can speak for every United fan when I say I hope these last eight days are a sign for the rest of the season. With DP Hamdi Salihi having trouble finding the net, as well as the starting lineup, Pontius could have landed the second forward spot next to Santos. Only time will tell how the rest of the season goes for DC United, but for Pontius at least, the future looks pretty bright.