Islanders surprise with draw in Costa Rica
Source: - USL communicationsIn their CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round fixture, the Puerto Rico Islanders registered a first leg upset Wednesday night, posting a 1-1 draw on the road in Costa Rica against Alajuelense, a CONCACAF Champions Cup winner just four years ago.
Early chances for Alajuelense kept the Puerto Rico Islanders busy and were representative of the game as a whole as the favored side had the majority of scoring opportunities.
The home side took the lead just before the half hour mark courtesy of Argenis Fernandez, who received the ball at the edge of the box as he was cutting diagonally and pulled the shot back to the near post from 14 yards.
A corner kick in the 64th minute changed the match for the visitors as it fell to an unmarked Osei Telesford. The Trinidad & Tobago international defender coolly put the ball away into the back of the net to put the match back on level terms. A nice reflex save by Bill Gaudette kept a nice bicycle kick out of the upper corner in the 75th minute.
The hard fought draw was nearly negated in the 90th minute when the Costa Rican runners-up earned a penalty kick, but the shot to the right side was stopped by Gaudette to preserve the equal status heading to the second leg in Puerto Rico next week.
The Islanders joined CD Marathan as the only two teams thus far to post favorable results on the road through the first seven of eight the eight Preliminary Round first leg matches. Marathon of Honduras earned a 2-2 draw in El Salvador against AD Isidro Metapan.
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