USL News Release

Monday, August 17, 2009

TAMPA, FL – A year ago, the Puerto Rico Islanders were entering the group phase of the CONCACAF Champions League as underdogs despite shocking Costa Rican power Alajuelense in the Preliminary Round and boasting good form in league play. On Tuesday, they take the field again in Columbus, carrying the same surprise opening round upset and similar league dominance, including a Bill Gaudette nine-game shutout streak.

All Puerto Rico Islanders and games involving Major League Soccer clubs can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel. The Islanders kick off the group stage with the very first game at 8:00 pm ET.

While the defending Champions League semifinalists may not have been as great of a longshot heading into this year’s Preliminary Round series, the fact that they were facing Toronto FC made them the automatic underdog. But the defensive issues that Puerto Rico may have had at the beginning of the season were a distant memory as they shutout the Major League Soccer side in both matches with the lone Kendall Jagdeosingh strike at Toronto in the first leg holding as the series winner, giving Bill Gaudette seven consecutive clean sheets in Champions League and USL-1 play.

The club continued that trend over the past two weekends of league action with a 4-0 thrashing at home of Miami FC and a 1-0 victory over Montreal, extending the netminder’s shutout streak to nine consecutive games.

Similar to last year when the Islanders entered the group phase on a 6-0-4 run in USL-1 that included seven shutouts, the Puerto Rico side is 4-1-4 over their last nine this season with seven shutouts once again. The only blemish is a 4-2 defeat in Vancouver in which Gaudette and most of the starting back line and other regulars were out of the lineup resting in advance of the Toronto CCL opener.

Last year, the Islanders were masters at balancing Champions League and USL-1 competition in the lead up to and during the league postseason, stretching their unbeaten run in both competitions to 17 games (9-0-8) before falling in Rochester in the Semifinals, from which they rebounded to reach the championship game and finish as runners-up.

Goalkeepers often have a penchant for crediting the guys in front of them for their success. In Gaudette’s case it may not be so cliché as the foursome of Cristian Arrieta, Nigel Henry, Scott Jones and John Krause have started as a group in four of the last seven league games with Gaudette. Individually, Arrieta has started all seven with each of the other three receiving a night off, keeping a consistent trio of the group in the starting eleven. In the Vancouver defeat, Krause was the lone man of the four in the lineup.

The defenders don’t just keep the ball out of their own net either. They have accounted for three goals and an assist in the last two games and have accounted for 13 goals and five assists total for the year in USL-1 action, nearly half of the club’s 31 goals. Leading the charge is set piece specialist Arrieta. The 2008 USL-1 Defender of the Year has taken advantage of his opportunities from the penalty spot and corner kicks to pile up eight goals and four assists on the year, which leads the team in scoring and is second best in the league in points and tied for third in goals.

But when the Islanders head onto the ground at Crew Stadium, the attention will undoubtedly be on the goalkeeper who drew boos from the Toronto faithful for his stalling tactics as he returns to the place he called home from 2005-07. Playing a reserve role for the club, Gaudette saw action only 17 times in his first two seasons and struggled to leave an impression with a 4-8-4 record and four shutouts for a club that finished last in the conference both campaigns. He didn’t even see the pitch in 2007 when they missed the bottom of the conference table with expansion Toronto supplanting them.

Columbus Crew

The defending MLS Cup Champions and automatic entrant into the Group Phase of the CONCACAF Champions League makes their debut in the competition at home, where they have gone unbeaten in MLS play this season at 7-0-4. They currently lead the Eastern Conference with a record of 10-3-9 and are tied with Houston for the overall league lead. The Crew are tied with DC United for the league lead in goals with 34 in 22 games and have allowed 24.

Columbus is on a bit of a hot streak of their own, entering the match on a five-game win streak in which they have outscored the opposition 12-3, albeit against mid-to-lower table clubs. Among the results was a 3-2 July 25 come-from-behind win over common foe Toronto FC the weekend before the Canadian side made their CCL debut.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto leads the team in scoring with 10 goals, more than double the second highest on the team, and is in the race for the league’s Golden Boot, tied for second just one goal back of leader Conor Casey.

The club has fewer shutouts for the season, six, than Gaudette currently has in his shutout streak, but the Crew may have found the right formula as they have blanked their last three opponents.

Cruz Azul

The club that knocked Puerto Rico out of the Champions League semifinals earlier this year on penalties and finished runners-up to Atlante will be going squaring off with Puerto Rico a little bit sooner. Both clubs have a little unfinished business as the Islanders would no doubt like to avenge their elimination, while the Mexican side probably would like a second shot at Puerto Rico on the island where they were stunned 2-0 in the first leg back in March.

Cruz Azul has not gotten off to the best of stars to the current Apertura campaign with a pair of wins and two losses. The last outing was a 3-2 loss to Santos Laguna, the other Mexican club Puerto Rico surprised at home for three points last year.

Deportivo Saprissa

A little national pride may be on the line when the other Costa Rican power faces Puerto Rico, perhaps looking to finish the job their counterparts Alajuelense failed to do in the Preliminaries last year.

Saprissa is currently tied for first in the early stages of their season. They are one of two clubs with wins in all three of their games so far this season and have outscored their opposition 5-2.

Group C Schedule

8.18 – Puerto Rico @ Columbus
8.19 – Saprissa @ Cruz Azul
8.25 – Puerto Rico @ Saprissa
8.26 – Columbus @ Cruz Azul
9.15 – Cruz Azul @ Puerto Rico
9.16 – Columbus @ Saprissa
9.22 - Saprissa @ Puerto Rico
9.23 – Cruz Azul @ Columbus
9.24 – Saprissa @ Columbus
9.29 – Puerto Rico @ Cruz Azul
10.20 – Columbus @ Puerto Rico
10.20 – Cruz Azul @ Saprissa

Full CONCACAF Champions League Schedule [+]