Islanders get tie, earn playoff berth
Sunday, September 10, 2006
MIAMI, FC -- In the last game of the regular season, Miami FC tied the Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium Sunday afternoon. Miami FC has officially qualified to the USL First Division Playoffs on its debut year.
 The game against the Islanders was hard fought, as the Caribbean team was playing for the final playoff spot and achieved it by getting the tie.
The first half between Miami FC and Puerto Rico had no clear dominator. Few scoring opportunities were generated by the two teams, as it seemed both were focused on not losing the match rather than winning it.
In the second half though, Miami FC got on top when Oscar Gil scored his 3rd goal of the year at the 57th minute. The Colombian had only been on the field for 3 minutes before scoring, as he substituted Yaikel Perez at the 54th minute of play.
At the 87th minute of play, off a penalty kick, Puerto Rico scored the tying goal, which also meant their qualification for the postseason. The Chilean Arturo Norambuena converted the Islanders penalty kick.
Miami FC finished its first professional season in the USL First Division in 5th place, earning a playoff spot, as the first six teams qualify. Montreal and Rochester are already qualified to the semifinals, as they ended up first and second place respectively. Charleston, Vancouver, Miami and Puerto Rico will fight for the two remaining semifinal spots.
Miami FC is playing a two-game series with the Vancouver Whitecaps, which decides one of the remaining semifinal spots. The first game will be held Friday, 15 at Vancouver, and the second leg on Sunday, September 17, at Miami’s Tropical Park Stadium.
For the game to be held in Miami, the official kick-off time will be at 5:00 PM.
To celebrate qualifying in their first season, the first 1,000 people to get to the Stadium on Sunday can get in for free; as well as students, with their respective Student ID’s. For everybody else, the club is setting a promotional price of $10 per adult, and $6 per children in all of the stadium’s locations.
“It’s a great feeling to make it to the playoffs in our inaugural season. I think the team deserves it because we’ve worked very hard all year long. Our first objective has been reached, but I’m sure we can still achieve much more. In the playoffs everybody starts from scratch,” said Miami FC midfielder John Pulido after the match.
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