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SBI MLS Rookie of the Week: Will Bruin

Will Bruin (ISIPhotos.com)

In one of the tighter races to date, Houston Dynamo striker Will Bruin edged out D.C. United defender Ethan White for this week's SBI MLS Rookie of the Week honors.

Bruin opened his professional scoring account on Sunday, delivering a beautiful finish after racing onto a Brad Davis pass and beating Jay Nolly to the ball before slotting him Houston's third goal in a 3-1 win against Vancouver.

Bruin's goal and overall strong performance helped him edge out D.C. United defender Ethan White, who's professional debut saw him go 90 minutes and play impressively against Juan Pablo Angel and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Who got your vote for MLS Rookie of the Week this week?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As an IU student, I’m a big Will Bruin fan. Going to miss him at IU this coming season, but I definitely wish him and the Dynamo the best!

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  2. It’s about time the young blood in Houston stepped up and produced. It’s great to watch and I look forward to seeing an energized team through the season.

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  3. It was a great finish. Even greater finish if you saw it in person. Spectacular finish by a rookie who could have screwed up the open shot.

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  4. I’ll keep saying this for the next decade or so — trading for the pick to grab Bruin was a great move by the Dynamo. I still don’t know why DC United, with its desperate need for strikers with scoring touch, didn’t make the move instead.

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  5. No one is expecting the rookies to come in and be superstars but giving them 5-10 minutes of play could help build their confidence for these later games. The Red Bulls obviously have more depth than a lot of the other teams that are using their rookies but their “depth” is not producing! And no, I am not expecting miracles from the rookies but maybe it will put a little pressure on the starters!

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  6. Cameron is the man. I think he deserves a shot at the USMNT as well, but I think it’s a long shot for the Gold Cup at this point – unless he continues to kill it.

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  7. Ives, what do you think of Geoff Cameron’s play this season? I believe he should be considered into the Gold Cup roster mix. He has overcame his injury, playing a more attacking position( has created havoc in the last third, something the US is in dire need) and stands out in each game. The Dynamo have let him roam the mid and reduced his defensive responsibilities, leaving that to Palmer. That being said, he might be close to the form that got him called up to the USMNT camp January 2010. He will be overseas come next MLS season.

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  8. haha! Ives setting his foot down. Letting your followers post pretty much anything and not getting deleted is what I love most about this site.

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  9. I was sitting on the sideline behind Bruin. You can’t tell from this angle but the shot had a slight curve that helped it curl inside the post. Excellent finish. Thought he was going to hit side net at best when he let it go. So did most of the crowd. You can see the delayed reaction even though he hits the shot from a long way out. No one thought it had a chance until it went in.

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  10. Left footed. Is Bruin left footed? Didn’t seem like the easiest angle either. Much easier to curl in a right footed shot from the left. A left footed shot curls away from goal. I was at the game and remember a Vancouver player putting a similar shot out of bounds for a throw (though obviously the keeper was still in position). If you can question the skill involved in that goal (like making a good first touch to set up the shot) I think it’s only fair that I question whether you’ve ever actually played soccer before.

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  11. Will Bruin has been playing better and better with each passing game he gets minutes in. He is doing a lot of the dirty work for the team even in the previous games and seems to be settling in. He still needs to learn to use less power and more placement on his shooting like in his breakaway run where he hit it as hard as he could…. at the keeper

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  12. I think that understates White’s defensive game. Most pure finishers and poachers (and that’s pretty much what Angel is at this stage in his career) spend much of the game jogging. Look at old tape of Gerd Muller–the man (in his prime) looked like it hurt to walk at a fast pace–yet until Ronaldo he held the record for most career goals scored in the WC (and still has a phenomenal international strike rate). Additionally, he also had a lovely clearance off the line to save a certain goal. That said. I’d still vote for Bruin as ROTW.

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  13. I wouldn’t say 90% of my comments are snide. It just wasn’t a particularly good finish. I thought Ethan White had a pretty good game. Russell Teibert is a player I’m interested in, from that same game.

    (SBI-90 percent are negative and/OR snide. Maybe you don’t notice it but a look at your history of comments paints a clear picture of you being someone who leans heavily toward dwelling on the negative or ripping players/commenters/etc. Consider that going forward. Try to strike some sort of balance. You can’t only be compelled to react negatively, can you?)

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  14. Really? Ream and Agudelo are green enough, and they get plenty of chances under Backe.

    Do you have Hertzog or Rooney on your fantasy team or something?

    Any rookies will have to wait for the summer when others are away on international duty.

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  15. I’m sure Ethan White is a good defender but anyone could have defended Juan Pablo Angel on Saturday night. He jogged around doing absolutely nothing for 85 minutes and then came alive for 10 minutes. He gave no effort at all.

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  16. A beautiful finish, really? It was a finish made simple by a weird goalkeeping error. Good on him to keep composed, but the goal wasn’t particularly impressive and the rest of his game wasn’t either.

    (SBI-That’s still a good finish man. Do you have to piss on everything? What a shock that 90 percent of your comments are negative or snide. You need some joy in your life or something.)

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  17. was playing pick up with a few people that grew up in the STL and I was talking to them about him. he is a solid player, bright future in the MLS

    is this the first week of SBI Rookie of the Week?

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  18. It sucks that Ching is injured, but Weaver and Bruin are doing pretty well up top. Excited to see how the partnership develops. The confidence boost is great even if the goals were against an exhausted Caps team. Bruin seems like he could develop into what everyone wanted Kenny Cooper to be: big guy with great feet who knows when to use those strengths.

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