After playing to a 1-1 draw on the road in Suriname, the Puerto Rico Islanders utilized their infamous home field advantage to level a 7-0 second-leg drubbing against Walking Boyz Co. in the final match of the Quarterfinals in the Caribbean Football Union's Club Championship.
The victory, spurred by a five-goal first half, was the second best result in an official competition match in Islanders history and only the fourth time the team has scored five goals in a game. It was the second-best in margin of victory, trailing, only a 10-0 victory over SAP Bolans in the First Round of the 2007 CFU Championship (11.5.07). It is the second time the club has tallied seven goals in a match, having beaten Leo Victor 7-1 in the Quarterfinals of the event in 2007 (11.10.07). No other CFU results were by more than three goals.
In fact, outside of the three matches above, the club's history since its 2004 founding is minimal in the department of large victories. The Islanders have won by three goals twice in the CONCACAF Champions League (4-1 at Los Angeles Galaxy 7.27.10 & 4-1 v FAS 8.25.10) and has only won by four goals twice in professional second division play (4-0 v Miami FC Blues 8.8.09 & 4-0 v Rochester Rhinos 8.8.08 - yes, the same exact date). The only other time Puerto Rico has scored more than four goals in an official match was a 5-2 CFU First Round victory against Inter Moengotapoe on November 11, 2007.
Previous Quarterfinal winners over the past month were Haiti's Tempete, Trinidad's Defence Force and Guyana’s Alpha United. Defence Force swept its series versus Milerock with 4-0 and 3-0 victories. Hosting both legs, Alpha United won its series against River Plate Puerto Rico, 3-2, after playing to a scoreless draw in the opening leg.
Tempete, whom the Islanders defeated in overtime 2-0 in the 2007 CFU Semifinals, split its series versus Trinidad's Caledonia with both sides winning 1-0 on the road. The club advanced to the semifinals for the second time in three years with a 3-2 penalty kick decision. Tempete narrowly missed out on qualifying for the CCL in 2009, falling 2-1 in the Third-Place match to host San Juan Jabloteh in Trinidad.
Guyana's Alpha United will host the semifinals and finals of the Caribbean Club Champions Cup May 25 and May 27, with the single game knockout rounds to determine the regions three qualifiers for the CONCACAF Champions League. Semifinal winners May 25 and the third-place victory on May 27 will qualify for the Champions League. A draw to determine the semifinal pairings will be held Sunday, May 15.
Captain Noah Delgado came off the bench an hour into the first leg match. Walking Boyz may leave Bayamon wishing the same were true as the veteran got the Islanders off to a blistering start. He sent a shot on goal just three minutes in that forced the keeper to knock the ball out of play. Two minutes later he found the back of the net and by the 10th minute he had doubled the lead, giving Puerto Rico a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
The visitors started making adjustments early with a 20th minute substitution, but three minutes later Aaron Pitchkolan put the serious out of doubt for the Islanders. David Foley tallied in the 37th and Matt Bouraee pushed the margin in the game and series to an insurmountable five goals.
In the second half, Jonathan Fana scored in the 58th minute, prompting a change in goal for WBC seven minutes later. To add further insult for the visitor, WBC saw a player sent off two minutes from time with a handball in the area. Joe Salem converted the resulting penalty to complete the scoring.
LEG TWO - 5/14/11
Scoring
PR: Noah Delgado 5
PR: Noah Delgado 9
PR: Aaron Pitchkolan 23
PR: David Foley 37
PR: Matt Bouraee 44
PR: Jonathan Fana 58
PR: Joe Salem penalty 89
PR: Burse, Martinez, Needham, Emory, Villaroel, Pitchkolan (Ly 54), Salem, Delgado-c (Wilson 72), Foley, Faña, Bouraee. Subs not used - Jones, Van Schaik, Martin, Telesford, Cunningham
WBC: Somai (Zebeda 65), Jap-A-Joe, Felter-c, Paiva, Sastromedjo, Afonsoewa, Sordjo, Koenders, Tjin Liep Shie (Lynch 20), Lupson, Aroepa. Subs not used - Brandon
LEG ONE - 5/7/11
Scoring
WBC: Clifton Sandvliet 48
PR: Jamie Cunningham 90
WBC: Somai, Tijn Liep Shie, Jap A Joe, Lupson, Felter, Franilson, Koenders (Lynch 70), Sandvliet (Afonsoewa 59), van Dijk, Ailton (Sastromedjo 59), Kemper
PR: Burse, Pitchkolan, Needham, Jones, Martinez, Cunningham, Telesford (Villaroel 75), Addlery, Foley, Richardson (Salem 37), Fana (Delgado 59)
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