Chris Pontius (soccer)

For the cast member of the MTV series Jackass, see Chris Pontius.
Chris Pontius

Pontius dribbling against Ajax in May 2011
Personal information
Full name Christopher Richard Pontius
Date of birth (1987-05-12) May 12, 1987
Place of birth Yorba Linda, California, United States
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Philadelphia Union
Number 13
Youth career
2001–2004 Servite High School
2005–2008 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008 Ventura County Fusion 0 (0)
2009–2015 D.C. United 152 (31)
2016– Philadelphia Union 33 (12)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 15, 2016.


Christopher Richard "Chris" Pontius (born May 12, 1987) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer.

Playing career

Youth and college

Pontius attended Servite High School, and played club soccer with the Irvine Strikers, who he helped win the Nomads College Showcase in 2005.

He played college soccer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was named Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2007, and Hermann Trophy candidate in 2008. In 2006, Pontius and the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos won the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

Pontius and the 2006 UCSB Gauchos soccer team honored at the White House.

Professional

Despite being originally named to Ventura County Fusion's roster in 2008 along with a number of other Gauchos, he did not appear in any matches for the club.[1][2]

Pontius with DC United

Pontius was drafted in the first round (7th overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by D.C. United. He made his professional debut, and scored his first professional goal, on March 22, 2009, in DC United's first game of the 2009 MLS season against Los Angeles Galaxy.[3] On May 23, 2010 Pontius scored DC's 2nd goal in the 3-2 victory against Italian giants A.C. Milan. On July 25, 2012 he scored the MLS All-Star's 2nd goal against Chelsea F.C. to equalize their eventual 3-2 win. Also in 2012, Pontius emerged as DC United's leading goal scorer with 10 goals through the first 27 league matches. On September 14, 2012, DC United announced Pontius' signing to a long-term contract extension with the club (terms of the extension are as yet undisclosed).

Pontius has had a career riddled with injuries. In September 2010, he had a hamstring injury that required surgery and ended his season. Again in 2011, his season ended early with a fractured tibia. In 2012, his first injury free season since his debut, he scored a career high 12 goals. Injuries again plagued Pontius in 2013 and he only played in 22 of the 34 matches that year. D.C. United announced in April 2014, that Pontius would again undergo hamstring surgery and would likely miss most of the 2014 season.[4] Pontius eventually returned to the lineup as a substitute on September 10, 2014 with a mere 8 games left in the regular season.[5]

On December 7, 2015, Pontius was traded to the Philadelphia Union for allocation money. [6]

International

On December 22, 2009, Pontius received his first call up to train with the senior US national team. Training in Carson, California began for Pontius and the other players called up on January 4, 2010, leading up to a friendly match against Chile. On August 29, 2011, Pontius was called up by the US National Team for friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium.

Career statistics

As of December 17, 2015[7]
All-time club performance
Club Season United States MLS MLS Cup US Open Cup CONCACAF Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
D.C. United
 2009 28 4 - - 3 0 5 2 36 6
2010 17 2 - - 4 0 - - 21 2
2011 25 7 - - 2 0 - - 27 7
2012 31 12 3 0 0 0 - - 34 12
2013 22 2 - - 5 1 - - 27 3
2014 8 1 2 0 0 0 - - 10 1
2015 23 3 1 1 0 0 6 0 30 4
Club Total 1523161 14 1 11 2 18535
Career Total 1523161 14 1 11 2 18535

Honors

Club

UC Santa Barbara
D.C. United

Individual

See also

References

  1. ↑ EXCITING CHANGES FOR OPENING DAY at the Wayback Machine (archived December 20, 2008)
  2. ↑ "MLS Combine Initial Participants List" (PDF). USLSoccer.com. December 11, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  4. ↑ Golf, Steven (April 23, 2013). "Chris Pontius of DC United will miss four to size more months after hamstring surgery". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  5. ↑ Maurer, Pablo (September 11, 2014). "D.C. United take heart from long-awaited Chris Pontius return in acrid defeat to New York Red Bulls". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2015/12/07/union-acquire-midfielder-chris-pontius-dc-united
  7. ↑ Chris Pontius profile at Soccerway
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