Jordan Stewart Named Coach of the Week; Campuzano, Paul, Søjberg Earn USL Championship Team of the Week Honors
SEASIDE, California (Tuesday, March 25, 2025) – Monterey Bay FC drew attention from across the league when it handed Orange County SC its first defeat since August of last season, ending a 10-match unbeaten run from the Irvine-based club. For their individual performances in the match, Ilijah Paul (who was also named Player of the Week) and Anton Søjberg earned starting XI honors in this week’s Team of the Week, while Nico Campuzano earned a spot in the overall 18. In addition, Monterey Bay FC Head Coach Jordan Stewart was named Coach of the Week.
Stewart earns his first Coach of the Week honors of the 2025 campaign for leading a Monterey Bay side that went on the road into the house of an undefeated Orange County squad that had scored the most goals through the first two games in the club’s history to date and not only won, but shut them out going away. It was a dominant performance for Stewart’s side through and through – and arguably the best regular season performance away from home in the Seaside club’s young history.
Paul had his hand in all three goals in the team’s 3-0 victory. Paul created three chances in total on the night and finished with a 100% conversion rate on his two shots on target. Defensively, he recorded two blocked shots and a tackle.
Søjberg sparked the Crisp-and-Kelp attack with a beautifully floated ball into Paul for the game’s first goal of the night – his first assist for Monterey Bay and his second goal contribution overall. In total, the Dane recorded four chances created and tallied two tackles, a clearance, and a blocked shot.
At the helm of an impressive all-around team performance defensively, Campuzano earned his first clean sheet of the season with three saves – one of which is surely a candidate for Save of the Week, an honor in which he has already been awarded once so far this season. In the 33rd minute, the hosts looked to have the opening goal of the match following a scramble inside the box, but the outstretched left hand of Campuzano stymied the shot to keep Orange County out of the net.
Below is USL Championship’s full Team of the Week for Week 3 lined up in a 3-4-3 formation:
Goalkeeper – Damian Las (LOU)
Defenders – Nick Moon (TBR), Paco Craig (NC), Kalen Ryden (NM)
Midfielders – Anton Søjberg (MB), Bruno Rendon (IND), Kobe Hernandez-Foster (BHM), Taylor Davila (LOU)
Forwards – Ilijah Paul (MB), Russell Cicerone (SAC), JJ Williams (RI)
Coach – Jordan Stewart (MB)
Bench – Nico Campuzano (MB), Luke Biasi (PIT), Arthur Rogers (TUL), Junior Etou (PIT), Marcus Epps (LEX), Justin Dhillon (COS), Damian Rivera (PHX)
