Harrisburg City Islanders News Release -- www.cityislanders.com
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Harrisburg City Islanders are off to the best start in franchise history with three wins and no losses or ties as they welcome the Charleston Battery to Skyline Sports Complex on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The defending USL PRO champions arrive having taken two wins in a row, which should make for an entertaining game between a pair of talented squads.
The City Islanders opened their home schedule with a convincing 5-1 win against the Rochester Rhinos on saturday night. The Islander’s claimed their 100th at their 10th anniversary home opener. The team has scored nine goals in the first three games while only conceding three. Six different players have scored goals so far this season. Lucky Mkosana leads the way with three goals, while Sainey Touray has added two.
The Battery are currently 2-1-0 on the season, having lost their season opener in Richmond 4-1. They opened their home schedule a week later by beating Antigua 4-0 and last Saturday won against Pittsburgh 2-0. The Battery are led by last season's Rookie of the Year Jose Cuevas, and former Islander Nikki Paterson.
The Islanders and Battery split their regular season games in the 2013 season as each team won at home. The Battery won 3-1 in Charleston, while the Islanders won on the Island 3-0. The two teams met in the first round of the playoffs in Charleston, and despite an early goal from Brian Ombiji, the Islanders fell 2-1 to the eventual champions.
Gates for Wednesday night's game open at 5:30 pm and kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Bud Light and Shock Top beer specials will be featured until kickoff. For tickets to the game, visit the Islanders website at www.cityislanders.com or phone the box office at 717-441-4625.
BYU Cougars – BYU has had some good preseason results, defeating a number of local colleges as it prepares for its opener. The side returns Jace Green, who led the team with six goals a season ago, while goalkeeper Brian Hale and forward Garrett Losee, who had five goals and four assists a year ago, are also expected to return..jpg)
The two play-in matches between amateur clubs will take place on Tuesday, May 7, with the Colorado Rovers (U.S. Specialty Sports Association) hosting the Georgia Revolution (National Premier Soccer League) and Southern California-based FC Hasental (NPSL) heading north to face the Fresno Fuego Future (US Club Soccer).
Hosting the W-League Championship at IMG academy is another step in the process of restructuring the W-League and W-20 to distinguish adult women’s soccer throughout North America. The W-League and W-20 continue to be best positioned to prepare players and clubs for the next levels of adult amateur and professional women’s soccer, and each step advances their alignment with U.S. Soccer’s newly formed women’s professional league, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
After catching flack over what might have been the quickest red card of the season, Hammerheads veteran Paul Nicholson has been put on a two-game suspension after committing a hard foul in Los Angeles after only 18 seconds into the first half of the match. Nicholson served the first game of his suspension during the match in Phoenix on Sunday and will serve his second this Friday against the Kickers.
The Dutch Lions are coming off a tough, but successful road trip to Florida last weekend, during which they outlasted VSI Tampa Bay 1-0 before falling to Orlando City 4-0 the following night. Splitting the games away from Dayton brought the Dutch Lions record to 2-1-0, the club’s best start since joining USL PRO in 2011.
The Battery got an early jump on the match when Azira scored from the corner of the penalty area in the 10th minute. Mark Wiltse sent a cross from the far right side across the field, and Azira volleyed back across goal to the far post to put the Battery into the lead.
While that might be the case, the road that the club has travelled down in its two years of competition has brought soccer in Antigua & Barbuda farther than it ever had before. After reaching the semifinals of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying last year, and the positive performances the side was able to produce, challenging the United States, Jamaica and Guatemala on their home turf, the program is proving a successful platform for the development of the country’s young players.
The Sounders held slightly more possession in the first half but the best chances were created by Seattle Pacific. If not for goalkeeper Erin McNulty, the Falcons would have led at half. In the 26th minute, the Canadian National Team member stretched every inch of her 5-foot-11 frame to tip Heather Young’s shot past the upper left corner of the goal.
During the event Warren Smith, president of Sac Pro Soccer, will be joined by his team to announce the official team name, color palette, shield and scarf of the Sac Pro Soccer team, which are currently being selected during a three-month, three-part naming contest that is involving the Sacramento community and soccer fans.
Chicago Fire – Drawing strongly from the club’s academy system, the Fire finished out of the playoff berths for just the second time since 2006. The club’s new direction, however, could pay dividends soon as players returning this summer will likely take a step forward and keep the Fire in playoff contention. Among those to keep an eye on are Tyler Engel, who led SMU last season with eight goals and seven assists, while Chris Prince and other members of the club’s Super-20 team that won a championship last summer could also step into a bigger role.
The relationship will greatly increase USL’s presence on TopDrawerSoccer.com, including weekly USL Olympic Development Program rankings, W-League and PDL Player of the Week awards and identification of current and former USL players within the TDS youth and collegiate player profiles.
In the eight games played between the two teams each has played at home four times. Each team has scored eight goals throughout the series, averaging a goal a game.
Des Moines Menace – The Menace missed out on the playoffs by a point a season ago, but will make a return to the U.S. Open Cup this season under new coach Mike Jeffries. The veteran coach, who played for the U.S. Men’s National Team and coached FC Dallas in MLS, will have a number of returning players to work with, including Husref Jupic, who scored three goals in five games before injury shortened his season. Charlie Bales, who had two goals and three assists in seven games, also returns to the side.
The Breeze will compete in a 12-game schedule from May to July with six home appearances at Kezar Stadium. Kezar Stadium is the former home of the San Francisco 49ers and continues to regularly host a variety of Bay Area sporting events. 
Rhinos Head Coach Jesse Myers first move during the offseason was to bring back 14 players from the squad that finished second in the 2012 USL PRO standings, and lost in penalty kicks at Sahlen's Stadium to eventual champion the Charleston Battery in the USL PRO Semifinals.
Orlando is currently undefeated at home through the beginning of the 2013 USL PRO season, winning all three of their matches played in Central Florida. The Lions have an impressive goal differential of +7 in the three home matches played, scoring 10 goals while only allowing three.
