TAMPA, Fla. – The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 11 of the 2024 regular season on Tuesday, with Tampa Bay Rowdies defender Forrest Lasso voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after recording the first two-goal game of his career in the Rowdies’ 5-0 victory against FC Tulsa on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium.

A three-time USL Championship Defender of the Year honoree, Lasso is approaching 200 appearances across the regular season and playoffs in the league in his second stint with the Rowdies. A regular threat from set pieces, the 6-foot-3 center back stole in at the back post five minutes before half time to head home a flick-on by Cal Jennings off a corner kick from the left for his first goal of the contest, and then connected with a corner kick from the right by Lewis Hilton to wrap up the five-goal performance.

The 31-year-old has now recorded 19 goals and seven assists in the Championship for his career with his size and aerial prowess a major plus for the Rowdies at set piece opportunities.

“Forrest has been great,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson following Saturday’s game. “We did quite a bit of work during the week on set pieces. [Assistant Coach] Nicky Law does work on the attacking side of things and [Assistant Coach] Stuart Dobson does the work on the defensive side. … Attacking wise, it’s important that we don’t solely rely on Manu [Manuel Arteaga] and Cal [Jennings]. We have to get goals from elsewhere.” 

Lasso earned 45 percent of the ballot to claim the award. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC forward Ronaldo Damus finished second on 36 percent after recording a two-goal performance in his side’s 3-1 victory against Rhode Island FC as the Switchbacks won their fourth consecutive outing in league play.

The Championship’s Player of the Week is selected by the USL National Media Panel, which is made up of representatives from each media market in the Championship.

USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 11
GK – Adam Grinwis, Charleston Battery: The veteran shot-stopper posted a five-save performance in the Battery’s 1-0 victory on the road against Birmingham Legion FC last Wednesday night, including a key late save on Tyler Pasher to preserve Charleston’s eighth win in the last nine league games.

D – Aedan Stanley, Indy Eleven: The 24-year-old continued his strong run of form with his sixth assist of the season as he notched six chances created overall and completed 25 of 33 passes in Indy’s 4-1 victory against Hartford Athletic.

D – Forrest Lasso, Tampa Bay Rowdies: The veteran center back recorded the first two-goal performance of his career in Tampa Bay’s 5-0 victory against FC Tulsa and recorded four clearances, won 2 of 3 aerial duels and blocked two shots defensively.

D – Paco Craig, North Carolina FC: The English center back scored his first goal of the season and completed 50 of 59 passes while winning 3 of 3 ground duels in NCFC’s 2-0 victory against Loudoun United FC on Tuesday night.

M – Ezra Armstrong, North Carolina FC: Armstrong had an impressive attacking performance in North Carolina’s 2-0 win against Loudoun United FC on Tuesday night, scoring once, recording six chances created and completing 3 of 3 dribbles while also winning 8 of 13 duels defensively.

M – Taylor Davila, Louisville City FC: The central midfielder scored a fine individual goal, completed 37 of 46 passes overall, and won 4 of 5 tackles while making 13 recoveries and two interceptions defensively in LouCity’s 2-2 draw with Las Vegas Lights FC.

M – Charlie Dennis, Tampa Bay Rowdies: The English midfielder recorded one assist, had six chances created overall, won 5 of 10 duels and made four recoveries in a sterling all-around display as the Rowdies defeated FC Tulsa 5-0.

M – Riley Bidois, Loudoun United FC: The New Zealander scored once and had three shots on target in five shots overall while notching four chances created and completing 27 of 31 passes in United’s 3-0 victory against Monterey Bay F.C.

F – Manuel Arteaga, Tampa Bay Rowdies: The Venezuelan forward bagged a pair of goals including a remarkable headed finish to open the scoring and had five shots overall while also helping lead the Rowdies’ forward line winning 2 of 2 tackles and 5 of 6 aerial duels in Tampa Bay’s victory against Tulsa.

F – Ronaldo Damus, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: The Haitian forward scored a pair of goals to lead Colorado Springs to its fourth consecutive league victory as he recorded one chance created, completed 10 of 14 passes and won a penalty kick against Rhode Island FC.

F – Cal Jennings, Tampa Bay Rowdies: The 27-year-old recorded one goal and one assist, won a penalty kick and had three chances created while defensively winning 3 of 4 ground duels and one tackle in the Rowdies’ victory against FC Tulsa.

Coach – Robbie Neilson, Tampa Bay Rowdies: Neilson’s side produced its second five-goal performance of the Championship season with a dominant display against FC Tulsa that saw the side record 21 shots and nine shots on target on the way to victory at Al Lang Stadium.

Bench: Rocco Ríos Novo (PHX), Mark Segbers (CHS), Ben Ofeimu (IND), Fede Varela (PHX), Younes Boudadi (IND), Marlon Santos (MEM), Trayvone Reid (OAK)