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.

Mexican Santos Laguna and Municipal from Guatemala tied 4-4 in the last match of the group on Thursday October 30th. With the tie Municipal ended in last place for the group with 6 points, and was unable to cause a triple-tie with the Islanders and Tauro for 2nd place. Had Municipal defeated the Mexicans, and forced the triple-tie, the Islanders would have still won the tie-breaker on account of their lead of 4 away goals among the three teams. Tauro and Municipal had 3 & 2 away goals respectively.

A total of 21,112 fans assisted to the Islanders three CONCACAF Champions League games at home in Bayamón. The 10,112 fans that witnessed the 3-1 win over Santos Laguna on September 23rd was the largest crowd for the Islanders at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium this year. 3,500 fans were present to the 2-1 win over Tauro FC on September 16th; and 7,500 fans were at the 1-0 loss to Municipal in the final home game of the year for the Islanders.

The Islanders will now have to wait for the quarter finals draw on December 10th to find out who will be their opponent in the next round in March 2009. The three potencial opponents include the Mexican teams Atlante FC or Pumas UNAM; and the winner of the last match in Group A between CD Marathon from Honduras and Deportivo Saprissa from Costa Rica on November 5th.

The Islanders managed to win 12 times at home this year: 8 times in the USL, including a 3-0 overtime win in the Semi-Finals against the Rochester Rhinos; a 1-0 win over the Trinidad & Tobago’s Pro League Champion San Juan Jabloteh to win the Caribbean Football Union’s 3rd berth to the CONCACAF Champions League; a 2-1 come from behind win over Costa Rica’s Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in the tournament’s preliminary round; a 2-1 win over Panama’s 5-times champion Tauro FC and a 3-1 win over the current Mexican champions Santos Laguna in the 1st round group stage of the tournament.

The Islanders were looking for their last win at home this year in front of 7,500 fans against Municipal in the Champions League, to get a step closer to the Quarter Finals of the tournament to be played next March, and to eliminate the Guatemalans from the tournament.

But Puerto Rico’s 19 shots in the game were no match for Municipal’s Panamanian goalkeeper Jaime “The Saint” Penedo, who with 14 saves, kept the Islanders at bay, and earned the win after the game’s lonely goal by Mario Giovany Acevedo in the 85th minute.

As fate had it, the Municipal hopes for the Quarter Final round faded with this win, as they still got eliminated from the tournament. Municipal needed to score at least 2 away-goals against the Islanders, to keep their hopes to move on to the next round in case of a three-way tie for 2nd place in the group standings (had Tauro tied the Islanders and Municipal defeated Santos in the final week).

The Islanders will visit the Tauro in the Panama on Wednesday October 29th, to define the 2nd qualifier from Group D in the CONCACAF Champions League.