Miami FC ends harsh weekend in Puerto Rico with another defeat

Miami, August 19, 2007 – Miami FC distant itself from the playoffs after Puerto Rico wins 3-2 on Sunday evening. This was the fourth game between the two teams this season and the Islanders finished unbeaten at 3-0-1.

The match was a very intense one, since both teams desperately needed to add points to keep their dreams to advance to the playoffs alive.

The star of the night was, without a doubt, Willie Sims, who scored all three goals for the Islanders. Puerto Rico’s goalkeeper Michael Behonick also deserves credit, stopping Miami’s attack in several instances, including a penalty kick taken – and missed – by Sean Fraser.


Miami had their first good opportunity in the 4th minute, when John Pulido took the first shot to the goal, generating a corner kick that could not be converted.



Two minutes later Zinho had the chance to blast a free kick that went straight into Michael Behonick’s hands.

At the 11th minute, the star of Willie Sims started to shine bright. The forward positioned a loose ball with his chest and assisted himself to the first goal of the evening.

Minutes later, Miami came back strong once more as Zinho threatened the locals with a power shot that was brilliantly saved by Behonick.



Zinho was in action again three minutes later, as the Brazilian midfielder attempted to convert a free kick that flew over the crossbar.



Afterwards, a power shot from Mateus dos Anjos made Behonick scramble for the save as Lars Lyssand finally cleared the ball out of the danger zone.

In the 42nd minute, the Islanders responded to Miami FC’s attacks scoring their second goal of the game. Marco Velez crosses the ball into Miami FC’s box and Willie Slims heads the ball into the back of the net.

Miami came back to the second half resolved to at least tie the game and had two good chances to score with free kicks from Jamil Jean-Jacques and Zinho. Nico Mosquera finally put the ball on the Islanders net in the 64th minute, assisted by Jamil Jean-Jacques.


In the 68th minute, the referee made a dubious call of a penalty against Sean Fraser as he downed Fabrice Noel inside Miami FC’s box. This really made Miami’s players upset and the game was stopped for about 10 minutes. A heated discussion with the referee earned Fraser a yellow card. After the incident, Willie Sims finally converted the penalty kick to complete his hat-trick on the night.

Shaken and visibly upset by what happened, Miami FC struggled during the balance of the game to make up for the penalty. In the 77th minute, Nacho Calcagno was downed inside the Islander’s box and it was now Sean Fraser’s turn to convert a penalty kick, but Behonick would not give him the chance, making the stop.

But in the 89th minute, Miami’s Sean Fraser finally got the opportunity to avenge the controversial penalty as he got a perfectly positioned pass from Nico Mosquera that he managed to blast into the back of the net.

Yet, the good effort on their part was not enough to even score and Puerto Rico got a second victory this weekend against Miami, adding another three points to their overall standing.

Miami still has mathematical chances to advance to the playoffs, but depends on other teams results to do so. The Blues return to action this Saturday against the Portland Timbers, at 8 pm, at Tropical Park Stadium.