USSF D-II: Aztex get late goal, beat Islanders

Posted Jun 6, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Jun 6, 2010 at 08:24 AM

A late goal gives Austin victory against Puerto Rico and an eight-game undefeated streak, while Miami travels to Montreal and Carolina plays Portland in Sunday’s USSF Division II action.

AUSTIN 2, PUERTO RICO 1: Yordany Alvarez scored in somewhat fortunate fashion with 10 minutes to go to give the Aztex their third straight victory and at least temporarily extend their lead atop the USL Conference to five points from FC Tampa Bay.

Maxwell Griffin had given Austin the lead in the 24th minute, but the Islanders hit back 11 minutes later through Nicholas Addlery. Neither side was able to find a way through for most of the second half, with Aztex coach Adrian Heath being ejected for arguing with referee John McClosky. But Alvarez’s finish, his second of the season, earned all three points for his side.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

MIAMI (1-2-5) AT MONTREAL (3-2-2): The Impact will try to rebound from their first home loss of the season against Carolina last Sunday when they host a Miami team that has lost two straight games.

The Blues fell particularly hard against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Wednesday night, falling 4-2 at the Estadio Ramon Loubriel. That makes it seven goals conceded in the last two games for Miami after it hadn’t conceded more than one in a game in its six-game undefeated start to the season.

Montreal will be hoping their offense can get on track against the faltering Miami defense. The Impact have only scored five goals in seven league contests this season and rank 10th in the league in shot with only 65.

CAROLINA (3-2-2) AT PORTLAND (3-3-2): The RailHawks appear to have found the right combination in their last pair of outings, and have moved into second position in the NASL Conference as a result. Victories against Puerto Rico and Montreal, both on the road, should have Carolina confident of a third win on its four-game trip that concludes on Wednesday in Vancouver.

Portland, on the other hand, is probably happy to see the calendar turn to June after going winless in May. The Timbers stumbled at home, losing to Crystal Palace Baltimore and Montreal, and their last home victory was on April 29 against Vancouver. This starts a spell of three games in seven days for the Timbers, the next two coming on the road at Austin on Wednesday and Miami on Saturday.