By TRAVIS CLARK
The wait for A.C. St. Louis' first win had been four agonizing games. Fortunately, the fifth time proved to be the charm Saturday evening, as St. Louis delivered in front of a home crowd.
With listless and fellow bottom-dwellers Crystal Palace Baltimore coming to town, the chance was now for St. Louis to put an end to the losing streak and post a first-ever win. The brand-new club came through in front of a crowd of 2,985, behind Manuel Kante's goal just 52 seconds into the game.
Goalie Alec Dufty took care of the rest, holding Baltimore at bay for the remaining 89 minutes to earn his first shutout in a St. Louis uniform and a 1-0 win.
Here's a look at the rest of the action from a busy weekend in the USSF D-2 league:
ROWDIES SNATCH DRAW WITH LATE EQUALIZER
Miami and Tampa Bay rekindled a rivalry over the weekend, and a wild and petulant game between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw. Christian Gomez opened his Miami FC account as the home side earned a first half lead. On the other side of the break, Gomez went from hero to goat, earning a red card for a poorly timed challenge on Aaron Wheeler. Tampa Bay tried to take advantage, but were thwarted by Miami goalie Caleb Peterson-Sewell, who kept a clean sheet until Julian Valentin broke through in the 82nd minute. Even with a second wind after scoring the late goal, there wasn't enough time for the Rowdies to grab a winner.
IMPACT SQUEAK PAST ISLANDERS FOR SEASON'S FIRST WIN
It was a short week for Montreal after their mid-week tilt against Toronto, but the Impact dug deep and bested Puerto Rico to win their first game of the season. It was a low scoring matchup, settled by a first half goal by Filipe Soares. Puerto Rico goalie Bill Gaudette frustrated Montreal, but didn't get the offensive help he needed for the Islanders to get anything from their long trip north of the border. The 1-0 win will do just fine for Montreal, snapping a regular-season skid against Puerto Rico and sending their fans home happy for the first time in 2010.
AZTEX TAKE DOWN TEN-MAN MINNESOTA
After a rather poor Wednesday performance, Minnesota hoped to bounce back Saturday with the Aztex visiting. A bright start and a 1-0 lead broke down quickly for Minnesota when defender Daniel Wasson was sent off for denying an Austin goal scoring opportunity. Joe Warren saved Wasson's bacon — for the time being — by denying Eddie Johnson from the spot, but the lead wouldn't stand up. Johnson atoned for his miss with a 75th minute equalizer, getting on the end of a Jay Needham cross to best Warren. An Austin gaffe eliminated their man advantage when Joey Worthen received his marching orders after retaliating from a hard challenge. Despite Worthen's poor decision, the Aztex came away 2-1 winners thanks to a Jamie Watson goal in the 83rd minute.
RHINOS TIE RAILHAWKS IN HOME OPENER
Rochester had endured a long and winding road to the start of their 2010 campaign, and relief from the drudgery of a hectic schedule came Saturday night. It was Rochester's home opener, the first chance to play in front of a friendly crowd all season. A win was in sight after a strong and composed first half, and the Rhinos had a 1-0 lead on a Troy Roberts goal. Controversy struck in the second half, however, as Carolina earned a dubious penalty. Frankie Sanfilippo was adjudged to have fouled Carolina attacker Sallieu Bundu. Railhawk Etienne Barbara dispatched the spot kick, and Rochester couldn't answer back — leaving honors even at 1-1.
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What did you think of this weekend's results?
Share your thoughts below.
more asian players than before…Chinese and Japanese?
http://sportsinteli.blog1.fc2.com/
Puerto Rico is my adopted home.
Baltimore is the “mutherland”.
DC–we gave up our land to the federal governemnt (the Virginians welched and took theirs back).
And besides, especially when we don’t have teams that go head to head we share in the corridor (like the choking Caps and the woeful Wizards).
And my wife would argue that there’s no “border” to cross. Puerto Rico is making her get a US birth certificate now (along with all Puerto Ricans in the mainland.
Come on MiamiFC
Either my geography skills are slipping, or yours are, Yankiboy. Last I knew, PR wasn’t that close to DC;)
Might make a cameo in the next match, but that’s a bit iffy. He’s supposedly close, however. Not sure how much of a difference he’ll be able to make.
Yep. All the local teams. DC United, Washington Freedom and I guess you could say that I support real Maryland (but I only get out to see them play a couple of games a year).
Yanki-Yank always tries to support the home team. That’s just how I roll. Ya, know?
Any other teams you support as well? Just messing.
As a Puerto Rico Islanders supporter, I realy would have like to get out of Montreal with a point. Puerto Rico played 4 games in 8 days when it travelled to Baltimore to face Palace. It had a week to face a Montreal side that had faced Toronto FC a few days before. Montreal Impact is a very, very good club and one of the better ones of the division.
As a Crystal Palace Baltimore supporter, I was very realistic about the prospects for this season. it is going to be a very, very long a paninful one when it comes to the standings table. Our first year is USL2 was a very difficult one. We never won USL2 so moving up to the second division was incredibly ambitious.
After giving a goal before the smoke from the silly smoke bombs had disappeared, Baltimore got itself into the match and didn’t bleed a lot of goals. I would like to hope that Baltimore could have done the same against a stronger club but I am looking for anything/everything positive that I can find right about now. Small progressions are way better than none at all.
Sorry Kenny but there is no link like the one that you are asking for because there is no list of salaries for the D2 or third division either.
Someone will correct me if I am wrong but the “MLS” list is actually released by the MLSPU (and it is not official but reportedly a very, very good reference).
No. We aren’t sure when he will return.
I’m surprised Miami isn’t doing that great with the squad they have.
Does anyone have a link or a listing of salaries in the D2?
Someone is baiting Alejo.
is Ralston playing now?
11,554 showed up for the game in Monteal. They’ll be a great market for MLS, but the 2nd division will miss them.
Minnesota completely blew it in their game. It could have been a lot worse than 2-1. They played like D.C. United.
You dive like Jamie Watson
Nice to get a win, don’t expect too many more. Decent crowd turnout for the weather.