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.

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 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.

This time there would be no miracle finish for TFC, as they could manage only a scoreless draw on the return leg against the Puerto Rico Islanders, and Toronto FC was bounced from the Champions League, making the Canadian Champions the first MLS club eliminated from the CONCACAF tournament.

Additionally, the first ever USL vs MLS two-leg tie between representatives of the two leagues goes to the USL.

Toronto FC looked worse than the last time these two teams met, looking kind of tired, listless and disinterested; Puerto Rico, by contrast, looked better, taking more shots and actually having the edge in possession in the first half.

Throughout the 2nd half (even with Toronto’s goalie joining the attack in extra time and with the Islanders a man down) Toronto could not put the ball in the net and as a result, TFC earns the distinction of becoming the first MLS team ever eliminated by a USL team from the Champions League.

After improbably scoring six times in one game to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, Toronto FC bowed out of the tournament without scoring a single goal.

Toronto FC’s first foray into international competition is over as they couldn’t get past the USL sides.

Here’s are the Toronto FC CCL-wannabee scores against all the first squad USL teams this year (Canadian Championship & 2009-10 CCL [excluding the B(or C)-team fielded by Montreal Impact in the TFC 6-1 fake miracle]):

TFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps – 1:0
TFC vs Montreal Impact – 1:0
TFC @ Vancouver Whitecaps – 0:2
TFC vs Puerto Rico Islanders – 0:1
TFC @ Puerto Rico Islanders – 0:0

TFC vs USL – GF: 2, GA: 3, GD: -1

The big Orange Darth Vader tifo (above) and Bill Gaudette (below right) say it all: (Islanders) I am your Father! (to the TFC [and the MLS]).

The hero for the island squad was undoubtedly goalkeeper Bill “The Wall, The Saint” Gaudette. The Islanders move on to the group stages of the CONCACAF Champions League and owe this triumph largely to the heroics of goalkeeper extraordinaire Bill Gaudette, whose saves proved decisive while keeping TFC scoreless in both legs.

Kendal Jagdeosingh (the Islanders’ goal scoring hero at BMO field in the first leg) was given a red card at the 88-minute mark to put the Islanders down a man. The reason for the flag was not visually apparent.

The Puerto Rico Islanders now have an alltime international record of 7-1-2 [W-T-L] at home. With the scoreless draw, the Islanders mantain their 15-7 goals lead against CONCACAF opponents at “la Islandera”:

1. 0-1 loss against W Connection (TRI), 2007
2. 3-1 win against Hoppers (ANT), 2007
3. 1-0 win against San Juan Jaboleth (TRI), 2008
4. 2-1 win against LD Alajuelense (CRC), 2008
5. 2-1 win against Tauro FC (PAN), 2008
6. 3-1 win against Santos Laguna (MEX), 2008
7. 0-1 loss against Municipal (GUA), 2008
8. 2-1 win against Marathon (HON), 2009
9. 2-0 win against Cruz Azul (MEX), 2009
10. 0-0 tie against Toronto FC (CAN), 2009

Toronto FC gets buried at the JRL cemetery as the first CONCACAF team ever to tie the Islanders at home. Here are the CONCACAF video highlights of the 1-0 and 0-0 that saw TFC buried among other greats that fell at JRL.

The Islanders will join Group C where it will face either Cruz Azul again or Herediano of Costa Rica, as well as another team from Major League Soccer, the MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew, and Saprissa of Costa Rica. Cruz Azul won the first leg of its Preliminary Round series against Herediano 6-2.

Unlike the beer throwing hooligan fans back in Toronto, the TFC fan-delegation that traveled to Puerto Rico for the game proved that there can be friendship in defeat between rival fan groups. They were very decent and enjoyed a few post-game Medallas with the Islanders’ Bravada in celebration of the friendship under the bridge of the Tren Urbano (Puerto Rican Subway) next to the stadium.

Still smarting from a heartbreaking decision against the Columbus Crew last weekend, Toronto suffered another major setback Wednesday night with a 1-0 loss to the visiting Puerto Rico Islanders in the first game of their CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round series at BMO Field.

Kendall Jagdeosingh turned 270 degrees near the line to the right of the goal after chasing a free kick by Jonathan Steele in the 67th to score the only goal of the match as the Islanders defeated Toronto FC 1-0 on the road.

It was the first game ever between a USL side and an MLS team in CCL history. The USL now leads 1-0-0 the MLS in the Champions League head-on series.

Toronto FC is now on the verge of elimination in CONCACAF’s showcase club tournament at the hands of the USL-1 Puerto Rico Islanders. The Islanders will take a 1-0 lead home to Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium in Bayamon (a.k.a. Central American Cemetery), where special arrangements are been made to bury the TFC among other prominent adversaries like Santos Laguna and Cruz Azul from Mexico, CD Marathon from Honduras and Liga Alajuelense from Costa Rica, among others.

It’s worth noting that the Puerto Rico Islanders have an alltime international record of 7-0-2 [W-T-L] at home, and that NO CONCACAF opponent has ever scored more than a single goal at “la Islandera”:

1. 0-1 loss against W Connection (TRI), 2007
2. 3-1 win against Hoppers (ANT), 2007
3. 1-0 win against San Juan Jaboleth (TRI), 2008
4. 2-1 win against LD Alajuelense (CRC), 2008
5. 2-1 win against Tauro FC (PAN), 2008
6. 3-1 win against Santos Laguna (MEX), 2008
7. 0-1 loss against Municipal (GUA), 2008
8. 2-1 win against Marathon (HON), 2009
9. 2-0 win against Cruz Azul (MEX), 2009

On a separate note, Toronto native Dwayne De Rosario elected (¿¿¿really???) to surrender his spot in the MLS all-stars starting 11 so that he could play for Toronto FC against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Wednesday night. But his presence didn’t help in the TFC loss. BTW: The MLS all-stars fell to Everton 4-3 in a penalty shootout (1-1 tie at end of regulation time).

Scoring Summary:
1. PRI: K. Jagdeosingh (C. Arrieta) 67′

Cautions:
1. PRI: B. Gaudette 79′
2. TFC: C. Robinson 84′
3. PRI: S. Jones 90′

Puerto Rico Islanders Lineup:
B. Gaudette (GK), J. Krause, C. Arrieta, N. Henry, S. Jones, D. Gargan, J. Marcelin, N. Delgado, S. Gbandi (A. Rivera 90′), J. Steele (K. Veris 82′), K. Jagdeosingh (N. Addlery 73′)

Subs not used: Behonick (GK), Villegas, F. Noël, J. Hansen

PRI Coach: Adrian Whitbread (Assistant Coach)

Toronto FC Lineup:
S. Frei (GK), N. Garcia, M. Wynne, J. Brennan, E. Gomez, D. De Rosario, C. Robinson (D. Dichio 85′), S. Cronin, C. Barret (O. White 74′), A. Gerba, P. Vitti

Subs not used: Edwards (GK), M. Velez, Serioux, Sanyang, Gala

TFC Coach: Chris Cummins (Interim Head Coach)

Referees: H. Cruz (CR), A. Azofeifa(CR), M. Ramirez (CR), S. Petrescu (CAN)

Attendance: 20,758

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!