The game allowed the Islanders to workout some of their backup players and one trialist (Mohamed), as well as to welcome back Raphael “Mime” Ortiz to the team.

The 45-minute game was part of Guaynabo Fluminense’s preparation for the upcoming 2009 PRSL regular season that starts on May 23.

But under the rainy skies of Bayamón, Fluminense got a lot more than they could handle, as the Islanders scored 6 goals in less than 45 minutes. The PRSL team wasn’t able to resist the constant attack of the Islanders top guns. Fabrice Noël scored a hat-trick (3 goals), while Kendal Jagdeosingh and Martin Núñez scored 2 and 1 goals respectively.

We thank our sister blog FutbolBoricua for the information about the game as well as a for recorded video of the match.

Puerto Rico Islanders lineup:
Cris McClellan (GK), Kevon Villaroel, Karl Veris, Raphael “Mime” Ortiz, Alexis Rivera Curet, Mohamed, James Marcelin, Sean Fraiser, Kendall Jagdeosingh, Martín Núñez, Fabrice Noël

Guaynabo Fluminense Lineup:
Luis Fiol (GK), Oliver Leillo, Carlos, Roberto, Jose, Cotto, Santiago “Chago” Matos, Kevin Borja, Juan Señorele, José Pacheco, Keith Pavón

Subs not used: Diego Benvenuti, Lucas DeVirgill, Fernando Mateo, Eduardo Cruz, Adel Elhal, Sebastián Sánchez.

Boricuas play great soccer, not just baseball…

Ironically a major upset for Puerto Rico on Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic was offset by an amazing 2-0 win for the Islanders over the favourite Mexican Cruz Azul, to continue the Puerto Rican Cinderella Champions League run in the 1st leg of the semifinals at the Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium.

In front of an all-time record crowd of 12,751 (previous record: 12,098 in the 2007 USL Semifinal against the Seattle Sounders) the “MLS rejects“, I mean the USL Regular Season Champion Islanders shocked the Mexican subchampion by breaking the score open early in the 4th minute with a goal by Sandi Gbandi, who converted on a pass by Joshua Hansen at the top of the penalty area.

The Islanders doubled up the lead on the 36th minute after Gbandi curled a free kick into the box, where Nicholas Addlery knocked the ball home to score his third goal in three consecutive Champions League match since joining Puerto Rico.

Bill “The Wall” Gaudette played another phenomenal game as he kept a clean sheet for the 2nd time in row in this edition of the CONCACAF Champions League. Gaudette had 11 saves out of 15 Mexican shots.

The Islanders have now scored home wins over two of the three Mexican teams still alive (the other was a 3-1 win over Santos Laguna in the group stage), leaving Atlante as the only semifinalist yet to face the Fabulous Islanders. Atlante lost to Santos Laguna 2-1 in the 1st leg of the 2nd semifinal. Should the Islanders and Atlante move on to the Finals of the Champions League, they will meet for the first time ever, after missing a preseason friendly rumoured to take place late in 2007.

In other news, it was announced this week that the Puerto Rico Islanders will play a preseason friendly against the new USL-1 addition Austin Aztex on April 3rd, before the 2nd leg of the semifinals against Cruz Azul in Mexico City four days later (April 7th).

The Islanders will face Mexico’s Cruz Azul in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League semifinals on March 17th; and Sevilla FC will face the Greenbay Hoppers from Antigua in the first round of the 2009 CFU Champions Cup on March 21st.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Justin Myers; Kevon Villaroel, Nigel Henry, Alexis Rivera, Andrés Cabrero, James Marcelin, Martín Núñez, Sean Fraser and Kendall Jagdeosingh, along with the recently acquired Kyle Veris and Argentinian trialist Lucas Cisneros. The 2nd half substitutions included John Krause and trialist Evan Schwartz.

Colin Clarke told El Nuevo Día “it gives us the oportunity to see some players that have not played enough time on the field, and others that are on trial”. He emphasized that Sevilla (PR) came to look for a good result against us, just like we did when we played the MLS a few weeks ago. We need to ensure we don’t fail. We need to be professional, keep posesion of the ball and get a good result”.

The Islanders came out strong the first 20 minutes of the game. Five minutes into the game, Scott Jones crossed a wonderful ball to Nick Addlery who headed it to Nuñez, but the visiting goalkeeper Nick Platter was able to get a hand in Nuñez attack. Sandy Gbandi was there for the rebound and this time it was the DC United’s defensive line that was able to block the shot. Noah Delgado had two other header attempts stopped by Platter.

It took DC United almost half an hour to finally test Puerto Rican goalkeeper Bill Gaudette. At the end of the 1st half both sides were scoreless.

The 2nd half was pretty much all DC United’s. On the 57th minute Christian Gómez opened the game’s score on a free shot to the right of Bill Gaudette. Clyde Simms shot for goal on the 66th minute and the visitor’s were now ahead 2-0.

On the 89th minute Jonathan Steele was fouled inside of the box, and Cristian Arrieta scored the ensuing penalty shot, to cut the DC United’s lead in half, but too late to change the games’ result .

The Islanders finished with a 2-1-2 (W-T-L) overall result in the pre-season (1-1-2 against MLS teams). The Puerto Ricans now turn their attention to CD Marathon from Honduras in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals.

The Islanders were first on the board with a penalty kick goal by Josh Hansen in the 17th minute. The USF tied the game on the 38th minute, and then took the lead on a penalty kick on the 50th minute right after halftime.

Sean Fraser tied the game with his first goal on the 65th minute, and then the Islanders retook the lead for good for the win with Fraser’s 2nd goal of the game on the 70th minute.

The Islanders starting line up included: Joe Nasco (GK), Kevin Mesa, Josh Hansen, Petter Villegas, Sean Fraser, Andres Cabrero, Junge, Volk, Daniel Ojeda, Kirby and Alexis Rivera.

2nd half substitutions:
Out: Nasco, Villegas, Hansen, Rivera, Ojeda
In: Bush, Gray, Mc Mahon, Morris, Yomby

The Islanders are now 2-1-1 (W-T-L) in the preseason, and will play their next scrimmage game against the MLS‘ DC United on February 21st at 8pm at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Bill Gaudette, Jonathan Steele, Scott Jones, Nigel Henry, Martin Nuñez, Petter Villegas, Cristian Arrieta, Noah Delgado, Sandy Gbandi, John Krause and Nick Addlery.

It took less than 15 minutes for the Islanders to get the 2 winning goals. Within the first minute of the game, former Carolina Railhawks‘ Martin Nuñez (from Uruguay) found a loose ball in front of the Crew’s goal and scored the first goal of the preseason for the Islanders. On the 13th minute the Islanders doubled their lead for good when Puertorican National Noah Delgado scored off an assist from the 2008 USL First Division Most Valuable Player Jonathan Steele.

On the 20th minute the Crew had their first of two casualties when their starting goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum left the match due to an ankle injury. On the 30th minute Columbus forward Steven Lenhart picked up a red card. Since the match was an exhibition, the Crew was not forced to go a man down, so Lenhart was replaced. The Crew picked up three more yellow cards in the 2nd half.

The only substitution for the Islanders in the 2nd half was Josh Hansen for Villegas.

The USL Regular Season Champions’ defense held the Crew scoreless and mantained the 2-0 lead for the rest of the game resulting in the defeat of the defending MLS Champions. It was the first win for the Islanders in the preseason, and they now have a 1-1-1 record in the MLS friendlies, with one more MLS team to go, the DC United at Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

In an oficial team press release, ‘General’ Colin Clarke said: “As we finish this phase of pre-season, the trip could not have finished on a more positive note as we beat Columbus Crew, the current MLS champions by a score 2-0 this morning at the IMG center in Bradenton. The team played very very well today and created numerous chances and could have scored some more goals. Defensively we were very sound and Columbus struggled to create any clear cut openings. With a little bit of luck and better finishing the score could have been much more flattering. The players have worked very hard and are looking forward to returning back to PR to face the exciting challenges ahead with DC United on February 21st and CD Marathon at home on February 26th”.

The Islanders will play their next preseason game tomorrow against the Bulls from the University of South Florida at 11am EST.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Bill Gaudette, Scott Jones, Sandy Gbandi, John Krause, Cristian Arrieta, Martin Nuñez, Jonathan Steele, Nigel Henry, Nick Addlery, Noah Delgado and trialist Serge Tatiefang. There was only one substitution in the 1st half, James Marcelin for Tatiefang.

The Islanders best chance of the match came in the 14th minute. Sandy Gbandi shot from the right side of the penalty box but his shot was punched away by goalkeeper Danny Cepero. Nicholas Addlery hit in the rebound, but the Red Bulls defense blocked the shot, preventing the Islanders from scoring their first goal of the preseason.

Puerto Rico’s lineup for the 2nd half included: Justin Myers, Kevon Villaroel, Kirby, Gray, Andres Cabrero, Swisher, Josh Hansen, Kevin Mesa, James Marcelin, Petter Villegas and Sean Fraser. The only substitution in the 2nd half was Volk for James Marcelin.

In the 48′ minute Andres Cabrero hit a shot that forced goalkeeper Danny Cepero to make a diving stop in front of the left post poking the ball away for a corner. Cepero punched away the ensuing corner.

General Colin Clarke continued to evaluate the talent of both current players and trialists, and he told Primera Hora that “Our play improved from our previous game and that is important. We keep improving with every game and I’m really satisfied with the result”.

The Islanders will play their next preseason game on Thursday Feb 12th against the 2008 MLS Champion Columbus Crew.

Fire’s forward Brian McBride scored the game’s only goal off a penalty kick in the 8th minute of the 1st half. McBride placed his shot low and to the right of the Islanders’ goalkeeper Bill Gaudette.

Early in the 2nd half both Islanders and Fire benches were emptied, with all bench players being substituted onto the field.

The Fire nearly doubled the lead in the 62nd minute but the goal was called back due to an offside call. The Islanders nearly tied up the game in the 75th minute but the goal was also called back due to an offside call.

At the end of regulation time neither team had had enough for the day, so they played a 3rd twenty minutes period which ended up scoreless.

The Islanders will play their next preseason game on Monday Feb 9th against the New York Red Bulls.

Three Argentine players, fruit of the talent searching trip to the South American continent last November, were also invited to the trials. There are well advanced negotiations between the prestigious Argentinian soccer organization ‘Club Atlético Renato Cesarini’ and the Islanders to establish an exclusive colaboration agreement for the island of Puerto Rico. This agreement will be very beneficial to the efforts of the Islanders to continue to develop local talent by player exchanges with the Renato Cesarini Academy in Rosario, Argentina.

The Chicago Fire are facing the Islanders after a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards on Tuesday. The Fire had a 2-0 lead at halftime, but could not hold the Wizard offense in the 2nd half, watching the 2 goal lead evaporate, and eventually lose the scimmage match.

After the Fire, the Islanders will continue their preseason sack on the MLS on Monday Feb 9th against the New York Red Bulls, on Feb 12th with the 2008 Champs Columbus Crew, and finally against DC United on Feb 21.

The following returning players were present at the practice: Bill Gaudette (2008 USL Goalie of the Year), Jonathan Steele (2008 USL MVP), Christian Arrieta (2008 USL Defender of the Year), Noah Delgado, Alexis Rivera, Andres Cabrero, Daniel Ojeda, John Krause, Sandy Gbandi, Nigel Henry, William Yomby, James Marcelin, Osei Telesford and Justin Myers.

The following new faces (all with previous USL experience) joined the team in the first day of practice: Nick Addlery (Vancouver Whitecaps), Martin Nuñez (Carolina Railhawks) and Sean Fraser (Miami FC). Former MLS Red Bulls’ Kevin Mesa, and two “imported” newcomers, Kevon Villaroel (Trinidad & Tobago) and Nicolas Torres (Argentina), were also at the practice.

Returning Islander players missing at the practice yesterday were Petter Villegas (arrives today), Kendall Jagdeosingh (away playing with the Trinidad & Tobago National Team), and Fabrice Noël.

As for the preseason games, the quality of the 2009 opponents will be nothing like 2008’s. In last year’s preseason the Islanders (in preparation of their May encounter with the San Juan Jabloteh from Trinidad & Tobago to define the 3rd Caribbean team to play in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League) defeated the University of Central Florida Knights (6-1), the USA Under-17 team (6-0) and Florida’s PDL team Panama City Pirates (1-0).

This year the Islanders (in preparation of their February-March encounter with Marathon from Honduras in the quarterfinals of the inaugural CONCACAF League of Champions) will face four MLS teams in the preseason: the Chicago Fire (Feb 7), the 2008 Western Conference Champion New York Red Bulls (Feb 9), the 2008 MLS Champion Columbus Crew (Feb 12) and DC United (Feb 21). The Islanders will also face the Bulls from the University of South Florida on Feb 13.