1-0 min. 6 Mauricio Salles (PR)
2-0 min. 74 Mauricio Salles (PR)
BAYAMON, PR - The Puerto Rico Islanders demonstrated they are playoff-caliber material in beating the Portland Timbers 2-0 in a Monday night match-up at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in front of 5,580 screaming, drum-banging fans.
From the start the Islanders dictated the pace of the game, cornering a surprised Portland team. With just a minute into play, Luis Fernando Zuleta almost scored for Puerto Rico on a header off a corner kick, but Timber goaltender Josh Saunders made a brilliant save. Five minutes later Petter Villegas, one of Puerto Rico's stellar signings, shook off a defender on the right flank and made a perfect cross to an unmarked Mauricio Salles, who had no problem in beating Saunders with a low, fast shot for the 1-0 lead.
Puerto Rico kept the pressure coming, with Corey Woolfolk almost getting the second goal in the 12th minute (his shot barely went over the crossbar) while Portland looked shell-shocked for the first 20 minutes. They would react, but were not able to get close to Dan Kennedy's goal.
Portland tried to get the ball to its starting forwards Daniel Antoniuk and Paul Conway, but the Islander defense, led by Marco Velez and Alexis Rivera, nullified their efforts. The half ended 1-0 for the Islanders, and the Timbers had to start the second period with Byron Alvarez, who gave life to the Portland attack and was their best player in the match.
It was Alvarez who came close to tying the match in the 58th minute, after a melee in the Puerto Rico penalty box that left the net empty, but Byron missed wide left in Portland's best chance. Unfortunately, missing a chance like this comes back to bite.
In the 74th minute Mauricio Salles showed his might again. Noticing the defense was backing up as he moved ahead, Salles executed a furious blast from about 25 yards out that scorched the upper left corner netting past a flying Saunders for the 2-0 lead.
With the second goal, the Islanders would remain comfortable the rest of the way, as the Timbers tried to get through with no avail. As a matter of fact Puerto Rico's Drew McAthy had a couple of chances to make it 3-0 in the waning moments before the match would end with a key victory for his team.
The Puerto Rico Islanders hope to repeat Monday's script against the Timbers when they travel to Portland for their next game on June 16.
