By: Orlando Greenwald
Basic math tells us one is greater than zero, we all know that. Yet the “goal” for each home game is to come up with a win and gain three points, and not the lonely one.
In front of a crowd of 3,628, the Strikers took on the Puerto Rico Islanders, just 3 weeks removed from their exciting comeback 3-2 win against these same Islanders. This time around, the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
If it wasn’t for a late goal by Martin Nunez, the day would have been just as bad as the weather. “At the end of the day,” Coach Daryle Shore said. “We weren’t good enough with the ball. Our passing wasn’t good and we weren’t sharp enough.”
Coming in as a sub in the 66th minute for Jean Philippe Peguero whom looked exhausted, the shortest player on the roster, Martin Nunez made all the difference between a loss and a tie.
“It’s a good feeling every time you come in, you come in trying to prove a point, and luckily I was in the right spot to score” said Nunez. The goal was Nunez’s second of the season, and first since the 14th minute of the third game of the season against the Atlanta Silverbacks.
The score came off an assist from Christian Arietta, who crossed the ball into the box and Nunez headed off the post and into the net.
Overall, the first half was very sloppy. Players were bunched up over the ball with no spacing at all. “It’s frustrating,” Coach said, “and we were fortune to get into halftime 0-0.”
The Islanders goal game from Jonathan Fana, his header just passed Matt Glaeser’s reach. He then celebrated in front of a sign that was targeted towards him. After the small scrapple that occurred in the last game between him and the Strikers players, he had the fans against him.
All in all, as bad as the Strikers played, they were able to pull of the tie and push their unbeaten streak to 6 games. With 16 overall points, the Strikers remain fifth in the standings.
This week, the Strikers will have a home game on Wednesday to make up the rainout game from May 14th, against in state rival FC Tampa Bay.