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:

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.

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.

Kyle Veris had an own goal in the 51st minute for the 2nd Vancouver goal.

Hansen both Islanders goals. First he scored a penalty goal on the 76th and then on he 90th on a pass from Fabrice Noël.

It is only 2nd win for the Islanders in their current 6-game road trip. After a 1-0 loss in Charleston and a 2-1 win in Carolina, the Islanders played three scoreless draws in a row: at Miami, Rochester and Cleveland.

The game today in Montreal might have been the 4th scoreless draw in a row for the Puertoricans, except for a penalty goal in stoppage time of the 1st half by Cristian Arrieta.

The Impact were held scoreless for fifth straight game.

Meanwhile the Islanders are technically on a 5 game winning streak (2-3-0 [W-T-L]). But we can’t wait they come back home!

The Islanders won the 2009 season series against the Battery (2 wins & 1 loss). It was the first regular season win by Charleston over the Islanders since the 2005 season.

Randi Patterson netted the game’s only goal, pushing the Battery over the Islanders back to the top of the USL-1 table with 27 points.

The Islanders started last night an 8-game road trip, and visit the Carolina Railhawks next this Saturday.

The Islanders come into the game with consecutive 1-0 (and 1-0) wins this past weekend at Juan Ramon Loubriel stadium; and along the way they leap-frogged Charleston into first place in the USL standings.

The Islanders handed the Battery their first two losses of the year and Bill “The Wall” Gaudette was named Player of the Week for the two shutout wins. John Krause also made the Team of the Week for his ‘alajuelazo‘ (last minute goal) scored in stoppage time to win the first of the two games this past weekend.

The former 2009 USL league leaders Charleston Battery, once the Islanders main rival (rivalry defined due to the many games both teams played in contrast to other teams) have become a Puerto Rican punching bag. The teams have faced each other 20 times in 6 years, with the Islanders wining 11 of the encounters, tying 8, and losing 2 to the Battery.

The Battery’s only win came at home in Charleston over the Islanders was a 2-1 result four years ago (July 22, 2005). Charleston’s other win was 1-0 result in the return leg of the 2006 USL Quarterfinals in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

The Islanders have outshot Charleston 27 to 15 alltime. The Puerto Ricans have shutout the Battery 11 times (5 wins and 6 draws) and have only allowed Charleston to score 2 goals three times ever (1 loss and 2 draws).

The Islanders have gone undefeated against Charleton in 4 of the last 5 regular USL seasons. What the Puerto Ricans have not accomplished is to win all their matches against the Battery in a single season.

That feat will be accomplished tonight in Charleston!

Nicholas Addlery scored the game winner on the 54′. It’s Addlery’s 4th goal this season. Fabrice Noël got the assist. It was Bill Gaudette’s third clean sheet this season.

The Islanders now have 25 points this season and the win vaults them from fourth to first in the USL standings, relegating the Charleston Battery and the Carolina Railhawks to a 2nd place tie with 24 points.

Charleston who was undefeated 6-6-0 [W-T-L] before arriving to Puerto Rico on Thursday, now have 2 losses in the season, both against the Islanders (7-4-3 [W-T-L]). The Islanders now have an 11-8-2 [W-T-L] all time record against the Battery.

The Islanders are now undefeated in their last 6 games (5-1-0). Charleston is now winless in their last four games (0-2-2).

The result tonight means Puerto Rico won the regular season series of matches against the Battery in the league, with one game still to go in the series on June 25th in Charleston.