On Friday night, the Puerto Rico Islanders and Charleston Battery played to a 0-0 tie at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The game was Hugo Maradona’s first as an Islander Head Coach.
Unlike the Richmond match, this scoreless game proved to be entertaining and either team could have taken the victory.
Newcomers Ricardo Alcerro and Clyde Geffrard made their mark Thursday for the Puerto Rico Islanders. Geffrard had various scoring chances throughout and Alcerro controlled the midfield and directed the Puerto Rico attack in style.
Thanks to the contributions of the new players, Puerto Rico had its moments, particularly in the first half and in overtime. The Islanders also showed improvement in their defense, mostly because of the return of Luis Fernando Zuleta to the lineup.
Of course, the Charleston Battery also played remarkably well. Alexsey Korol had a fantastic performance and led the Battery offense. The Battery were especially strong most of the second half.
Unfortunately for the Battery they were called many times for offside, even having goals taken away. In the first half Wolde Harris and Ezra Hendrickson were both stripped of goals because of offside infractions.
Another problem for the Battery was Islander goalkeeper Andrew Nucifora, who returned from the Northeast U.S. after attending to personal matters. “Nu” silenced the critical fans by stopping every ball coming his way and reacting to every move the Battery forwards made.
Throughout last week, fans were rooting for local kid Eduardo Memendi, but the fact is it looks like the Isles have two very good keepers, and that is always a good thing.
Nucifora’s contributions allowed the game to continue in overtime, where Martin Zapata came very close twice to bring the Islanders their first win of the season.
In the 97th minute his free kick from near the right corner hit the crossbar. The ball curved wickedly and sailed over Battery goalie Dusty Hudock. It was a very close call.
A few minutes later Zapata broke free on a 2-on-1 situation. With Isaac Nieves to his left Zapata nevertheless shot towards goal and a Battery defender accidentally put the ball into his own nets. However, referee Reggie Ruttie had stopped the play even though the crowd cheered wildly thinking the game was won.
It turns out that Nieves was apparently offside. Needless to say the local fans were furious and the officials had to be escorted off the field after the game.
BLUE NOTE: The field was once again a protagonist in the game. Rain continued to fall throughout this week and there were spots in the field that were almost unplayable. The ball constantly got stuck and it was hard to play it fluidly. As a matter of fact, Zapata had trouble moving the ball on the breakaway that led to the disallowed goal.
PR: Nucifora, Ortiz, Zuleta (Mourelo 89’), Gores, A. Rivera (Mussenden 84’), Alcerro, Deering, Juninho (Astondoa 82’), Zapata, Geffrard (Nieves 70’), and Mauricio (H. Rivera 106’)
CB: Hudock, Hendrickson, Watson, Green, Downing (Kutney 100’), Korol, Klein, Evans, Chronopoulos (Jackson 84’), Simmonds (Bugley 91’), and Harris (Valencia 71’)
Yellow cards:
PR: Deering, Geffrard, Nieves
CB: Hendrickson
