USL First Division Week 2 Wrap

By: Bob Kellett | April 20th, 2008

Charleston 1-1 Seattle - The defending USL-1 champions picked up a road point in Charleston thanks to a stoppage time goal from Kenji Treschuk (He’s a player who suited up for the Timbers last season against Toronto. I love how he plays). Charleston broke the duck first with a goal by Louie Rolko in the 37th minute. They had a handful of opportunities to go up by two goals, but the Sounders keeper Chris Eyelander came up huge. He stopped a penalty by Mike Richardson in the 62nd minute and made a great save late in the game. The announced crowd was 4,324. From what I saw of this match, both sides looked a little sloppy. Charleston has started the season with a pair of draws.

Atlanta 1-1 Carolina - Jerson Monteiro saved the Silverbacks’ bacon with a goal in the 72nd minute to help Atlanta earn a point at home. The Railhawks (dumbest name in the league) took the lead in the 49th minute from a free kick by Steven Curfmam. Former Portland Timbers forward Dan Antoniuk made his debut for Carolina coming on in the 56th minute. The announced crowd in Atlanta was 3,431, which according to the team’s press release “broke several ticket sales and attendance records with Saturday’s near capacity crowd.” They’ve poured a lot of money into that facility. I hope this is a sign that they will see some returns on their investment.

Miami 1-2 Montreal - The Montreal Impact traveled to South Florida and picked up a road win against a Miami FC Blues team that has the worst defense this side of the LA Galaxy. Miami took the lead early on a goal from Alex Afonso (this dude can really play) in the 16th minute. It was Afonso’s second goal of the young season. Montreal got it back in the 48th minute thanks to a goal from Roberto Brown. Late game sub Dwight Barnett took advantage of a blunder by former Timbers keeper Josh Saunders to score the game winner in the 83rd minute. Miami has opened the season with a draw and loss at home. That ain’t good. The announced attendance was 2,450 but it looked more like 24. It you haven’t checked it out yet, you should pay a visit to The Offside’s new Montreal Impact blog. It is in French and English. I’m considering making this blog bi-lingual too. English and Esperanto.

Portland Timbers 1-0 Puerto Rico Islanders - Recap here

USL First Division Table (Look who is on top!)

Average Attendance watch
Portland - 10,977
Vancouver - 5,288
Charleston - 4,324
Atlanta - 3,431
Miami - 2,909

League average after 6 games: 4,973

Upcoming games
Thu, April 24
Minnesota Thunder at Portland Timbers

Fri, April 25
Miami FC Blues at Puerto Rico Islanders
Montreal Impact at Atlanta Silverbacks

Sat, April 26
Charleston Battery at Carolina RailHawks
Seattle Sounders at Portland Timbers
Minnesota Thunder at Vancouver Whitecaps

Sun, April 27
Miami FC Blues at Puerto Rico Islanders