BAYAMON, PR – Mauricio Salles had been waiting for this kind of game since the season started… and so did the Islander faithful.
The wait was much longer than the rain delay that set this match’s kickoff back about two and a half hours. However this time, neither rain nor thunder could stop Mauricio from making his best performance yet.
He would score both goals in leading the Puerto Rico Islanders past the Virginia Beach Mariners (2-0) on Sunday night. It was Puerto Rico’s second win of the season.
The match started on time and the officials were quick with their yellow cards: Raphel “Mime” Ortiz of the Islanders and Daniel Alvarez of the Mariners saw the caution within the first five minutes. Then, moments later, some very bad weather had to say hello. The officials decided to stop the match due to the presence of rain and lightning. Both teams and the officials decided to wait until the weather improved and after more than two hours proceeded to continue.
The decision came as a surprise, given the fact that during the delay water began to seriously accumulate in parts of the pitch. The stadium crew worked wonders in getting the field back to playable.
After the restart Edivaldo “Juninho” Da Silva gave the Mariners a first warning but his shot was saved by Mariner goalie Matt Pickens, who played instead of Friday’s (June 25) starter Matt Nelson. Puerto Rico was going at the Mariner defense and the visitors were basically holding on.
With Raul Diaz Arce out due to injury, the Islanders needed struggling Mauricio Salles to provide the punch. Already on that June 25 game Mauricio had no luck in a scoreless, lackluster tie.
Fortunately, things changed this time around. In the 21st minute midfielder Ricardo Alcerro made a perfect pass to a charging Mauricio who beat the offside trap, and then Pickens, of course, to put the Islanders up 1-0. Immediately, the many fans (around 2,000) that stayed inside the stadium, despite the long delay, cheered loudly. Who knows what the other, say 2,500+, who left during the delay were thinking when they heard what they missed.
The local fans (especially the ones who waited) had even more reason to cheer twenty minutes later (41st) when Mauricio received a precise, defense-splitting pass from Juninho, dribbled past Pickens and put the ball into the nets for the 2-0 score.
During the first half the visiting team moved the ball throughout the field trying to penetrate the stingy Puerto Rico defense. However they were unable to come close to Micheal Uelstchey’s goal, as the defenders and Michael himself kept danger away.
The second half started with the Mariners waking up and going forward trying to reduce the lead. Forward Dante Washington was actively seeking open spaces trying to get through. Jeff Bilyk kept looking for a way, too. Nevertheless the Islander defense led by Cris Gores had all the answers on Sunday night and the Mariners were unsuccessful time and time again. Some shots came Uelstchey’s way, but the visitors didn’t finish at all.
The Islanders even had chances to increase the lead in the second half as everybody joined in the fun: Alcerro, Juninho, Johanes Maliza, and Carlos Astondoa came close to the Mariners’ goal on various counterattacks.
As if the word “wait” did not define the game enough, the referee added seven minutes of stoppage time in the second half. The Mariners could not capitalize and the score would end 2-0 for the Islanders.
There were many yellow cards throughout the game. Ortiz, Diego Pierri, and Juninho saw the caution for the Islanders. Five Mariners were shown the yellow: Alvarez, Russ Hutchinson, Mike Kirmse, José Gómez, and Jeff Bilyk.
Original attendance was estimated at 4,795; and despite the very long delay around 2,000 screaming loyal fans stayed around to watch their team on what was coined “Fan Day”… or was it “Mauricio’s Day”? No one in the island is asking, though. There was some celebrating to do.
The Puerto Rico Islanders now stand at 2-11-5 while the Mariners’ record is at 4-7-3. Puerto Rico travels to Charleston to face the Battery next Saturday, July 3rd.
Lineups:
PR: Uelstchey, Ortiz, Zuleta, Gores, A. Rivera, Alcerro (Toal 94’), Juninho, Zapata, Pierri (Astondoa 66’), Mauricio (Mourelo 88’), and Maliza.
VB: Pickens, Danbusky, Knott, Hutchinson (Garcia 66’), Kirmse, Fenger, Bilyk, Alvarez (Gomez 77’), Amani-Dove, Washington, and Winkel.
Goals:
21’ Mauricio PR 1 VB 0
41’ Mauricio PR 2 VB 0
Yellow cards:
PR: Ortiz (2’), Juninho (44’), and Pierri (64’)
VB: Alvarez (4’), Kirmse (40’), Bilyk (49’), Hutchinson (64’) and Gomez (81’)
