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.

The Islanders will face Vancouver tomorrow night at Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium in Bayamón in the Puerto Rican’s season opener, in what some call the 2nd-leg of the 2008 USL Final.

The 2005 & 2006 middle-bottom table (standings) Puerto Rico Islanders lost 4 games in a row to Vancouver. The 2007 playoff quality Islanders tied 2 games that year against the Whitecaps. 2008 was our best season yet, when the championship contender Islanders went undefeated against them with a regular season 1-2-0 [W-T-L] record, defeating Vancouver for the first time ever 1-0 on their last regular season encounter with a late-goal by Noah Delgado on the 89th minute.

That goal by Delgado on the 89th minute against Vancouver gave birth in Puerto Rican Spanish to a new word: the “alajuelazo“. While this new Boricuan Spanish soccer term made reference to a previous Islanders opponent, the Liga Deportiva Alajuelence from Costa Rica in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, the term itself was coined after the Vancouver win by El Nuevo Dia’s reporter Osman Pérez Méndez.

Below is a quote (translated to English) of Osman’s newspaper article on the Vancouver win:

Last night at the Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium in Bayamón there was another well expected duel, this time between the best two teams in the current USL-1 season, the Puerto Rico Islanders and the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the “Orange Troops” applied the “alajuelazo formula” to the Canadian team with an 89th minute goal that sealed the 1-0 Islander win, before a crowd that once again saw a frenetic game ending finish, celebrating on their feet.

The previous alajuelazo infered in the article, and after which the term was coined, took place just two nights before against Liga Alajuelence. In that game, with the Islanders down 0-1 in the 87th minute, a slow rolling ball into the box was dived on by the goalkeeper at the corner with his momentum carrying him over the line. Kendall Jagdeosingh charged at the play and as the netminder tried to take his hand off the ball so as to not handle it outside the box, the striker stole it, turned and fired it into the far side netting from the right flank of the box to tie the game 1-1.

Then in the 89th minute a lofted free kick from Jonathan Steele was met inside the box by the head of an Alajuelense defender, but the deflection sent the ball backwards toward goal and into the chest of Taiwo Atieno, who made sure to bury this attempt as it dropped to his feet, giving the USL-1 Islanders a 2-1 shocking victory as they held on to down the 2004 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners.

Tomorrow the Whitecaps face this season’s heavy favourites, one of the best 4 teams in the CONCACAF, a Champions League Semifinalist, the best team in the CONCACAF outside of Mexico; the 2009 USL-1 Champions to be Islanders.

To the USL-1 teams, watch out, an unstopable train is coming; to the Whitecaps, move over, you are the first ones in the way…

If that were not impressive enough, the Islanders also made their debut in the region’s premier club competition, the CONCACAF Champions League. And nor were they there just to make up the numbers. After eliminating Trinidad and Tobago’s San Juan Jabloteh, the Puerto Ricans were handed a preliminary-round draw against Costa Rican powerhouses Alajuelense for a place in the group stage.

Against all the odds, the Tropa Naranja drew the away leg and completed the job on home soil with two late goals, securing a Group D berth alongside Mexican champions Santos Laguna and established outfits Tauro of Panama and Municipal of Guatemala.

Those who predicted the Caribbean side would be just cannon fodder for their section rivals were once again left with egg on their faces. After recording an extraordinary 3-1 home win against the Mexicans, a hitherto unimaginable place in the knockout stages became a realistic goal, which they duly secured in Panama after a memorable 2-2 draw with Tauro.