Match-preview: Islanders vs Whitecaps

July 25, 2009

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Last year’s USL-1 Final teams go at it again tonight when the Puerto Rico Islanders visit the current champions, Vancouver Whitecaps.

Puerto Rico plays the last USL match in a series of 8 straight road games. The Islanders had an important tie against Portland on Thursday and sit at the top of the USL table in a 3-way tie with Portland and Charleston. Vancouver comes into the match sitting in 8th place , on the outside of the playoffs spots but certainly looking to secure one. The Whitecaps have had a disappointing season, but can still salvage it by making the playoffs; and they certainly have a chance, while teams like Puerto Rico and Charleston have played 21 and 20 matches respectively – Vancouver has only played 15 (just half the 30 season games).

…Continue reading

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Posted by KVD

Brief update: Another scoreless tie in Portland

July 23, 2009

In what was a very exciting and battled match – the Islanders tied 0-0 with the Portland Timbers. Even though a tie is not the preferred outcome, it was still a very important tests against a tough opponent. More importantly, the Islanders showed great improvement in their play.

More on this later…

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Posted by KVD

Battle for first place: PR Islanders vs Portland Timbers match preview

July 23, 2009
Time to cut down some trees

Time to cut down some trees

The Puerto Rico Islanders take on the Portland Timbers in what will probably be their most difficult test this season.

The Islanders play in Portland for their seventh consecutive game on the road against a Timbers side that is riding a 16 games undefeated steak and that hasn’t lost at home so far this season. Let’s be very clear about this – the match tonight will be very tough and a positive result is crucial if the Islanders are to make a run for first place when the season ends. While it’s pretty much assured Puerto Rico will be in the playoffs – first place at the end of the regular season is more than just the Commissioners Cup trophy, it also represents getting a ‘bye’ to the next round of the post-season. Considering that the Islanders have a decent chance of passing to the group stages of the CONCACAF Champions League – going straight to the USL-1 semi-finals and bypassing the quarter-finals will be very welcome to ease fixture congestion.

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Posted by KVD

Final comments on Islanders vs Montreal

July 23, 2009

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There isn’t really that much else to say about a match that could have easily ended in another tie. The Islanders were lucky to get a penalty call in their favor in the 45th minute.

What is important to remember is that the team has not scored in the run of play for the past 4 games – and in only one match of their last 6. The good news is that the defense has improved considerably. At the beginning of the season, the team was allowing easy goals. Colin Clarke has clearly worked on the defensive aspect of things and the team has now allowed 0 goals in their last 4 matches and only 3 goals combined in their last 9 matches.

The problem now is on the offensive side of things. On the attack, the team seems to have a lack of ideas. Colin Clarke continually bets on using the Islanders’ good physical condition and height to receive and battle balls deep into the enemy’s area with clearly a lack of results. The top USL-1 sides have shown great defensive skills and it will require smart tactics to break the defenses down and get some good looks at goal.

In the end, the Montreal match ended up in a very important win and the crucial 3 points – particularly as the race for the top USL-1 spot continues to get tighter.

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Posted by KVD

Brief update: 1-0 Victory on the road

July 19, 2009

The Islanders won earlier today against the Montreal Impact via a 45th minute penalty scored by Cristian Arrieta. Colin Clarke’s troops got an important victory on the road but are still suffering from a scoring drought in regular match play.

Portland vs Miami (3-0)

In the other USL-1 match today, the Portland Timbers beat Miami 3-0 to extend their undefeated streak to 16 games – a USL-1 record.

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Posted by KVD

Match-preview: Montreal vs Puerto Rico

July 19, 2009

The Puerto Rico Islanders visit Montreal today at 3:45pm for a match that is hard to predict. Both these teams have gone scoreless in their last 3 games. Fortunately, the Islanders have managed to get draws but Montreal has lost 2 of these last 3.

Another important factor to consider is that Montreal is really struggling this season. They look like a team fraught with insecurity and little chemistry. Just this week they had an in-game fight between two players and then their coach Dos Santos being ejected from their last game for attacking a Rochester player.

The Puerto Rico players have had a few days to rest and work on team cohesion. The coaching staff took them this week to the Niagara Falls and gave them some down time before heading to Montreal. Hopefully this will have some effect on the scoring drought the team is going through. With 2 tough games next weekend in Portland and Vancouver, coach Clarke needs to steer the ship in the right direction soon – particularly as they fly from coast to coast and back in just 2 weeks and with the CONCACAF Champions League match-up against Toronto FC on July 29th.

…Continue reading

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Posted by KVD

USL match updates

July 19, 2009

07-18-09-AUS-MIN

Week 15 in USL-1 action began on Wednesday with a scoreless tie in Rochester.

-Wednesday

Montreal vs Rochester (0-0)

The amazing imploding Impact continued their sad slide down the USL table with a 0-0 draw in Rochester. Montreal has not scored in their last 4 matches while they have allowed 8 goals in those same games. If their performance on the pitch weren’t bad enough – the Impact have also had to suspend one of their own players for trying to choke a teammate. And in more choking news, Montreal coach Dos Santos was ejected in Rochester for putting his hand around the neck of a Rhinos player and shoving him. Montreal currently sits in 7th place in a tie with the Vancouver Whitecaps. In USL-1, the top 7 teams make the playoffs – seeing how the Impact have fared lately, it’s very probable that they won’t be in the post-season this year.

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Posted by KVD

Post-match: Scoring drought for the Islanders

July 16, 2009

07-12-09-PR-CLE

The good news: The Islanders have only been defeated once in their last 11 games.

The bad news: The Islanders have only scored in 1 match out of their last 5.

Looking at the glass half-full: The Islanders haven’t allowed a goal in their last 3 matches.

Looking at the glass, period: The Islanders haven’t scored in their last 3 matches.

Inconsistency is probably the first word that comes to mind when thinking about the Islanders this season. This past weekend the Islanders visited Rochester and Cleveland and in both matches came away with 0-0 results. Puerto Rico now sits again at the top of the table with 1st place in the USL-1. Great news right? Wrong.

…Continue reading

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Posted by KVD

Brief update: Scoreless tie on the road

July 12, 2009

The Puerto Rico Islanders had a very dissapointing game in Clevelabd tonight. A 0-0 draw againt one of the worst teams in the league. This is the 3rd scoreless tie for the Islanders in a row and their 4th scoreless match in their last 5 games.

More on this later…

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Posted by KVD

Brief match preview: Islanders vs City Stars

July 12, 2009

The Islanders have another busy weekend with a match in Rochester on Friday and now another one in Clevelabd today at 5pm.

Fortunately, I was able at the last minute to head to Cleveland to cover the game live. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to post a detailed match report on Froday’s game. Instead, I will review both weekend matches later and will just briefly preview the match today.

Some thing to consider about today’s game:

As I said above, the Islanders had a game less than 48 hours ago. They are short handed with 3 key players out playing for their national squads in the Concacaf Gold Cup. On top of that, they had a game on Friday and had to make the trip to Cleveland for today’s match.

While Cleveland has been one of the worst teams this year in their first USL-1 season, you can’t count them out. They are pretty much out of the playoff race at this point so they have nothing to lose and they will be playing at home. The City Stars are one of the worst teams in the league this year but they still have the tools to make a victory far from a certainty.

Last time these teams met, Cleveland went to Puerto Rico to play two matches in a weekend. The Islanders managed to win the first game but barely, with a 2-1 score. For the second match, Cleveland managed to pull off the surprise by playing the Tropa Naranja to a 2-2 tie.

Clearly, today’s match is far from a done deal. Coach Colin Clarke will have to make some smart roster moves and use the team’s depth to the maximum. The team needs to come out looking to put several goals on the board and make it unlikely for Cleveland to come back and play for the tie. This means Clarke needs to be smart with his choice of starters avd tactics.

The Islanders haven’t scored in 3 of their last 4 matches. Today must be the day to shift things around and give other players some minutes. Cabrero and Nuñez are obvious choices to lead a fast and aggresive game. Let’s hope Clarke can show us some of the creativity he used last season to rotate players around and keep things fresh and innovative.

What to expect: a 2-0 or 3-1 isn’t hard to imagine. 90% of the victory will depend on Clarke’s tactics and roster choices.

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Posted by KVD

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