Shorthanded City Islanders Overwhelm F.C. New York

Sainey Touray and Andrew Welker celebrate a goal,
a common sight these days on City Island
Photo courtesy Paul Chaplin / The Patriot-News 
It was gut check time for the Harrisburg City Islanders (8-5-5, 29 points). Following a disastrous road trip last weekend—in which the club earned only one out of a possible six points by tying the Charlotte Eagles (1-1) and losing to the Wilmington Hammerheads (1-3)—the City Islanders lost crucial ground in the National Division standings. Their weekend results allowed the Rochester Rhinos (9-6-3, 30 points) to move four points clear atop the table, while the Los Angeles Blues (6-4-5, 23 points) pulled to within three points of second place and home field advantage for the playoffs. With a two-game homestand on tap for the league’s best home team (6-1-2 at Skyline Sports Complex), the City Islanders knew the time to win was now. But the urgency of playoff contention was compounded by a series of events that left Harrisburg extremely shorthanded. Brian Ombiji's horrible display of sportsmanship against Dayton on July 10 earned him a six match suspension, while injuries deprived the club of Dustin Bixler (ACL, out for season), Geoff Bloes (foot, 3-6 weeks), Jason Herrick (concussion, out for season), David Schofield (groin), and Drew Yates (ACL, out for season). As if that wasn't enough to overcome for a team playing seven games over twenty days, record breaking heat and humidity engulfed the United States, making last night's match against F.C. New York dangerous on many levels. How would the City Islanders respond to this test of character and will? By playing one of their best matches of the season.

The City Islanders came out flying, creating numerous chances with quality one-touch passing, overlapping runs, and unselfish play. Andrew Welker (8 goals) continued his torrid play, netting a first-half hat-trick while Sainey Touray (6 goals, 4 assists) terrorized the New York defense with his pace and guile. Welker’s first goal featured a beautiful display of possession, with Nelson Becerra (3 goals, 2 assists), Stephen Basso (1 goal, 1 assist), and Welker deftly interweaving passes down the left flank. Welker’s second tally resulted from a terrific cross and hard work by Touray, while his third tally was also set up by the Gambian striker. Amazingly enough, the score could have been far worse than 3-0 at the half, with Touray banging a header off the crossbar and Welker squandering a breakaway. Touray was reward for his hustle early in the second half, heading home a Becerra feed, while Jose Angulo (7 goals, 3 assists) completed the rout with a late netter.
Andrew Welker, goalscoring hero
Photo courtesy uslsoccer.com 
When the dust settled, the City Islanders pulled to within one point of idle Rochester, distanced themselves from Los Angeles and Pittsburgh (6-9-5, 23 points) in the standings, and thrust themselves atop the league scoring charts. Harrisburg now leads USL-PRO in goals scored with 31, an incredible feat considering how anemic their attack was last year and earlier this season. Welker, Angulo, and Touray rank in the top fivein scoring, but perhaps most impressive is the way the team has responded to adversity. Despite sweltering heat, the team pressured their opponent and set a high tempo. With a roster of just fifteen healthy players (one of whom was Conor Shanosky, on loan from D.C. United), the City Islanders rose to the occasion, putting a poor weekend behind them in a fantastic display of the beautiful game.

Throw-Ins

• As reported on The Sports ‘Burger on June 21, former U.S. youth international Vincenzo Bernardo has been trialing with the City Islanders. An attacking midfielder/forward, Bernardo previously played for F.C. Hochst in the Austrian Third Division and in Italy for Napoli’s youth team and reserves. The 21 year-old tweeted many complimentary things about the City Islanders and last night’s game, “Such a nice atmosphere here in Harrisburg. I am very excited for this new experience.” His signing seems to be a formality at this point, as he also wrote that he will be wearing #2 for the club. Based on his Twitter activity, he comes to the club with a great attitude and respect for his teammates. Welcome to Harrisburg, VB!

• Reading United tied the Long Island Rough Riders 0-0 last night, a result that complicates the PDL Mid-Atlantic playoff picture. Reading (12-1-2, 38 points) trails Long Island (12-0-3, 39 points) by one point in the standings with one regular season game remaining. If Long Island wins on Saturday, they clinch the division title and a berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals, relegating Reading to a play-in game next Tuesday. A Long Island draw or loss, coupled with a Reading win on Sunday, would propel United to the crown. Confused yet?

• Reading will host the New York Cosmos in an exhibition match this Friday. In case you thought you entered a time warp, the Cosmos franchise has been resurrected and will begin play as a PDL team next season. Until then, they put together a U-23 team that barnstormed throughout the northeast this summer, playing PDL teams in home and away. While this should be an entertaining event, one has to wonder why Reading would schedule this game on the eve of the playoffs.

• F.C. Sonic of Lehigh Valley came up short in their attempt to repeat as Keystone Conference champions in the NPSL. The Erie Admirals took the prize and will host the Brooklyn Italians this weekend in the Northeast Championship.

Posted by Soccer Nobody at 7/21/2011 11:00 AM
Categories: Confessions of a Soccer Nobody
Tags: Harrisburg City Islanders F.C. New York Andrew Welker Sainey Touray Nelson Becerra Stephen Basso Jose Angulo Vincenzo Bernardo Reading United New York Cosmos F.C. Sonic of Lehigh Valley
 

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