Chris Pontius (soccer player)

Chris Pontius
Chris Pontius in 2011
Personnel
Surname	Christopher Richard Pontius
birthday	May 12, 1987
place of birth	Yorba Linda , California ,  USA
size	183 cm
position	Striker , attacking midfielder
Juniors
Years	station
	Servite high school
2001-2005	Irvine Strikers
2005-2008	UC Santa Barbara gauchos
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2009-2015	DC United	152 (31)
2016-2017	Philadelphia Union	63 (14)
2018-2019	LA Galaxy	1 0(0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2017–	United States	5 0(0)
1 Only league games are given. As of March 5, 2018 2 As of March 5, 2018

Christopher "Chris" Richard Pontius (born May 12, 1987 in Yorba Linda , California ) is a retired American football player on the position of a striker and attacking midfielder .

Career

Youth career

Born and raised in Orange County in 1987 to Richard and Mary Ellen Pontius , Chris Pontius began his football career at a young age. Already during his school education Pontius, who with Sarah, David and Tim also has three siblings, Tim is also active in soccer, played soccer successfully, including during his time at Servite High School . Already at that time, the offensive player, who belonged to the Irvine Strikers from 2001 to 2005 , was an outstanding player, finishing his high school years as the school's third best ever with 39 hits. He was also a three-time All-Serra League award winner, got first-team -Accolades as a junior and senior, was two-time Division I All- CIF and gained first-team Approval in 2005. Furthermore Des Pontius 2005 was MVP of Friars as well as MVP of the Serra League and received an All-Orange-County honor. He completed his high school career with a total of 14 assists, with a record of nine assists in his senior year, in which he also scored 24 of his 39 goals.

After the end of his high school career, his time as an active member of the Irvine Strikers ended and he moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara , where he was active in the men's soccer team of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos , the university’s sports division was. In his freshman year, Pontius played 20 out of 21 gaucho games, but only started in five of these games and had a total of three goals. As a sophomore , Pontius, whose main course was sociology, was used in 23 of the team's 25 championship games, and in 22 of these games he was on the field from the start. Although he played most of the time on the left side of midfield, he also sometimes played in the defensive chain or in the offensive area. During this time he scored one goal and put another two hits on for his teammates Tino Nuñez and Nick Perera . This season he was able to prevail with his team in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship , with the Gauchos in the final encounter, the so-called College Cup , at the Hermann Stadium in St. Louis , Missouri, the UCLA Bruins , the college sports team of University of California, Los Angeles , with 2: 1.

As a junior, Pontius developed into a dynamic goalscorer after his coach brought him into the team as a striker, where he eventually became one of the best strikers in the Big West Conference (BWC). With eleven goals from 21 missions, at the end of the season he not only led the internal goalscorer list of his team, but was also the top scorer of the BWC and was occasionally voted “Big West Offensive Player of the Year” for this very reason; He also received another award when he was elected to the "All-Big-West-First-Team". With his 24 scorer points (eleven hits and two assists) he was in second place within the team and at the same time was the most dangerous gaucho since Ivan Becerra , who scored twelve goals in 2005. He also led the Big West Conference at the end of the season with five game-winning goals. In his senior year from the university, the offensive player was able to increase his performance again and achieved a record of 14 goals in 22 missions and led his team as co-captain . With 1,883 minutes of play in each of his team's 22 championship games, he was second on the team's list and received numerous awards for his achievements at the end of the season. Among other things, the elections for the "College Soccer News All-American Second Team", the " NSCAA All-American Third Team" and the "All-Far-West-First Team". He was also a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy , which is awarded annually to the best college player. During his time at USCB he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, ΣΑΕ for short.

Club career

Chris Pontius at the 2009 MSI Classic Coach's Award Program at the Maryland SoccerPlex

Chris Pontius professional career began with the MLS SuperDraft 2009 when the offensive player was brought to DC United as the seventh pick in the first round and was used there in all possible offensive positions right from the start. Already in his debut game, the season opener against LA Galaxy on March 22, the rookie was able to put himself in the limelight and, after Christian Gómez's penalty goal in the 44th minute, scored United's 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute; the game ended in a 2-2 draw shortly before the end of the game after a quick brace from Landon Donovan . In his first season the 1.83 m tall offensive player made 28 of 30 possible league appearances, 23 of which he was on the pitch from the start. During this time, in addition to four goals, he also got three assists for his teammates. With the team managed Pontius also the final of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup of 2009 , however, where the Cup Winners could not defend the title last year and against the Seattle Sounders FC 1: was defeated second Overall, Pontius came to a total of 40 of 44 possible appearances in this season in all competitions, including 31 starts, eight goals and six assists.

In 2010 , DC United emerged as the worst team in the league, although the successes were largely absent by the end of the season and the team only managed 22 points from 30 games. Due to a thigh injury, Pontius was eliminated for much of the 2010 season and even had to undergo surgery on September 21 because of the injury, after he was on the field for United for the last time on August 28 against CD Chivas USA . By the end of the season he made 17 championship appearances, of which he started in 13 games. He played his best game on June 10 in the 3-2 away win over Seattle Sounders FC, when he scored two goals and prepared the third; various media even assigned Pontius a hat trick, although this was not officially rated as such. While the team was already leading 3-0 after 79 minutes, the Sounders caught up two goals to make it 3-2 after goals from James Riley (89th) and Fredy Montero (90th). This performance of the offensive player also led to the official election of the player of the week after the round was concluded.

In the 2011 game year , Pontius returned to his old strength, was used in 25 league games, of which he was a regular player in all of them from the start. He had seven hits and five assists in all of these 25 games, including two braces in games against Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps . He also played a special game on September 10 in the team's 3-0 victory over CD Chivas USA, when he made all three of Charlie Davies' goals . Two of them came directly, the third only indirectly after a foul on Pontius by the Brazilian David Júnior Lopes , who received the red card . In 2012 , Chris Pontius has played in 17 league games to date (as of July 23, 2012), in which he emerged as one of the most dangerous players in the league and had so far had nine hits and one assist. These goals include a hat trick he scored in a 4-1 win over the New York Red Bulls on April 22nd , as well as a brace in the 3-2 defeat on June 24th against the New York Red Bulls .

National team career

In the run-up to Christmas 2009, Pontius was brought into the squad of the US national soccer team for the first time by coach Bob Bradley for the training camp and preparation for the international match against Honduras in early January 2010 . Also in February 2010 Bradley brought the young offensive spirit of DC United to his national team and let the player complete the preparation for the international match against El Salvador . After he was finally in the 20-man squad of the USA for the game on February 24, 2010, he was not considered in the course of the game. At the end of August 2011, Pontius made it to the national team again when he was appointed to the team by the new head coach of the US team, Jürgen Klinsmann , for the September games against Costa Rica and Belgium . After Chris Pontius and Jonathan Spector were nominated only for the injured Zach Loyd and Heath Pearce , Pontius returned early to his regular club after the 1-0 defeat against Costa Rica.

successes

At Servite High School three-time All Serra League award winner First team accolades as junior and senior double Division I All CIF First team recognition in 2005 2005: MVP of the Friars 2005: MVP of the Serra League 2005: All Orange County Honor

At the UC Santa Barbara gauchos 2006 : Winner of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship 2007: Top scorer of the Big West Conference (11 hits) 2007: "Big West Offensive Player of the Year" 2007; Election to the "All-Big-West-First-Team" 2008: Elected to the "College Soccer News All American Second Team" 2008: Election to the " NSCAA All American Third Team" 2008: Election to the "All-Far-West-First-Team" 2008: Semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy

At DC United

• 2009 : Finalist of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

Web links

• Chris Pontius in the MLSSoccer.com database
• Chris Pontius in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)
• Chris Pontius in the database of transfermarkt.de
• Chris Pontius on the official DC United website
• Chris Pontius on the official website of the UCSB Gauchos (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Galaxy's Donovan nets pair in draw with United , accessed July 23, 2012.
2. ↑ Seattle Sounders FC Become Second MLS Expansion Team to Claim US Open Cup Crown ( Memento of the original from September 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.  
3. ↑ Pontius hat trick helps DC dump Seattle , accessed on July 23, 2012.
4. ↑ DC United's Pontius nabs Player of the Week honors , accessed July 23, 2012.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Davies has 3 goals in DC's 3-0 win over Chivas USA , accessed on July 23, 2012.
6. ↑ DC United - New York Red Bulls (4: 1) (English), accessed July 23, 2012.
7. ↑ New York Red Bulls - DC United (3: 2) (English), accessed July 23, 2012.
8. ^ Bradley Calls 30 Players to Begin Training Camp on Jan. 4 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.  
9. ^ Bradley Calls 23 Players to Training Camp on Feb. 10 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.  
10. ↑ Clarence Goodson to Join US Camp before Match against El Salvador ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.  
11. ↑ Bob Bradley Names 20-Person Roster For Feb. 24 Match Against El Salvador ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.  
12. ↑ Stoppage Time Goal Lifts US Men Against El Salvador ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.  
13. ↑ Chris Pontius and Jonathan Spector Added to US Men's National Team Roster for September Friendly , accessed July 23, 2012.
14. ↑ US Travels with 20 Players to Face Belgium Sept. 6 in Brussels ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 23, 2012.