USL-1 Championship Sunday on FSC Championship eras have become standard in USL top flight Friday, October 10, 2008 TAMPA, FL -- When the Vancouver Whitecaps play host to the Puerto Rico Islanders in the 2008 USL First Division Championship match Sunday, October 12 at 7:00 pm ET, the game could mark the continuation of a championship era for Vancouver, or the beginning of one for the Islanders. In the past 10 years, Rochester, Minnesota and Seattle have had their turns at the top. Last year, the Seattle Sounders were in their third final in four years and captured their second title in three. But before the Sounders, the Minnesota Thunder and Rochester Rhinos were the class of the league, squaring off in three straight title games beginning in 1998. The Rhinos reached a fourth in 2001. Now in their second championship game in three years, the Whitecaps could be in the midst of forging their own era as a powerhouse in the league. Having finished second with a first-year coach and numerous developing young players, it is not inconceivable that the Canucks could return to final in the next two years. But with their simultaneous success against arguably better competition on paper in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Islanders are quickly beginning to look like the Rhinos of the past. Just as the Rhinos had done in 1998, Puerto Rico won the regular season title this year and led the league in offense and defense. The only difference is that Rochester’s famed US Open Cup run that saw them upset four Major League Soccer sides en route to the title came a year later after winning the league title. In previewing the Islanders before the semifinal series in his blog for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Jeff DiVeronica noted that the Islanders’ 2-2 draw in Guatemala against Municipal using mostly reserves, the Islanders appear to be on par with the previous Rhinos sides. “Now THAT is impressive and should let you know that Rochester will need to be at its best for 180 minutes to stand a chance. I’m convinced now that Puerto Rico is on par with the great Rhinos teams of the late 1990s, the 1998 squad that went 30-4 in [USL-1] play and ’99 club that won the U.S. Open Cup and was league runner-up to Minnesota. Had Rochester NOT run out of gas in ’99 it would have won the double.” Looking at the numbers, the factor that has played one of the largest roles in the previous finals has been the old cliché, defense wins championships. Dating back to the first unified championship of what was then known as the APSL, the team with the better defensive ranking on the season has won the championship game or series 15 of 18 times. The better offense has won less than half with only seven titles. All seven of them, however, also had the better defense though. The better defense has won five of the last six and eight of the last 10 while the teams with better offense have dropped six of the last eight. Coming into the match leading Vancouver in both categories, the Islanders will be looking to follow the trend that has seen seven of the nine teams in the same situation raise the cup. The championship Sounders of 2005 have been the only team in the past six years to lead in both categories, a feat that has become rare since the Hershey Wildcats of 2001 lost in the final. Seattle, however, needed penalties to defeat Richmond. Seattle also needed penalties last year, coming at the expense of Puerto Rico in the semifinals, who had rallied from a 2-1 loss at home in the first leg of the series to tie the Sounders on aggregate with a 1-0 road win. The pair exchanged goals in series overtime for a 3-3 aggregate that forced the tiebreaker that fell 4-2 in Seattle’s favor. For Puerto Rico to follow the trends in winning to mark the beginning of what they hope is their championship era, they will need to get past the Whitecaps Sunday in the final. A team that ranked tied for second in defense with Puerto Rico’s fellow Champions League participant Montreal, whom Vancouver eliminated last week in the semifinals. In their three meetings earlier this season, the Islanders were a mere one goal better than Vancouver with a 0-0 draw on the road August 17, a 1-1 draw at home August 31 and a 1-0 victory at home September 5. The Islanders victory was the first in nine all-time meetings between the two sides. Vancouver leads the all-time series with a record of 4-1-4, including a mark of 2-0-2 at home. The Whitecaps, however, have not been able to beat Puerto Rico since posting a 3-1 road win August 4 of 2006, going 0-1-4 since. Both clubs rallied from first leg deficits in the 2008 USL-1 Semifinals last week as the home sides continued to remain unbeaten through 10 matches in the postseason. Vancouver rallied from a 1-0 hole to down Montreal 2-1 and Puerto Rico topped Rochester 3-2 in series overtime, erasing a two-goal difference from their opener in Rochester. Since their semifinal victories, Puerto Rico saw additional action Wednesday with a Champions League match on the road against Mexican champion Santos Laguna, whom they defeated 3-1 in the first match in Puerto Rico. The group leaders suffered their first defeat in six games in the competition, falling 3-0 with numerous reserves in action. Josh Hansen, the only former Whitecap (2007) on the Islanders squad, was sent off in the second half as they trailed 2-0 for striking a Santos defender with his foot as he attempted a bicycle kick, securing the expected victory for the hosts. Just like the aforementioned defensive theory on winning titles, championship experience is has long been touted a determining factor in sports finals. Among the players on the two clubs, nine players have previously played in a USL-1 Final. While Vancouver, not surprisingly, boasts seven of those players in their lineup, the Islanders will likely only utilize league MVP Finalist Jonathan Steele on the field as Nigel Henry, who played for the 2001 Wildcats, will remain in Puerto Rico and miss the game due to the head injuries sustained in Rochester a week ago. Players From Previous Finals Jeff Clarke (Vancouver): Clarke was a member of the 2006 championship Whitecaps, playing the full match. Nigel Henry (Puerto Rico): Out with injury for Sunday, Henry was a member of the 2001 finalist Hershey Wildcats along with current Whitecap Eduardo Sebrango, playing the full match. Omar Jarun (Vancouver): Jarun was a member of the 2007 finalist Atlanta Silverbacks, playing the full match. Steve Kindel (Vancouver): Kindel was a member of the 2006 championship Whitecaps, playing the full match. Geordie Lyall (Vancouver): Lyall was a member of the 2006 championship Whitecaps, playing the full match. Martin Nash (Vancouver): Nash is in his fourth championship, second in three years with Vancouver, having played 86 minutes in the 2006 Final. Nash helped guide Rochester to the 2001 championship against the Wildcats of current teammate Eduardo Sebrango, registering an assist in 88 minutes of play in the 2-0 victory over Hershey. It was the second straight after providing two assists in the 2000 title game against Minnesota. Eduardo Sebrango (Vancouver): Sebrango has helped lead four different teams to the final, playing in two and winning one, the 2000 championship with Rochester alongside current teammate Martin Nash. While with Hershey a year later he missed the final due to injury. He missed the 2006 final due to suspension. Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico): Steele was a member of the 2006 finalist Rochester Rhinos, seeing limited action off the bench for 28 minutes. Alfredo Valente (Vancouver): Valente was a member of the 2006 championship Whitecaps, starting and playing 59 minutes.
Top USL-1 honors announced Puerto Rico’s Steele earns league’s MVP award USL News Release Saturday, October 11, 2008 VANCOUVER, BC – United Soccer Leagues announced the league’s top honors for the 2008 USL First Division season honoring Charleston’s Osvaldo Alonso as the Rookie of the Year and a trio from Puerto Rico with Colin Clarke as Coach of the Year, Cristian Arrieta as Defender of the Year and Jonathan Steele as Most Valuable Player. Puerto Rico’s achievements on the field led to unprecedented success in the honors announced at the USL-1 Championship banquet as the Islanders became the first team in league history to take home three of the four honors, surpassing numerous teams who had only received two. The exception among the honors unveiled Saturday was Cuban defector Osvaldo Alonso of the Charleston Battery, who received the Rookie of the Year award. Alonso cemented his role in the Battery’s starting line-up after impressive performances during the pre-season Carolina Challenge Cup and went on to contribute four goals and two assists in 23 regular season games for the Battery. Alonso defected from the Cuban national team last July during the 2007 Gold Cup. A native of San Cristóbal, Cuba, Alonso is the former captain of the Cuban Olympic team, was capped 17 times for the full national team and scored 2 goals. Arrieta burst onto the scene in his first year in the league to earn the Defender of the Year award after several seasons in the lower divisions of Italian soccer. Arrieta helped lead the club to the best defensive ranking in the league with only 23 goals allowed on the year. The Italian-American, however, contributed just as much to the club offensively with a team leading seven goals, only two coming by way of penalties. He would go on to add an eighth with the semifinal series-winner against Rochester. Leading the squad was another new addition in Jonathan Steele, who became only the second midfielder to ever earn the league’s Most Valuable Player honor. An award that has traditionally gone to forwards and goalkeepers, Steele joined Seattle Sounders veteran Leighton O’Brien (2002) as the only midfielders to earn the league’s top award. On his fourth club in five years, Steele find found his stride to help guide the Islanders to the regular season championship and the league’s top offense while finishing as the league’s Assist Leader with 11 on the season in 26 games. He also chipped in for two goals and finished the year tied for 13th in points. Although he helped lead the expansion RailHawks to the postseason last year, Steele only recorded one assist in 19 games for Carolina. Steele joined the RailHawks after spending two seasons with Rochester after making his professional debut with Syracuse in 2004. The man that orchestrated Puerto Rico’s rise to the top by bringing in the new players and developing players like Arrieta and Steele into the league’s elite was Colin Clarke, who was recognized as the USL-1 Coach of the Year. Clarke’s second season with the Islanders started off on the wrong foot with three losses in the first four matches, but they only lost three more times over the course of the remaining 26 games while moving to the top of the table and claiming the Commissioner’s Cup as the regular season champions with a record of 15-6-9 and the league’s top offense and defense. Included in the club’s impressive campaign are two currently running unbeaten streaks. Since their 1-0 loss July 4 in Miami, the Islanders have not dropped a game on the road, going 7-0-4 with five straight immediately following the initial loss before returning home. They finished the regular season unbeaten in their last 12 (6-0-6) league games dating back to their 2-1 home loss to Seattle August 1, all while participating successfully in the CONCACAF Champions League. The 12-game unbeaten streak ranked third-best in league history behind the runs of 13 by the 2000 Richmond Kickers and the 1998 Rochester Rhinos, who also hold the best consecutive regular season unbeaten streak at 16 extending off the close of the 1997 campaign.