With a finals score of 2-1 and an aggregate score of 4-2, the Montreal Impact eliminated the Puerto Rico Islanders from the USL-1 playoffs and a return to the Finals. Montreal scored in the 2nd minute of play and managed to slow down the tempo of the match and shut down the Islanders as they attempted to score again and again.
With hopes as high as they have ever been, there’s no other way to describe this seasons but as a complete disappointment.
Leave a Comment » | 
Brief updates | 
Permalink
Posted by KVD
Just like they did in Rochester, the Islanders went down 2-0 early in Montreal until finally they were able to get one back and make it 2-1 as they head to the second leg of this semifinal series on Sunday in Bayamon.
The Islanders will need to win by 2 or more goals in order to advance to the USL-1 finals.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates | Permalink
Posted by KVD
With a final score of 2-0 last night in Mexico City, Cruz Azul went undefeated at home in group play and eliminated the Puerto Rico Islanders from any possible progression in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Colin Clarke clearly had his mind set on Thursday’s semifinal match in Montreal and went with a bench-heavy lineup against Cruz Azul. The Islanders still have a game remaining, when they receive Columbus in Bayamon later in October – but they now have no chance of advancing past the group stage.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates | Permalink
Posted by KVD
The USL announced earlier today the picks for the ‘USL-1 All-League Second Team’ – a recognition to some of the league’s most outstanding players – yet those who came right below the First All-League.
The Puerto Rico Islanders had the most players named to this second all-league team with 3: Bill Gaudette, John Krause, and last year’s USL-1 MVP Jonathan Steele.
Goalkeeper – Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders)
The Goalkeeper of the Year last year, Gaudette had another fantastic season for the Islanders. He finished fifth in the league in goals against average at 0.74, but was tied for first in wins (15) with Steve Cronin, tied for first in shutouts (12) with Dusty Hudock while playing in the CONCACAF Champions League and as well as logging the fourth most minutes at the position in the league.Defender – John Krause (Puerto Rico Islanders)
Krause was one of two players on the club (Cristian Arrieta) to play in 28 games on the season, and was part of the Islanders defensive unit that was particularly difficult to penetrate at home, allowing just 11 goals in 15 games. He also proved to be a contributor offensively with five goals on the season, eclipsing the three total he had in his previous two campaigns with the Islanders.Midfielder – Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders)
The league MVP a year ago, Steele helped lead the Islanders back to the postseason with a third place finish in the table and the league’s best home record. In his second year with Puerto Rico, he finished the season with four goals and three assists for the third most points on the team over the course of 23 games played.
Source: USL
By revealing their names as all-league second team players, we know that they’re not candidates for some of the top league awards such as MVP and goalkeeper of the year. Cristian Arrieta is notably absent from this list which probably means he will get a first team honor and could even possibly repeat in an all league honor such as MVP.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates, USL News | Permalink
Posted by KVD
Today is the last day to vote in the 1st Annual PasionNaranja Fan Awards! The fan awards are chosen by the Puerto Rico Islanders fans as a way to recognize the players for their season achievements.
See the original post and the polls to vote: here
After tonight, we will count the votes and declare the winners for 2009.
Make sure to get your vote in!
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates | Permalink
Posted by KVD
With a final score of 4-1, the Puerto Rico Islanders routed the visiting Rochester Rhinos and in doing so, earned a ticket for the USL-1 semifinals for the 3rd straight year. With 2 goals from Fabrice Noel and 2 goals from Nicholas Addlery, the Islanders eliminated Rochester from the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row.
The Islanders won the quarterfinal series with an aggregate score of 5-3 and will now face the Montreal Impact for the semifinals.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates | Permalink
Posted by KVD
Just as we saw last year, the Puerto Rico Islanders need a comeback win in Bayamon to advance past the Rochester Rhinos in the USL-1 playoffs. Last year, the Islanders lost 2-0 in Rochester and later on won 3-0 in Puerto Rico to go onto their first ever USL-1 Final. This year, the task is a bit easier – the Islanders went down 2-1 in Rochester so they only need 1 goal to tie the global score and then 2 goals to win it outright in this quarterfinal showdown.
There’s not much else to say about the match. We’ve seen the team perform all year and know that the Tropa Naranja has what it takes to book a return ticket to the USL-1 Final. Before they can even think about going into the semi-finals – the Islanders will need to take care of the Rhinos tonight. A 1 goal disadvantage shouldn’t be hard for the Islanders to deal with, particularly at home. Unfortunately for Clarke’s men, Rochester had a better record this year on the road than at home. The Rhinos are also the only team in the USL to hold the Islanders scoreless in Bayamon. If Rochester managed to get another 0-0 tonight, the Islanders would be out of the playoffs.
With a visiting side that tends to play excessively physical and defensive, the key for the Islanders will be to attack hard from the opening whistle and rely on controlling posession and making smart offensive plays.
Prediction: It’s a hard one to call. One could very well go for a 2-0 win for the Islanders, but seeing how the team has made everything difficult for themselves this season – a 2-1 regular time score for the host, sending it to overtime and then a final 3-1 win seems very likely.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates, Match Previews, USL News | Permalink
Posted by KVD
For the second year in a row, the Rhinos head to Puerto Rico with a lead during a playoffs series. On Thursday night, the Islanders could only manage 1 goal against 2 for the Rhinos after playing a man down for most of the match.
Cristian Arrieta was given a red card for a scuffle in front of the Rhinos’ goal before a Puerto Rico corner kick in the 7th minute of play. Clarke was forced to change his lineup and tactics after that.
While the Islanders held on for the entire first-half, the 1 man disadvantage eventually caught up with them as Rochester scored 2 goals during the second-half.
The Islanders will now host the Rhinos on Sunday for the second and final game of this quarterfinals series.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates | Permalink
Posted by KVD
With last night’s Cruz Azul victory over the Crew in Columbus, the Islanders still have some hope to advance past the CONCACAF Champion League’s (CCL) group stage. The most points the Islanders could hope for would be 8, the same number that they earned last year. With Columbus currently at 6 points, a victory by the Crew would have made it impossible for the Islanders to catch up.
Probably the most important set of games will happen next week when Saprissa visits Columbus and the Islanders visit Cruz Azul. To continue with the aspirations to advance, Sapriss would have to either tie or defeat the Crew in Columbus and the Islanders need to win against Cruz Azul in Mexico City – no easy task.
So far, the Islanders are the only team to score against and also to get a point from playing Cruz Azul. The Columbus Crew allowed 7 goals in two matches (5 in Mexico and 2 last night) while scoring 0. Saprissa still has to host Cruz Azul during the last week of group play; these two teams met during the first week of play in Mexico City where Cruz Azul won 2-0.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates, CCL, CONCACAF | Permalink
Posted by KVD
With tonight’s the tie against Saprissa, the Puerto Rico Islanders are virtually eliminated from this year’s CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). Still, for the extremely optimist – there is still a slim chance the Islanders can advance. Just like last year, the Islanders could still advance with 8 points at the end of the group stage.
The competition this year has been one of very slim margins for the Islanders, something that might give some hope to the optimists out there. Puerto Rico first had to go to over time with Haitian club Tempete FC in the semi finals of the Caribbean Union’s Champions Cup in order to qualify for the CCL. While the Islanders won in the end, a late minute loss could have been disastrous. The Islanders then went on to face Toronto FC in the preliminary round, where Puerto Rico edged Toronto by global score of 1-0 – yet another close call. With their 2 losses and 2 ties in the group stage of the CCL – the Islanders find themselves yet again on the edge of the chopping block.
But as we said before, there is a tiny sliver of hope. With just 5 games left in the group (including the Wednesday one between Cruz Azul and the Columbus Crew), the Islanders need for pretty much everything to go their way.
Leave a Comment » | Brief updates | Permalink
Posted by KVD
You are currently browsing the archives for the Brief updates category.
