After a gritty away performance in Atlanta in which the Islandersgathered 3 points and returned to the top of the NASL table, the Puerto Rico Islanders will travel north of the border to face FC Edmonton in an afternoon match on Sunday, July 1st. The upcoming match will be the first of two meetings in the span of one week, as the two teams will meet again in Bayamon on July 7th. Fans can watch the game at the Islanders Watch Party in Coladas Fine Puerto Rican Cuisine and Frozen Drink Bar at Verdanza Hotel in Isla Verde since 3:30 p.m. Kick off is set for 4;00 p.m.
“We are all set up for our long road trip: first up Edmonton on Sunday. We met as a squad yesterday and had a half yearly evaluation meeting. I told everybody we had done good so far but so far is n0t the end of the season. We have set the bar and now need to push on and work even harder to obtain the success we all want.” said Head Coach Adrian Whitbread.
SERIES HISTORY
The upcoming match will be the first of two meetings in the span of one week, as the two teams will meet again in Bayamon on July 7th. Already this year in April the teams played out to a 0-0 draw in Bayamon.
The Power of Five
There will be three players (David Foley, Nicholas Addlery, Shaun Saiko) who will enter this match with 5 goals, just one fewer than the league lead. Johnathan Faña for the Islanders has 5 assists leading up to Sunday’s clash, enough to top the NASL. Islanders goalkeeper Richard Martin will try to maintain an impressive 0.82 GAA. In addition, he sits 5th in the NASL in saves (38). Shaun Saiko leads FC Edmonton in minutes, (1080) goals, (5) and assists (4). He also leads the entire NASL in total shots (38). He will look to combine with teammate Ilja Van Leerdam (1047, 1, 3) to create the chances up top for FC Edmonton.
BUSY WEEK
The Islanders will play FC Edmonton Sunday, July 1st, then travel to Minnesota to play on Wednesday, July 4th. Then the team will fly home to Puerto Rico for the return visit of Edmonton on Saturday, Jul7th.
