Fort Lauderdale Earn Playoff Win in Puerto Rico

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers won the away leg of their two-game series with the Puerto Rico Islanders 3-1 Saturday in Bayamon.  The first leg of the semi-final NASL playoff matchup marked the first time in 2011 that the Islanders lost a match at their Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium home.

The Islanders came into the match with ten players away on international duty for CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers on Friday. Captain Noah Delgado, Alexis Rivera, Héctor Ramos, Scott Jones, Marco Vélez, Petter Villegas, Richard Martínez and Tyler Wilson were on duty for the Puerto Rican National Team for their 1-1 draw with St. Kitt’s and Nevis Friday and for their upcoming Tuesday match against Canada. Defender Osei Telesford started for Trinidad & Tobago in their 2-1 upset loss to Bermuda, while forward Jonathan Fana played for the Dominican Republic in their 2-1 loss to El Salvador.  Strikers’ regular Cristian Arrieta was also called up to the Puerto Rican National Team.

The shorthanded Islanders were able to hold off the Strikers during the first half, which ended scoreless. Scoring chances were few for both sides during the first 45 minutes, but the scoreboard began lighting up early in the second half. The Strikers’ Martin Nunez, who came in for Abe Thompson at halftime, scored off a cross by NASL Best XI pick Lance Laing to make the score 1-0 in the 49th minute.  Fort Lauderdale doubled their lead in the 82nd minute, as former Islander Arrieta found midfielder Walter Restrepo. The 23-year-old Californian blasted a shot past Ray Burse to give the Strikers an important insurance goal with less than ten minutes remaining.

The Islanders found one answer, and pulled a goal back shortly afterwards two minutes later. Former RailHawks attacker Gregory Richardson sighted Fana in the Striker’s penalty area and got him the ball, and the ever-dangerous forward ruined Striker goalkeeper Matt Glaeser’s clean sheet, making the score 2-1.  But with the Islanders pressing for an equalizer, it was the Strikers who scored the game’s last goal. As Fort Lauderdale’s Mike Palacios intercepted a pass by Aaron Pitchkolan and blew by him to deliver the ball to teammate Brian Shriver, who scored his third 2011 NASL playoff goal to make the final score 3-1.

Although some viewed the Strikers’ win as an upset, the Strikers played the NASL’s second place squad evenly during the regular season, as the two teams each won once and drew their other two matchups, with Puerto Rico outscoring the Strikers by only a goal (8-7) in regular season action. Despite the disparity in the team’s regular season point totals (Puerto Rico with 52, Fort Lauderdale with 38), Daryl Shore’s crew proved they could hang with the Islanders, surely one of the NASL’s elite sides. With so many Islanders players committed to national team duty, Islanders coach Colin Clarke was playing with half a deck. But Clarke will have all his players back for next Saturday’s second leg in Florida.

Still, credit the Strikers with accomplishing their task and putting the pressure on the Islanders for next Saturday, going into the match two goals down. And Strikers’ coach Daryl Shore will have his team prepared.“Obviously we are pleased with the result,” said Shore. “We know we have areas to improve upon for the second leg.  We know Puerto Rico is going to come in hungry and throw everything at us. We have to be prepared and ready for a battle next week.”

Although away goals scored don’t count as a tie-breaker in NASL two-legged playoff competition as they do in other tournaments, such as the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, the Islanders will still have to give one of their best performances of the year to advance past the Strikers next Saturday into the NASL playoff finals. They’ll have to outscore the Strikers by two goals within 90 minutes to have a chance of advancing, and the pressure to score, especially if the Strikers should get the opening goal, will leave the Islanders very vulnerable to counterattacks as they commit players forward, which should make for a very interesting second leg match in Fort Lauderdale.

Special mention has to go to the Strikers’ Arrieta and the Islanders’ Jonathan Fana and Richard Martinez. Fana and Arrieta came on as substitutes in the second half for their respective teams and played pivotal roles in the final score despite each playing 90 minutes the night before. Fana, who finished tied for third in the 2011 NASL scoring title behind the RailHawks duo of Etienne Barbara and Pablo Campos, is a small man with a huge heart, and Arrieta’s play insured that his team would take home all three points against his former club. La Tropa Naranja defender Richard Martinez was called into the match in the 23rd minute after also playing the full 90 Friday night for the Puerto Rican National Team.  A simple description of all three players — warriors.

Puerto Rico Islanders:   Burse, Needham, Cunningham, Emory, Villaroel, Pitchkolan, Ly (Martinez 23′), Salem, Foley, Van Schaik (Fana 68′), Y Perez (Richardson 83′)

Fort Lauderdale Strikers:  Glaeser, Gordon (Granado 87′), Lancaster, Stahl, Restrepo, Arguez, Pecka (Arrieta 71′), Palacio, Laing, Thompson (Nunez 45′), Shriver