Syracuse 2 at PR 1
The Puerto Rico Islanders were on a mission: to rock the Dogs down.
However, three second-half minutes proved fatal for the Islander hopes.
In front of about 4,000 screaming (if late coming in) fans, the Syracuse
Salty Dogs came out on top of the Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1 at Juan Ramon
Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, PR.
The first half saw Puerto Rico come out with fire and passion, looking to
get their first win, while Syracuse held back knowing the home team was
coming out hard.
Salty Dog head coach Laurie Calloway would later say that, “(I knew)
because they are 0 and 2… in front of good crowds, they would be difficult
tonight. They had a lot to prove and gave us a good difficult game”.
Calloway clearly saw it coming: the plan was to withstand the pressure and
take advantage when possible in such a hard road game.
Juninho of Puerto Rico tested Dog goalie Paul Nagy’s reflexes early (3rd
minute) with Paul stopping the kick coming from a few feet away. The Puerto
Rican attack continued with Alexis Rivera, Raphel “Mime” Ortiz and Martin
Zapata running at will up and down the sides of the field while Carlos
Garay, Mauricio, and Juninho took care of the middle.
Syracuse did have its occasions thanks to the likes of Anthony Maher. The
Dogs did score a goal in the 8th minute but it was disallowed for offside
on Salty Dog Rene Rivas. Puerto Rico continued to move forward and keep the
pressure up.
The Islanders came closest in the first half when Zapata hit the crossbar
on a foul kick from near the left sideline in the 33th minute. Three
minutes earlier a wicked Alexis Rivera cross was headed by Michael Mourelo
just over the crossbar in a great textbook play.
As with the game against the Lynx, they let the Dogs live. The half ended
without goals.
In the second half the Islanders were missing the intensity of the first
and Syracuse took over with Maher leading the attack. “We changed to a
3-4-3 and just gained control of the midfield”, said Calloway. The
observation is significant since the Montreal Impact had a 3-4-3 setup in
their domination of the Islanders.
The Salties’ efforts got their reward in a matter of minutes. In the 66th
minute Ian Woan got off a nice scissors kind of kick, almost a bicycle
shot, and the ball lofted over Isle goalie Andrew Nucifora into the net.
Two minutes later, a great combination play ended with Maher heading the
ball in with Nucifora already beaten on the play. The Islanders were
shell-shocked.
Somehow they got their vibe back. Coach Victor Hugo Barros made three
substitutions in five minutes to refresh the attack. The guys responded and
went in hard looking to cut into the lead.
They achieved part of their task in the 73rd minute. Carlos Astondoa of
Puerto Rico shot toward net and was blocked by Salty defenseman Rene Rivas…
but he committed handball inside the box and a penalty was called. Mauricio
entered the Islander history books by scoring the penalty kick with fine
execution. It was the first goal in Islander history.
The Isles kept coming but with more heart than mind. Syracuse froze the
action with ball control and eventually prevailed.
Although the Isles lost again, coach Barros remains patient, philosophical,
and upbeat: “I’m not disappointed in anyway whatsoever. We still have a lot
to do. We have the planning… we planted the seed and we will see results in
the future. It all takes time.”
“Tomorrow” he added “we turn the page and keep working hard. We will just
move forward.” Victor, a true veteran of the game, keeps his cool knowing
he has a talented team that at any moment, and with the right development,
will turn loses like these into victories. Maybe that moment comes this
Saturday, May 1st against the same Salty Dogs on “Colombian Night”.
Unfortunately, neither Carlos Valderrama nor Shakira will come by, but for
the crowd a win will do just fine.
Lineups:
SD: Nagy, Kirmse, Perry, Kemble, Low, Rivas, O’Neill (Doray), Woan,
Lyssand, Kerekes (Millwood), Maher (Almeida)
PR: Nucifora, Ortiz, Zuleta, Gores, A. Rivera, Deering, Garay (Mussenden),
Juninho (H. Rivera), Zapata, Mourelo (Astondoa), Mauricio
Goals:
Min. 66: Woan (SD 1 PR 0)
Min. 68: Maher (SD 2 PR 0)
Min. 73: Mauricio, PK (SD 2 PR 1)
Cards:
NONE
