There are good weeks in even the toughest of seasons. And D.C. United's defensive contributors proved that over the weekend with a pair of performances that merited starting spots on the Team of the Week presented by Audi for Week 19.
Donovan Pines opened the scoring with his second career goal and then Chris Odoi-Atsem scored his first for the winner in D.C.'s 2-1 win over FC Cincinnati on Sunday evening, a result that snapped a nine-match losing skid and earned the duo spots on this week's backline.
Elsewhere, starting goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell was one of three Columbus Crew SC players to make the 18 after a 3-1 win over New York City FC that may have been their most important of the year. Felipe Mora got a well-deserved and perhaps overdue nod at center forward despite an unlucky finishing night in a 1-1 draw against LAFC. And a pair of young Southern California super subs in Kai Koreniuk and Christian Torres scored important late goals to earn their place in the squad.
Team of the Week (3-4-3, right to left): Andrew Tarbell (CLB) - Chris Odoi-Atsem (DC), Donovan Pines (DC), Jonathan Bornstein (CHI) - Ethan Finlay (MIN), Bojan (MTL), Gadi Kinda (SKC), Pablo Piatti (TOR) - Brian White (RBNY), Felipe Mora (POR), Kai Koreniuk (LA)
Coach: Thierry Henry (MTL)
Bench: Dayne St. Clair (MIN) - Nick Lima (SJ), Richie Laryea (TOR), Djordje Mihailovic (CHI), Artur (CLB), Pedro Santos (CLB), Christian Torres (LAFC)
The Team of the Week presented by Audi is voted on by the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff.
