It wasn’t as exhilarating as last year, when the Islanders scored 3 goals at home (victory goal on the 119′ in overtime) to shutout the Rhinos and win the 2008 Semi-Final match up 3-2 on aggregate; but the Islanders duplicated the same feat this year: they came back from behind and knocked out Rochester of the USL-1 Playoffs.

After losing 1-2 to the Rhinos last Thursday in the away leg of the 2009 Quarter Finals, the Islanders rallied past Rochester to win the return leg in Bayamón 4-1, win the quarterfinal match up 5-3 on aggregate, and eliminate the Rhinos who fell out the USL-1 playoffs in Puerto Rico for the 2nd year in a row.

The Noël-Addlery forward duo scored 2 goals each, while 2008 MVP Jonathan Steele earned all 4 assists in the game for the Islanders. Bill Gaudette had 3 saves out of 4 Rhino shot’s, missing the one shot that scored Rochester’s lonely goal on the 82′ by Amaury Nuñes.

The final four USL-1 Semifinalists are set for the upcoming week with the idle regular season champion Portland Timbers returning to action against rival Vancouver as Montreal and Puerto Rico square off in the other semifinal series. The opening legs will be Thursday October 1 with the second legs on Sunday, October 4.

The Islanders will play tomorrow night (Tuesday Sep. 29) in Mexico City against Cruz Azul in the 5th date of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League, before flying to Montreal to face the Impact in the first-leg of the semi-finals on Thursday Oct. 1st, and returning home for the 2nd leg on Sunday Oct. 4th in Bayamón.

The result ended the season for Rochester, and triggered Rhinos’ DT Darren Tilley dismisal, as he was fired as coach before the team boarded their return flight to New York from Puerto Rico.

Here are the 4 Islander goals:

But that lead was not to last long… Saprissa came back 9 minutes later on a goal by birthday boy Jairo Arrieta (26 years old yesterday) to tie the score 1-1; and again on the 40th minute on a goal by veteran midfielder Walter Centeno, to seal a 2-1 Saprissa halftime lead. Saprissa caught a break on their first goal as the shot hit the top pole and bounced down just inside the goal line before bouncing outside of the goal posts.

Andres Nuñez added an insurance goal on the 49th for the Costa Ricans.

The Islanders nearly got back into the game in the 73rd minute, but the Costa Rican goalkeeper did well to put a Scott Jones attempt from the left side of the box onto the post. Just as it appeared the ball was going to cross the line, it somehow spun in reverse on the stadium carpet.

Sandy Gbandi hit the bar in the 80th minute after a defensive header by Saprissa’s Douglas Sequeira fell in his direction.

It was not to be Puerto Rico’s night, as they posted their second loss in two games, and dropped to last place in Group C.

The Islanders meet next the Minnesota Thunder on Saturday August 29th at Juan Ramon Loubriel stadium in a regular season USL game.

The Islanders will resume CCL play against Cruz Azul from Mexico on September 15th.

That night the Islanders faced the Costa Rican powerhouse Liga Alajuelense, who took the lead on the 28th minute on a goal by Argenis Fernández. To the surprise of the Costa Ricans, on the 64th minute the Orange troops tied the score on a goal by Osei Telesford.

Then came the infamous 90th minute, Liga Alajuelense’s Yendrick Ruiz went inside of the box and was taken down by defender Nigel Henry, for a penalty call. It was Alajuelense’s last oportunity to score, win the game and save themselves the embarrassment of losing a result to an unknown Puerto Rican side.

Alajuelense’s Windell Gabriel was the one selected to take the penalty kick and to cut the Islanders throat! But to the surprise of the world, Gabriel kicked straight to Bill “The Wall” Gaudette who correctly guessed the shot and jumped to his left for the big save! It was over!

The Islanders had drawn Liga Alajuelense 1-1, and got a positive result in Costa Rica, something no MLS team had been able to do in 8 tries.

Tonight, in their 2nd encounter ever on Costa Rican soil, the Islanders will meet for the first time the Purple Monster of Saprissa in their 2nd game in the Group Stage of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

Saprissa, believed by many to be the best and most succesful team in Central America, is for the 2nd consecutive year in what is called: “the Group of Death” of the CCL. Last year Saprissa finished 3rd in the group, after Marathon from Honduras and Cruz Azul from Mexico.

Both of those teams crossed the path of the Islanders last year: Marathon fell 3-1 (aggregate) in the quarterfinals, while Cruz Azul took down the Islanders on penalty kicks after a 3-3 (aggregate) draw.

But unlike in the last CCL edition, Saprissa is not the same feared team it was last year. A strong team never the less, Saprissa has their weaknesses this year: they have lost some of their regular players due to contracts elsewhere, their defense is weaker than last year, their main goalkeeper is out due to an injury, and their backup goalkeeper is no performing too well.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster for Saprissa against the 2008-09 Semifinalists, the cinderella Islanders! Unfortunately things are not all perfect in the Orange camp…

Bill Gaudette, the 2008 star goalie that shocked Liga Alajuelense last year, is suspended tonight due to yellow cards accumulation. Islanders’ captain Noah Delgado is unavailable due to a dental infection. Andres Cabrero and Fabrice Noël are unavailable, en route from France, where they were trying out for Le Mans Union Club 72. Osei Telesford, who scored the tying goal against La Liga last year, is still on the disabled list.

Finally, 2008 USL MVP Jonathan Steele has a hamstring injury. Steele is in Costa Rica, and may be able to play, but it’s uncertain at this time.

Along with Steele, the Islanders count with: Behonick (GK), Myers (GK), Arrieta, Henry, Krause, Jones, A. Rivera, Veris, Gargan, Mediate, Gbandy, Marcelin, Villegas, Addlery, Fraser and Jagdeosingh.

Both Saprissa and the Islanders lost their first encounter in the group stage by a 2-0 score, so both teams are desperate to get their first points.

The Islanders will be ‘winners’ with either a win or a draw in Costa Rica. On the other hand, without a win tonight, Saprissa will be in a big predicament, before traveling on September 22nd to Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium in Bayamón, where the Central American Cemetary with the grave of Liga Alajuelense awaits them…

My prediction is a 1-1 draw tonight. But with Jagdeosingh back in the lineup after serving a one game supension in the game against Columbus, I’m inclined to think the Islanders leave Costa Rica with a 2-1 win.

Islanders will travel to Costa Rica without Bill Gaudette

Saturday – August 22, 2009

Esteban Pagán Rivera / Primera Hora

The Puerto Rico Islanders will travel tomorrow (Sunday) to Costa Rica to face Saprissa without their star goalkeeper, Bill Gaudette.

The orange goalkeeper, a fundamental part of the Islanders defense, will serve a one-game suspension due to yellow cards accumulation. Backup goalie Mike Behonick and the 3rd goalkeeper Justin Myers will make the trip.

“I’ve been with the Islanders for a couple years and we all know each other very well. I’ve played between 10 to 12 games, so it won’t be a new situation for me. I know it will be a dificult environment and team (Saprissa), but if we keep our game plan, everything will go well”, said Behonick via a telephone interview to Primera Hora.

The game will be the 2nd for the Orange Troops in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. The Orange Troops lost the first encounter in the group stage to the Columbus Crew 2-0 last Tuesday. After the first week of play, Columbus and Cruz Azul from México lead Group C with 3 points, while Saprissa and the Islanders will fight on Tuesday for the first points in the round.

The Puertorican club will depart to San José tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., while DT Colin Clarke is already in Costa Rican soil to watch Saprissa, who plays a league game tonight.

The first 10 minutes of the second half was a different story. The Islanders seemed more efficient offensively, getting their only corner and making a few offensive runs into the box. Most of those runs where made by Noah Delgado. The positivity was short lived after some suspect defending on a set peice which allowed a goal from the Crew’s tall stiker in the 58′, Lenhart. The 79′ goal by Rogers killed the Islanders confidence and it was all downhill from there.

The Formation

Most Islanders fans have figured out that our squad loves to defend away from the JRL (sometimes more for their own good) . They go in the game with a so called 4-4-2. I only call it “so called” because to me, it looks more like a 4-5-1 during 80% of the game. Be that as it may, this formation and strategy has brought us a handful of success stories to chat about on and off the island. Unfortunately, tonight was an exception. The lack of offensive coordination was a huge factor in tonight’s loss. Bad passes, bad support but this was all due to The Crew’s tight and physical defending. They didn’t allow much space for the Islanders so la tropa naranja was forced to play wide. Once they played wide, the service was just not there.

The Lone Ranger

The Jamaican boy Addlery had a rough game. It was just so gruesome to watch those defenders wipe the floor with Addlery; however, how can you blame him? The attacking plan was placed on his shoulders but the Crews CB’s; Marshall and Brunner, nearly broke his spine. Pushes from the back, hard aerial contact, you name it, Addlery felt it. He seemed overwhelmed by the physicality and credit is due to the Crew.

The Missing Link <

The Islanders missed Kendall Jagdeosingh more than a 13 year old boy misses the girl of his dreams when summer camp is over. The suspect red that he received in the return leg against Toronto had its affect tonight. Point is that KJ is a very big piece of the Islanders puzzle and no one could fill in that space tonight. The Addlery-KJ pairing is very dangerous. Addlery, the physical striker (not so much tonight) and KJ, the Islanders fast paced striker/winger. They compliment each other very well making life hard for most CB’s and the pair was surely missed.

The “cut the crap” Yellow Card

Bill “The Wall” Gaudette fell victim to his reputation tonight. That reputation being one that he loves to waste time. The 28th minute had Gaudette seeing yellow due to “time wasting” The yellow card was a message from the CONCACAF Champions League officials. One could debate that their wasn’t much foul play. Just before the booking, Gaudette went in for a 50/50 ball against Schelotto, he won made the save but was slightly clipped by Schelotto’s left foot. On my clock, it took 10-12 seconds max after the incident for Gaudette to take the goal kick. Hardly much time, especially for a player who was shaken up.

To add insult to injury, the Columbus fans where chanting “Columbus reject” after the incident. Ouch! All I have to say about that is not even a statement but a question. How many Columbus Crew Goalkeepers contributed at least half the saves The Wall has which has ended in a semifinal finish in the CONCACAF Champions League? Some reject huh? Yellow card aside, Gaudette had a good game tonight. The result could have easily been 4-0 without him. All in all, good performance from Columbus, they had more chances and they took them. A well deserved 3 points but some poor officiating on both sides.

Not a good start to the tournament but it is not the end of the world. Now the Islanders must plan for their next group stage match away to Saprissa.

In less than half an hour of game, the Islanders already had 3 yellow cards: Cristian Arrieta (18′), Nick Addlery (19′) and Bill Gaudette 28′.

The Islanders best opportunity to score came on the 36′ when Petter Villegas missed a shot after a pass from Nick Addlery.

After a scoreless halftime; just within a minute of the Islanders making their first substitution of the night on the 57′ (Domenic Mediate for Petter Villegas), Steven Lenhart scored a goal (58′) for the Columbus Crew. Assist by C. Marshall.

Then on the 79′ Robbie Rogers scored the second Columbus Crew on a defensive mishap by Cristian Arrieta. Alejandro Moreno got the assist.

Colin “General” Clarke was missing from the bench as he was serving the 3rd and final game suspension due to an incident at the end of the CFU Championship game.

Kendall Jagdeosingh was missing from the roster due a dubious red card he received on the last CCL game against Toronto FC.

The Islanders swept the Montreal Impact this season in their head-to-head series undefeated with 3 wins. The Islanders had already defeated the Montrealers 3-2 (home) and 1-0 (away) earlier this season.

The Islanders took the lead on the 37th minute after a corner kick by Jonathan Steele, which Cristian Arrieta deflected to the center with a header, that John Krause headed in himself to the right of Impact keeper Matt Jordan for the winning goal.

It was Krause’s second goal against the Impact this season.

Bill ‘The Wall’ Gaudette got his 9th straight shutout (including two against the Toronto FC) and his 12th of the season (10 in the USL).

Marco Vélez made his 2nd debut with the Islanders (for which he played 2005-07) wearing orange jersey #34.

The Montreal goalkeeper Matt Jordan was back in the net for the Impact, after missing the last seven regular season matches. He was spectacular in stoppage time with back-to-back saves on point blank shots from Nicholas Addlery and Jonathan Steele.

The Islanders now have a 11-8-5 [W-T-L] record good for 41 points and 4th place in the USL standings; 7 points behind the league leaders Portland (48 pts), 3 points behind 2nd place Charleston (44 pts) and 2 behind 3rd place Carolina (43 pts).

Montreal (7-5-10 [W-T-L], 26 pts) is in 6th place (tied with Vancouver) and is still in the fight for a postseason berth. Miami closely follows the Canadians in 8th place with 25 points.

The Islanders have 6 games left in the USL regular season: two against the Minnesota Thunder (home & away), one home game against Rochester, two against the Carolina Railhawks (home & away) and they will close the regular season on a road visit to Miami.

The Islanders will play next on Tuesday August 18 when they visit the Columbus Crew for the opening match in the “Group of Death” of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

The answer is simple!

The level of play in the USL (as an alternative league) is closer to that of the MLS, than many (in the USSF and MLS) would like to admit to.

= Prelude =

In the 2008-09 CCL, the two classified USL teams showed heart and desire to succeed, while most of the MLS teams looked uninterested and took for granted their perceived superiority and got blown away by “so called” (inside of their bubble) lesser teams.

Many in the United States and Canada (and the world) cheered and watched as the USL’s Montreal Impact and Puerto Rico Islanders became quaterfinalists and semifinalists, taking on and advancing through the tournament defeating some Central American and Mexican favorites.

Eventually the USL cinderella teams fell to the Mexican greats: Montreal collapsed in front of Santos Laguna in the quarterfinals; and the Islanders went down via penalty kicks to Cruz Azul in the semifinals.

The USL cinderellas didn’t drop their guard until they had slayed giants like: Liga Alajuelence (Costa Rica), Municipal (Guatemala), Marathon (Honduras), Tauro FC (Panama) and CD Olimpia (Honduras).

Other notable feats by the USL teams included big home wins against Mexicans Santos Laguna (3-1 in PR & 2-0 in Montreal) and Cruz Azul (2-0 in PR in front of a 12,751 Puertorican record crowd).

The USL actually enjoyed the largest home crowd to a single CCL game in the entire 2008-09 tournament: 55,000+ fans at Montreal’s Olympic stadium in the Impact’s 2-0 quaterfinal win over Santos Laguna.

In big contrast, 3 of the 4 MLS teams in the tournament fared horribly. In the preliminary round the New England Revolution was humiliated 1-6 (aggregate) by Trinidad’s Joe Public; while Chivas USA fell 1-3 (aggregate) to Panama’s Tauro FC.

To add insult to injury, these two MLS slayers were themselves slayed by the USL teams: the Islanders had a 4-3 (aggregate) over Tauro FC; and Montreal had a 6-1 (aggregate) over Joe Public. Neither Tauro FC or Joe Public came out alive of the Group Stages. Both USL teams did!

Two MLS teams were pre-classified to the CCL Groups Stage. One of them, DC United failed to win a single game (1 draw & 5 losses) in what was called the Group of Death.

The MLS may argue that DC United was placed in the toughest group with Mexico’s Cruz Azul, Costa Rica’s Saprissa and Honduras Marathon. But that theory goes down the drain with the USL Puerto Rico Islanders wasting Marathon 3-1 (aggregate) in the quarterfinals; and tying Cruz Azul 3-3 after 120 minutes only to fall to the Mexicans in penalty kicks.

Only the MLS Houston Dynamo was able to save face for the league, surviving the Group Stage, before falling to the eventual CCL Champion Mexico’s Atlante in the quarterfinals.

The USL teams last year not only enjoyed a great cinderella run, but also the luck that had they met, it would have been in the CCL Championship match. The Islanders and Montreal were drawn on different brackets in the finals and therefore couln’t face eachother until the end.

One would imagine that the success of the North American based USL would have made the USSF and MLS proud, but such couldn’t be the case. The MLS is recognized by the USSF as the 1st division of soccer in the U.S.A. The success of the USL (another American league) was just an embarrasement to the MLS who got mocked all over the CONCACAF region for their awful level of international play when compared to the “inferior” (inside the USSF/MLS bubble) USL.

The problem (from the USSF and MLS perspective) is that the USL success and world gained recognition thanks to the CCL tournament was achieved by two teams that were not “U.S.A.” teams. The Puerto Rico Islanders classified to the CCL via the Caribbean Football Union’s Championship; and the Montreal Impact via the Nutilite Canadian Championship.

Two non-American teams showed how close the USL level is to the MLS at the international level (where it actually really counts!).

The CCL participation destiny of these two USL teams could not be negatively influenced by the USSF or the MLS. These two USL teams didn’t need to compete in a big (40+ teams) and difficult tournament (the U.S. Open Cup) for just ONE spot to the CCL!!!

Meanwhile, thanks to the USSF, the MLS with its proven inferior international quality gets to embarrass itself with three free undeserved CCL spots.

What could the USSF/MLS do to prevent such an embarrassment in the 2000-10 CCL tournament?

If the MLS couldn’t show off their USL counterparts on the field, then get rid of the USL teams off the field!

Have the USL teams drawn against each other in the CCL preliminary round!

At least one of the two USL teams wouldn’t make it to the Group Stages.

But sometimes the best-laid plans go awry…

[Part 2 - The Conspiracy! to be continued...]

Earlier today the Puerto Rico Islanders management confirmed that Marco Vélez would be joining the Islanders to assist the team in the race to the USL championship.

Vélez was originally scheduled to depart Toronto tomorrow August 13th at 6:15am and arrive in Puerto Rico at 1:30pm, allowing Vélez to join tomorrow afternoon’s team practice and provided all the neccessary transfer documentation was in place, he may have been able to wear the orange uniform in the game against the Montreal Impact at Juan Ramón Loubriel on Saturday.

A latter team notice said that the MLS requested an exit physical test therefore making him unable to depart Toronto until after 2pm and arrive in Puerto Rico around 11pm, therefore missing the afternoon practice.

Finally local media confirmed the news that the Toronto FC had cut Vélez loose, and that instead of the rumored loan the Islanders had signed up Vélez for the rest of the USL season.

Vélez can only play in USL games for the Islanders, as since he was in the roster for the TFC for their CCL preliminary match (against the Islanders) he is unable to play in the CCL for another team.

Vélez, 29, was signed as a free agent March 19, 2008. He leaves Toronto with 38 appearances, 31 of those as a starter. The defender compiled 2,753 minutes and finishes with two goals, four cautions, and two ejections.

It is expected that Marco Vélez will still be able to wear the Islanders Orange uniform against the Montreal Impact on Saturday at 8pm.

The Islanders dismantled Miami FC 4-0 last night in front of 3,662 fans at Juan Ramón Loubiel. Miami FC was outclassed in every facet of the game. Tactically, technically, and enthusiastically the men in orange were superior to the men in blue, as Bill ‘The Wall’ Gaudette got his 8th straight shutout and his 11th of the season.

Against a short-handed Miami FC team (limited due to some key players out with minor injuries) fell to a Puerto Rico Islanders side that decided to test and let loose their striking power in preparation to the CONCACAF Champions League debut August 18th against the MLS Champion Columbus Crew.

In the 11th minute, Cristian Arrieta received a perfectly placed corner kick from Jonathan Steele and headed the ball into the back of the net:

In the 32nd minute, Miami’s Chris Williams made a vast mishap when he tried to pass the ball to his fellow defender but instead, awarded Nicholas Addlery with the ball right in front of the net. Addlery made a clever move and finished with a lethal right footed strike to put the Islanders up 2-0, a lead that would remain for the rest of the first half:

In the 57th minute Haitian international Fabrice Noël connected with Josh Hansen for Puerto Rico’s third goal of the night:

Scott Jones concluded the night with an amazing goal in the 81st minute, capping off an astonishing performance from the Puerto Rico Islanders:

The Islanders (who managed a 0-0 draw in their previous encounter in Miami) now lead the Miami FC Blues in the race for the 2009 Ponce de León Cup. The final encounter between the two sides will be on September 19th in Miami.