Harrisburg City Islanders News Release - www.cityislanders.com

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

HARRISBURG, PA -- The Harrisburg City Islanders defeated the Reading Rage of the Premier Development League 4-1 in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night at Skyline Sports Complex. Despite a storm earlier in the day, the game was played as scheduled, although the slippery field conditions from the rain were a factor in the fast-paced, physical game.

In what has become a habit for them this year, the Islanders struck in the opening moments when Steve Fisher finished Chad Severs’ cross 43 seconds into the game. The Rage answered with a goal in the 9th minute when Jon Ports followed up on his own shot after City Islander’s keeper Chase Harrison’s deflection.

In what was a very fast-paced, slippery, and above all physical game the first card of the evening was handed out to City Islander Jason Pelletier in the 22nd minute of play for a slide tackle around the halfway mark.

In the 28th minute Reading’s Felix Obilo was shown a card for a hard tackle around midfield. Harrisburg’s Cody Reinberg rounded out the 30th minute with another yellow card for dissent.

A minute later Reading’s Dwayne Smith was given a yellow for a tackle on City Islander Geoff Bloes as Bloes dribbled the ball out of the City Islanders’ backfield. With so many fouls it was hard for either team to get into a rhythm, or manage much possession.

In the 42nd minute, Reinberg carried the ball across the midfield line and played a 30 yard ball across the field to Tiyi Shipalane who took one touch and buried the ball in the back of the net.

The Rage responded with a dangerous attempt in stoppage time, but Harrison’s kick save preserved the City Islanders’ lead, sending them into the locker-room with a 2-1 lead at halftime.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the City Islanders were awarded a free kick after Mo Oduor was fouled at the top of Reading’s 18-yard box. Nicki Paterson capitalized on the direct kick to put Harrisburg ahead 3-1 in the 49th minute.

Physical play continued to dominate the match, and Reading’s Aaron Wheeler was shown the fifth yellow of the game in the 57th minute.

Two minutes later, Harrisburg was awarded a penalty kick after Darren O’Connor was handed a yellow for a foul in the box—Severs put away the ball for the City Islanders to make the score 4-1. That was the last goal of the match, although Nate Baker was shown a yellow in the 68th minute.

At the end of the game, seven players had been handed yellow cards, four for the Rage and three for the City Islanders. There were 27 fouls called in the match—14 against Reading and 13 against Harrisburg, and Harrisburg outshot Reading 6 to 5.

With their win over the Rage, Harrisburg advances to the second round of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup, the game will kick off at 7:05 on Tuesday, June 16th at home against the Western Mass Pioneers.

The City Islanders’ next regular season match is one Saturday, June 13th against Bermuda.

The City Islanders would also like to remind fans of their exciting friendly against London’s Crystal Palace FC which will be held on July 16th at the Lancaster Barnstormers’ Clipper Magazine Stadium. Kick off for that world-class match is at 7:00 and tickets are available at www.lancasterbarnstormers.com.