It was the first CFU final ever for the Islanders, and the 2nd time ever facing W. Connection. The Islanders are now 0-0-2 [W-T-L] against the Trinbagonians (the other game was a 1-0 loss in the group stage at the 2006 CFU Club Champions Cup)

W. Connection got an early 2-0 lead with goals by Jonathan Frias on the 7th and 21st minute. The Islanders cut the lead in half with a goal by Martin Nuñez (Sean Fraser got the assist) 10 munites before halftime (35th). On the 54th minute the Islanders missed their biggest opportunity to tie the game with a failed penalty kick by Petter Villegas. The Trinidadian goalkeeper jumped to the left, and Villegas who had an open shot to the right, missed wide.

The Islanders had several opportunities to score the tying goal, but were unable to complete the plays.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Chris McClellan (GK), Nigel Henry, Alexis Rivera (Nick Addlery 84′), Sean Fraser, Martin Nuñez (Jonathan Steele 70′), John Krausse, Fabrice Noël, Kyle Veris, Andres Cabrero (Kendall Jagdeosingh 70′), Kevon Villaroel, Petter Villegas.

The championship-caliber bench tonight included: Bill Gaudette (GK – 2008 USL Goalie of the Year), Jonathan Steele (2008 USL MVP), Noah Delgado (Islanders Captain), Cristian Arrieta (2008 Defenceman of the Year), Sandy Gbandy (3 goals in 2008-09 CCL), Kendall Jagdeosingh (3 goals in 2008-09 CCL) and Nicholas Addlery (3 goals in 2008-09 CCL).

The Reserve players present in Trinidad, but not included in the 18-men roster for the game were: Josh Hansen, Scott Jones and James Marcelin.

W. Connection won their 3rd CFU Club Champions Cup in their history and will be joined in the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League by the Islanders and San Juan Jabloteh.

San Juan Jabloteh earned the 3rd spot to the 2009-10 CCL, as they defeated Tempête FC also by a 2-1 score in the 3rd place CFU match. Tempête FC says goodbye to the tournament after 3 wins, a tie and 2 losses (both in the finals).

The first goal was accomplished last night: to earn a return ticket to the CONCACAF Champions League, by defeating the Haitian Champ Tempête FC 2-0 in the semifinals.

The 2nd goal is to win their First ever Caribbean Crown. Tomorrow the Islanders will be in their frst CFU Club Champions Cup match ever, and they will be facing a known opponent, W. Connection, in front of a local T&T crowd at 6:30pm in the Marvin Lee Stadium, in Macoya.

The Islanders and W. Connection met once before, on December 13, 2006 in the Group Stage of the 2006-07 CFU Club Championship Cup, where the Puerto Ricans lost 1-0 at Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium, on a 5th minute goal by Andre Toussaint.

The Islanders 21-players delegation in Trinidad includes: Bill Gaudette (GK), Scott Jones, James Marcelin, Fabrice Noël, Nigel Henry, Noah Delgado, Nick Addlery, Kendall Jagdeosingh, John Krausse, Sandy Gbandy, Josh Hansen, Petter Villegas, Jonathan Steele and Cristian Arrieta, Chris McLellan (GK), Alexis Rivera, Kyle Veris, Kevon Villaroel, Andres Cabrera, Sean Fraser and Martin Nuñez. The 18-player roster for the final will only be announced shortly before the match.

The top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualify to the CCL, and both the Islanders and W Connection have a guaranteed spot to represent the Caribbean in the 2009-10 CCL as they can finish no worse than 2nd place. Now it’s only a matter of which one will represent the Caribbean wearing the Crown.

The Islanders semifinal victory earned them a spot in the upcoming 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). The Islanders were semifinalists in the 2008-09 CCL edition.

The game finished scoreless after 90 minutes of regular time, and went into 2 x 15 min periods of overtime (30 minutes).

Tempête’s Shedelin Francoeur received a red card on the 90th minute, so the Haitian team had to play a man short for the entire overtime period.

It didn’t take long in overtime for the Islanders to get on the scoreboard. To the delight of the small local crowd, Trinidad native Kendall Jagdeosingh broke the score open on the 95′ on a pass from Scott Jones. Jagdeosingh came from the bench on the 63rd minute for Nicholas Addlery. Twenty minutes later, Villegas (who came in for Josh Hansen in the 81st) scored the game’s clincher in the 115′ on a pass from Fabrice Noël. Noël himself was a 90th minute substitution for fellow Haitian James Marcelin.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Bill Gaudette (GK), Scott Jones, James Marcelin (Fabrice Noël 90′), Nigel Henry, Noah Delgado, Nick Addlery (Kendall Jagdeosingh 63′), John Krausse, Sandy Gbandy, Josh Hansen (Petter Villegas 81′), Jonathan Steele and Cristian Arrieta. The players in the bench that didn’t see action were: McLellan (GK), Alexis Rivera, Kyle Veris and Kevon Villaroel. Reserve players present in Trinidad, but not included in the 18-men roster for the game were: Andres Cabrera, Sean Fraser and Martin Nuñez.

The Islanders will now face W. Connection in the CFU final on Sunday. W Connection defeated 2-1 their arch-rival San Juan Jabloteh in the 2nd semi-final, played right after the Islanders game at Marvin Lee Stadium.

The win gave W. Connection a taste of revenge on the reigning Trinbagonian champions San Juan Jabloteh, who defeated the Connection in last year’s T&T Pro. League final.

The top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualify to the CCL. The semifinal wins earns both the Islanders and W. Connection a spot in the 2009-10 CCL as they can finish no worse than 2nd place. For the 2nd year in a row the San Juan Jabloteh is relegated to play for their life in the CFU’s 3rd spot match.

Tempête FC will face Jabloteh for the last Caribbean CCL spot on Sunday at 4pm at Marvin Lee Stadium. Afterwards (at 6:30pm) the Puerto Rico Islanders will face W. Connection for this year’s CFU Champions Cup.

This Friday May 15th they will face Tempête FC from Haiti, in a single-game semifinal at Marvin Lee Stadium, in Trinidad.

The Islanders, who finished 3rd place in the 2007-08 CFU tournament, will play against Tempête FC, the current 2008 Haitian Digicel National Champion, for the first time ever. Tempête FC last played in a CFU Club Champion’s Cup in 1989, when they lost in the 1st round to the Racing de River Pilote from Martinique 3-2 in penalties (2-2 aggregate).

The Islanders, who are the current 2008 USL-1 regular season champions, are one win away from qualifying for their second trip to the CONCACAF Champion League (CCL). In the 2008 CCL edition the Islanders had a 6-3-3 record, which included wins over Liga Alajuelense (Costa Rica), Tauro FC (Panama), Santos Laguna (Mexico), Marathon (Honduras), Cruz Azul (Mexico) and a draw in Guatemala against Municipal. The Islanders lost in the semifinals to Cruz Azul 4-2 in a penalty shootout, after tying the aggregate 3-3 with the Mexicans.

In the 2009 edition of the CFU Club Champions’ Cup, Tempête FC has so far eliminated Alpha United from Guyana (3-1 aggregate) and the Green Hoppers from Antigua (8-0 aggregate) in the 1st round and the quarterfinals respectively.

The Islanders are currently in 5th place of the 2009 USL-1 standings with 8 points after 5 matches; while Tempête FC is tied in 1st place (with Violette AC) in the 2009 Haitian Championnat National standings with 11 points after 6 matches.

Tempête FC will face AS Mirebalais this Wendesday May 13th in the Haitian Championnat National, before traveling to Trinidad to face the Islanders on Friday.

The Puerto Rico Islanders secured its spot by virtue of an impressive showing in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, while Tempête FC booked its spot in the Semi Final round of the CFU Club Champions’ Cup when they trounced the Green Hoppers from Antigua with an 8-0 aggregate.

2007 Club Champions Cup Semi-finalist San Juan Jabloteh secured their position into the 2009 Semi final round after a 5-2 aggregate defeat over Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) while W. Connection booked its spot when they defeated Cavaly Sportif of Haiti.

This tournament, not only declare the Club Champion of the Caribbean region, but also qualifies three teams to the 2009-2010 CONCACAF Champions League.

The Semi Final matches will be held at the Marvin Lee Stadium on May 15th beginning at 5:00 pm with Tempete versus the Islanders. San Juan Jabloteh and W. Connection will kick-off at 7:30 pm. CFU’s Club Champion’s Cup third place play-off will precede the Final on May 17th at the Marvin Lee Stadium.

Tempête trounced the Greenbay Hoppers for the 2nd time (and by the same 4-0 score) on a hat-trick by Belfort Kervens Fils and a goal by his substitute Thompson Amius.

Tempête won the quarterfinal with an 8-0 aggregate score over the Antiguans.

The other three semifinalists are the Puerto Rico Islanders, the San Juan Jabloteh and W. Connection, the last two from Trinidad & Tobago.

The Islanders received a bye into the semifinals, while the Jabloteh and Connection qualified by defeating Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) and Cavaly SA (Haiti) in their respective quarterfinal matches.

The CFU Club Champions Cup semifinalists will find out their opponents on Monday, at noon, when the draw is completed at the CONCACAF offices in New York.

The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

Brazilian midfielder Williams Oliveira (who played for the MLS Chicago Fire in 2007) scored the winning goal by a penalty kick for W. Connection after the expulsion of Cavaly’s Changler Cadet on the 76th minute.

W. Connection now joins the Puerto Rico Islanders and the San Juan Jabloteh as the 3rd team qualified to the 2009 CFU semifinals. Jabloteh advanced this past Monday when they eliminated Inter Moengotapoe from Suriname with a 5-2 aggregate score.

The 4th team to join them (for the semifinals draw) will come from the Tempête FC vs Greenbay Hoppers 2nd-leg match to be played in Haiti on May 1st. Tempête leads the aggregate 4-0.

The 2007-08 CFU Champions Cup 3rd place Puerto Rico Islanders received a quarterfinals (2nd round) bye this year and were given a spot directly in the semifinals. They will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

InterMoengo Tapoe was down 1-2 in the aggregate against Jabloteh, but only needed a 1-0 win over the Trinbagonians to eliminate them on account of the away-goals rule. The dutchmen’s 1-0 came early as M. Bron scored a goal for InterMoengo Tapoe on the 3rd minute, but the Surinamese celebration did not last long…

On the 13th minute A. Guerra tied the score 1-1 with the first goal for Jabloteh, meaning that InterMoengo Tapoe now needed 2 more goals to eliminate the Trinidadians, but it wasn’t meant to be. In the 2nd half C. Glen (47′) and R. Primus (65′) scored for Jabloteh to put the game out of reach, get 3-1 win, and advance the Trinidadians on a 5-2 aggregate score to the semifinals.

In the 2nd quarterfinal match of the night, the Greenbay Hoppers lost 0-4 to Haiti’s Tempête FC in St. John’s, Antigua in the 1st leg of their match. H. Charles (28′), T. Amius (34′), E. Cadet (42′) and E. Cadet (70′) scored the Haitian goals. The return leg will be played in Haiti on May 1st.

The 2nd-leg of the Cavaly Sportif vs W. Connection quarterfinal due to be played tonight was rescheduled to April 24th and will be played in Haiti.

The 2007-08 CFU Champions Cup 3rd place Puerto Rico Islanders received a quarterfinals (2nd round) bye this year and were given a spot directly in the semifinals. They will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

In the first game of the doubleheader, San Juan Jabloteh defeated the Surinamese InterMoengo Tapoe by a score 2-1; while W. Connection defeated the Cavaly Sportif from Haiti 3-1. The 2nd legs for these matches will be played in Surinam and Haiti respectively on April 20th.

The 1st leg of the Greenbay Hoppers vs Haiti’s Tempête FC quarter final match will be played on April 20th in St. John’s, Antigua. The return leg will be played in Haiti on May 1st.

The 2007-08 CFU Champions Cup 3rd place Puerto Rico Islanders received a quarterfinals (2nd round) bye this year and were given a spot directly in the semifinals. They will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

A goal by Tamarley Thomas on the 15′ minute and another by Kelly Frederick on the 66th (Frederick’s third goal against Sevilla in the tournament), were enough to dismiss the 1st PRSL champion ever from their first international competition.

In other results, on Thursday March 26 both Inter Moengo Tapoe and W. Connection qualified to the next round of the CFU Champions Cup.

The W. Connection from Trinidad & Tobago gave Centre Bath Estate (Dominica) another trumping, this time 12-1, to move on to the next round with a whipping 17-1 agregate.

On the other hand, in spite of a 1-0 loss for InterMoengo Tapoe at home to Curaçao’s CSD Barber, the Surinamese team moved on to the next round, on account of their 3-1 win in the 1st leg, which gave them a 3-2 advantage in the aggregate score. InterMoengo Tapoe will face the 2007-08’s CFU Champions Cup 4th place Semifinalist San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad & Tobago in the 1st leg of the quarter finals on April 13th.

Also tonight, the Haitian Cavaly Sportif defeated 1-0 the SV Britannic on the road in Aruba to eliminate the Dutch team from the tournament. Cavaly Sportif moves on to the quarterfinals with a 6-0 aggregate score, and will face the Trinidadian W. Connection in the next round.

Haiti’s Tepete FC defeated Alpha United 2-0 to reach the next round of Caribbean Club Champions Cup on Sunday April 5th. The 2nd leg was delayed one week due to air-travel difficulties by the Guyanese team. The teams tied 1-1 in the 1st leg of the match. Tempete will face the Green Hoppers from Antigua in the quarter finals on April 13th.

The Puerto Rico Islanders, 3rd place in the last CFU Cup, received a bye in the quarterfinals round and were given a spot directly into the semifinals, and will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.