Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Puerto Rico, in their fourth season, reached the postseason for a second straight year and saw unprecedented success, coming within a penalty kick tiebreaker from the USL First Division championship match.

The end result may have come as a surprise given the club’s 1-3-3 start , but the Islanders ran off five without a loss (2-0-3) as part of a greater 6-1-6 stretch over the middle of the campaign. A final run of 3-1-1 in the last five secured the postseason berth and a first round series against the Montreal Impact.

Puerto Rico put up a valiant fight on the road in a narrow 3-2 defeat in Montreal and returned home to hand the Impact a stunning 3-0 loss two nights later to take the series 5-3 on aggregate. Against Seattle in the Semifinals, the Islanders were given the opportunity to open the series at home, but were unable to capitalize, falling behind 2-1 to the regular season champions. Two nights later, however, the four-year-old club showed its resolve against the three-time league champions by reversing the first night’s scoreline in a 2-1 affair that took the series to overtime tied 3-3 on aggregate and ultimately penalties, where the Sounders were victorious 4-2.

The 2008 Season

The 2007 edition of the Islanders featured a squad that finished fourth in the league in goals with 35 but saw no player post more than five on the team with its collective effort proving more beneficial. Veteran Petter Villegas returns for another campaign in the midfield, but will see a lot of new faces around him with departures of players who saw action in at least 15 games like Alejandro Gonzalez, Jeremie Piette, Alberto Zapata, Mauricio Segovia, Josh Saunders, Jay Needham and Marco Velez.

Back in the fold are three of the four players who tallied at least four goals for the team last season with Fabrice Noel, Noah Delgado and Taiwo Atieno on board. Alberto Delgado and Alexis Rivera are also set to return to the squad in 2008.

In addition to the club seeing such great turnover in its lineup, it will face another tough task in their coach Colin Clarke and some players doing double duty this summer with the Puerto Rico National Team as it continues its quest to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The team will face Honduras, ranked 38th by FIFA – third in CONCACAF, in a two-game series June 4 away and June 14 at home for the right to move onto the semifinal group stage held between August and November.

The First Five

Based on last year’s results, the Islanders may have a tough start in front of them for the season. The club travels across the continent to visit last year’s regular season runners-up Portland Timbers in the season opener for both on April 17. A week later they play host to two games in three days against a Miami FC Blues side that narrowly missed the playoffs by finishing in the ninth position last year. They then host the Montreal Impact, whose third place finish was uncommonly low last year, on May 2 before the Timbers make a return visit to the Caribbean May 16.