Islanders and Rhinos scoreless in Bayamón

By: BoriQa | April 24th, 2009

Tonight the Islanders faced the Rochester Rhinos for the first time since defeating them with Cristian Arrieta’s minute 119’ (OT) alajuelazo (last minute winning goal) in last season’s USL-1 Semifinal Round.

The Islanders were playing without midfielders Jonathan Steele, Osei Telesford and Domenic Mediante, all out due to injuries. Rochester was playing without defenders John Ball and Danny Earls due to red cards suspensions.

Overall it was an even game that ended in a 0-0 scoreless draw, that saw both teams have goal opportunities denied by the posts. Refereeing left a lot to be deserved, as there were a number of foul calls that were not made, as well as a Rochester foul in the box that deserved a penalty kick for the Islanders.

There were 23 combined shots in the game, with the Islanders outshooting Rochester 12-11, but neither side was able to convert. Rochester’s former Islander Tai Atieno had Bill Gaudette beaten but was denied by the right post on the 22nd minute. On the 26th minute it was the Islanders’ Nicholas Addlery who hit the top bar.

The Islanders came out more aggressive in the 2nd half, and had several opportunities to get winning goal, but to no avail.

Villegas missed shots on the 56th , 57th and 61st minutes. Hansen missed a chance on the 59th. On the 64th Villegas was brought down inside the box for was was a clear penalty foul, but the referee turned his face the other way…

The Islanders’ Bill Gaudette and Rhinos’ Scott Vallow earned 8 saves each protecting their respective goalposts, as they each picked up their first shutout of the season.

After the tie, the Islanders remain undefeated in 2009 with a 1-1-0 [W-T-L] record, and are currently in 3rd place in the standings with 4 points, behind Miami and Carolina who are tied in first place with 6 points.

The draw earned Rochester their 1st point in 2 games in the standings this year. The Rhinos are currently tied in 8th place with the Montreal Impact (who lost 2-1 in Miami last night).

The Islanders will host next their 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League sister team Montreal Impact next Saturday May 2nd. Kickoff at the Juan Ramón Loubriel is at 8:00pm.

Scoring Summary:
None

Cautions:
1. ROC: Ryan Heins 17’
2. ROC: Chris Nurse 42’
3. ROC: Darren Kenton 77’
4. PRI: Fabrice Noël 78’
5. PRI: Cristian Arrieta 84’

Puerto Rico Islanders Lineup:
Bill Gaudette (GK), Scott Jones, Nigel Henry, John Krause, Cristian Arrieta, Noah Delgado, Peter Villegas (Fabrice Noël 61’), Sandy Gbandi, Andres Cabrera (Martin Nuñez 86’), Josh Hansen (Kendall Jagdeosingh 81’), Nicholas Addlery

Subs not used: Chris McClellan (GK), James Marcelin, Alexis Rivera, Kyle Veris

Rochester Rhinos Lineup:
Scott Vallow (GK), Kenney Bertz, Ryan Heins, Darren Kenton, Brent Sancho, Mike Ambersley (Kwame Sarkodie 72’), Johnny Menyongar, Christopher Nurse, Nathaniel Short (Tiger Fitzpatrick 89’), Taiwo Atieno, Mauricio Salles (Andrew Gregor 78’)

Subs not used: Timothy Melia (GK), Andrew Lorei,

Attendance: 4078

Referees: Carlos Sandoval, Luis Santos, Juan Perez, Jesus Lebron