NASL Week 4 Recap: Islanders Rule, Montreal Wins Big
Week 4 of the NASL season saw the Puerto Rico Islanders remaining undefeated in the new campaign, drawing with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2-2 in Bayamon Friday night. Draws seemed to be the result of the weekend, as on Saturday FC Tampa Bay and the Atlanta Silverbacks played to a 1-1 final at Al Lang Field and Minnesota Stars opened their home season with a 1-1 draw against 2010 playoff rivals Carolina. On Sunday, the Montreal Impact broke out of their scoring funk, taking advantage of the young FC Edmonton squad in a 5-0 victory.
Puerto Rico Islanders 2-2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Despite playing a man down from the 35th minute, the Islanders were able to salvage a last minute draw with the Strikers on a last-minute Gregory Richardson goal to maintain their place atop the NASL. The 2-2 draw Friday night left the Islanders still undefeated with a 3-1-0 record, while Fort Lauderdale remained undefeated on the road and have earned five points after four matches.
The Strikers took the lead in the match following the red-carding of Islanders’ veteran defender Jay Needham. Eduardo Coudet took the penalty and converted for the third time in the last three matches to put the Strikers up 1-0. The match remained in the Strikers’ favor until the 75th minute, when Jamaican international Nicholas Addlery equalized for La Tropa Naranja, assisted by Richard Martinez.
But the Islanders’ undefeated start to the season looked to end in the 89th minute, as Strikers’ rookie defender Scott Gordon made his first NASL game memorable as he put his team up 2-1 with time almost expired to gain the big three points. Gordon took a long pass down the left flank and slipped past two Islanders defenders as he charged towards goal and slotted underneath Strikers’ goalkeeper Ray Burse. Colin Clarke’s Islanders, however, showed the quality of their 2011 form as former Carolina RailHawk Richardson brought home the equalizer with a header at the far post in stoppage time.
FC Tampa Bay 1-1 Atlanta Silverbacks
The Atlanta Silverbacks earned their first point of the season on the road Saturday as they drew with FC Tampa Bay 1-1. A goal by rookie Willie Hunt in first half stoppage time from a Mario Perez free kick gave the Silverbacks the lead that they eventually surrendered in the 74th minute as D2 veteran Mike Ambersley opened his Tampa Bay account.
Misfortune visited Ricky Hill’s Tampa Bay side early on as starting goalkeeper Daryl Sattler, who has had an impressive start to the 2011 season, suffered an injury and had to be substituted in the 10th minute. His replacement, rookie Jeff Attinella, made three saves in his professional debut.
His counterpart in the Atlanta goal, Felipe Quintero, made his second consecutive start for the Silverbacks. The 31-year-old Mexican veteran made 54 appearances for the Silverbacks between 2006 and 2008 after playing in Mexico’s Liga Ascenso, and now seems to be coach José Manuel Abundis’ first choice in goal.
Quintero kept FC Tampa Bay shut down despite FC Tampa Bay’s 20 shots on goal until Aaron King found Ambersley with only 15 minutes left in the match. “There was only one run to make there and that was toward the goal,” said Ambersley. “I am lucky that King found me with such a great ball. Then I saw the goalie come out a little bit and I just played it right under his arm.”
Ambersley, who scored 9 goals for expansion team AC St. Louis last season (along with two U.S. Open Cup winners) in D2 play, was signed over the winter by FC Tampa Bay.
FC Tampa Bay Coach Ricky Hill wasn’t satisfied with the home draw. “Overall I am still looking for a better cutting-edge to our game and a more clinical kind of style,” said Hill. “We need to understand where we are on the pitch at all given times and what we can do with the ball.” Tampa Bay have scored a league-worst total of two goals in four 2011 NASL games, although the team’s defending has been strong enough to create five points with those two goals to put the team in the middle of the league’s standings. No amount of quality defending, however, can offset the poor finishing they’ve displayed so far.
For Atlanta, another lead surrendered seems to be a familiar theme, but Abundis and company have to be happy with their first point of the season, especially gained on the road. Defender Mario Perez continues to impress, and brighter days are ahead for the team.
NSC Minnesota Stars 1-1 Carolina RailHawks
Photo by Jeremy Olson–Digitalgopher.net
A rematch of 2010′s playoff competition between the Stars and RailHawks opened the Stars’ home season after playing three consecutive road matches. On a chilly, windy evening 1,431 fans saw the Stars come back from a 1-0 deficit to earn a point against last season’s USSF D2 playoff finalists.
Manny Lagos’ Stars were unable to get on the scoreboard in the first half despite 8 shots, while Carolina was bottled up by the Stars’ defense and the first half ended scoreless. Martin Rennie’s RailHawks broke the ice near the hour mark, however, as Minnesota’s Kyle Altman was called for a foul in the penalty area. Etienne Barbara stepped up and converted the penalty for his fourth goal in four matches.
But the Stars had an answer, and nine minutes later Simone Bracalello scored his first goal of the season from a pass by Tino Nunez after Andrei Gotsmanov had stolen the ball from the RailHawks. Bracalello, who teamed so well with fellow attacked Devin Del Do down the stretch last season, had been slowed in 2011 while recovering from a back injury, but his return to form is great news for Minnesota fans.
Both goalkeepers had strong games to keep the score low. Carolina’s Brad Knighton weathered Minnesota’s first half onslaught well, while Joe Warren made several key saves late on a header by John Krause and by wandering out from his goal to break up a dangerous rush keyed by Barbara and defender Chris Nurse. The Stars now are 1-2-1 on the season, while Carolina hold the second spot in the NASL standings with a 2-1-1 record.
FC Edmonton 0-5 Montreal
The Montreal Impact played the role of bullying big brother to their young Canadian counterparts, ruining FC Edmonton’s home opener before 2,600 fans with a comprehensive 5-0 victory. It was the first win of the season for the slow-starting Impact, while FC Edmonton dropped to 2-0-2.
The Impact, who’d scored only once in three previous 2011 NASL matches, didn’t take long to right their stuttering attack. Ali Gerba, a prolific scorer down the stretch last season, regained his mojo and opened the match with his first 2011 goal in the 9th minute, assisted by midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer. The Impact continued to cloud the sunny atmosphere in Edmonton, notching two more goals before the 36th minute, as Anthony Le Gall scored from a free kick and Gerba doubled his pleasure in the 36th minute to put Edmonton down 3-0. The half ended with that score.
FC Edmonton came out looking more composed in the second half as the score remained in Montreal’s favor. But the dam burst in the 84th minute, as Edmonton keeper Rein Baart was red-carded for contact with a Montreal attacker. Second half Edmonton sub Chris Lemire, who’d added some energy to Edmonton’s game, was also ejected for arguing with referee’s call. Kyle Yamada took Baart’s place in goal and was beaten by Montreal’s Nevio Pizzolitto’s penalty kick to make the score 4-0, and Idriss Ech Chergui added insult to injury with a late goal to finalize the score at 5-0.
Despite the lopsided score, Edmonton fans can take a bit of solace in the fact that they led MLS-bound Montreal in shots 19-11, shots on goal 9-7 and corner kicks 3-2. Montreal coach Marc Dos Santos, though, can breathe easier as the Impact’s attack finally came fully alive and were able to find the finishing touch they’d lacked earlier. And veteran keeper Bill Gaudette earned his second clean sheet of the 2011 campaign.
Meanwhile, FC Edmonton coach Harry Sinkgraven wasn’t happy with his team’s lack of physicality. As quoted on SLAM! Sports in an article by Terry Jones, “We lost all the battles. When you play a physical team you have to battle. You have to win the battles. We’re too nice. When you go into a game like this you need to put a knife between your teeth,” Sinkgraven said.
NASL News
The next round of NASL games come next Saturday, as FC Tampa Bay hosts Carolina, the Silverbacks return home to host FC Edmonton and the NSC Minnesota Stars continue their homestand as they take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The Puerto Rico Islanders will play Walking Boyz of Suriname on May 7 in the Caribbean Football Union club tournament. The Islanders won last year’s CFU club competition.
Montreal and Edmonton have a chance to avenge losses last Wednesday in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship 2nd leg matchups. On Wednesday, May 4, FC Edmonton travels to Toronto’s BMO Field, behind 3-0 after Toronto FC’s 1st leg victory at Commonwealth Stadium. Montreal will visit Vancouver Wednesday, down 1-0 to the Whitecaps. The aggregate winners of the two series will meet in another two-legged series to determine who will hoist the Voyaguer’s Cup and represent Canada in the CONCACAF club tournament beginning this summer.
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The Montreal/Edmonton match was a laughter! I only watched the first half because of President Obama’s national TV address. At any rate, the backline of Edmonton played as well as my U12s did this past weekend–if not worse–and they failed to control the ball in the midfield. They did have two or three scoring opportunities, which were handled with easy by the Impact GK.
I have not seen Montreal play yet this year, and based on their standing in the D2 table it looks like they are struggling. However, they seemed to play at will through the midfield and had no problem playing up to their forwards. I would say the last 20 minutes of the first half was all Montreal, however, I was a little dizzy watching the match and keeping up with the webstream commentary–most of it was in French.
I do have to say that the pitch up in Edmonton is a joke. They stands where spectators sit is pulled far back from the field and they have annoying Canadian Football lines all over the pitch. The surface is also artificial and it looked like it was playing faster than the back straightaway of the Indy 500 Speedway.
Notwithstanding the poor playing surface, I do have to hand it to the commentators. They were surprisingly neutral for D2 soccer, and provided a good back/forth conversation during the match. It was actually nice to listen to people who knew what they were talking about. The camera angles were also good, and they had replays which actually showed something of interest without taking away from an enjoyable match–for those cheering for Montreal.
Edmonton does seem to have a strong supporter base. This is refreshing and I am hopeful they can sustain the new club.
PS: I was chuffed at my strong showing in the “NASL Guru” table this week as I edged within points of leading the entire group. I sure hope they pick me at some point to be the “Guru of the Week!” Come on you Stars!
I was almost offended by soccer boy, but then I reminded myself that every thing he said was %100. We do have good commentators, and we do have a very healthy soccer community in Edmonton. Well every major Canadian city does, as we have a far more diverse populace then the states, with immigration standards much different from our neighbors to the south. We need a good stadium in Edmonton period. Commonwealth Stadium sits just under 63,000 people. That is easily an NFL size stadium. I doubt the Galaxy and the Sounders could draw that game in and game out. Then we have Foote field, which is a wonderful facility on one side then crappy bleachers on the other side. Foote Field only seats 3,500, and we were told it was already being expanded to fill in that grass slope below the bleachers to make it a 5,500 seat stadium. Oops!
@Daniel – As one of the lone Edmonton voices around here, I’d be interested in your take on the crowd for game 1 of the home schedule. Do you get a sense that they topped out with 2,600+? Also, has the club talked at all about plans for a new stadium or moving to one more suited to pro soccer?