TAMPA, Florida, Apr 5, CMC – Five Caribbean-born players found the target over the weekend in the United Soccer League, the second tier of the game in the United States.
Omar Holness capped a fine week for Real Monarchs SLC, Billy Forbes was the driving force behind San Antonio, FC Zeiko Lewis scored his first professional goal for New York Red Bulls II, Romario Williams struck his first of the season for Charleston Battery and Brenton Griffith made history for Reno 1868 FC.
Holness, a 23-year-old Jamaican, rounded out a 2-0 win for the Monarchs over Phoenix Rising FC at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
Forbes, a 26-year-old from Turks & Caicos Islands, tallied a goal and assisted with the other in the San Antonio’s 2-0 victory against Los Angeles Galaxy II in front of a sell-out crowd at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas.
Lewis, a 21-year-old Bermudian, proved the difference as the New York Red Bulls II christened MSU Soccer Park in Montclair, New York, with a 1-0 victory against the Richmond Kickers.
Williams, a 22-year-old from Jamaica, got the first of two second half goals for the Charleston Battery in a 2-0 win over neighbours Charlotte Independence at the Transamerica Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Griffiths, a 25-year-old from Jamaica, scored the first goal for Reno, one of the expansion clubs making their debut in the League this season, but saw it cancelled out in a 1-1 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Reno, Nevada.
In Sandy, midfielder Andrew Brody set up Holness for the Monarchs’ winner about 15 minutes before the final whistle to earn their side a second consecutive win of the season.
Rising FC almost took the lead inside the opening five minutes when a poor back-pass by the Monarchs left an opening, but the ball spun out of the reach of Omar Bravo.
The Monarchs then had a big opportunity just before the half-hour mark as Chase Minter’s low shot was denied by Phoenix’s Josh Cohen.
Real’s Sebastian Velasquez also forced a good save by Cohen two minutes before the break with a fierce shot from 25 yards, but the hosts took the lead in stoppage time when Minter was brought down in the area and Chandler Hoffman converted from the penalty spot.
In San Antonio, Forbes set the tone early with a dish from the left side, setting up Rafa Castillo with a quick rolling ball for the striker to rip the top netting for the 1-0 lead in the 12rth minute.
Forbes put the match away with a goal of his own in the 77th minute, and it was his well-timed run that put LA’s defence on its heels, after Cesar Elizondo had the leading ball to him down the left side, and hes shot left-footed toward the far right post. It took a deflection, but there was little doubt as it bounced into the net for a three-goal cushion.
In between, Michael Reed converted a Ben Newman pass in the 29th minute to give San Antonio a 2-0 lead at halftime before they closed out a match that gave them a perfect 2-0 start to the season and made an inaugural season in which they won only two games a distant memory.
In Montclair, Lewis found the net in the 69th minute, as he capitalised on a scramble in the penalty area after a corner.
The victory moved Red Bulls II to four points from their first two games, after they had the better of the game early and Arun Basuljevic almost curled home a finish in the 25th minute as the hosts pressured regularly.
New York thought it had taken the lead five minutes into the second half, only for the offside flag to be raised on Junior Flemmings’ finish.
Richmond’s Mikey Minutillo almost scored midway through the half, his shot from the right side of the penalty area clipping the crossbar before Lewis’s strike threw the game open.
The Kickers searched relentlessly for the equalizer, and Chris Durkin pulled a shot wide of the left post with nine minutes to go, but New York held firm for its first win of the season.
In Charlotte, Williams and Quinton Griffith, a 25-year-old from Antigua & Barbuda, combined for the first goal in the Battery’s win.
The result meant that the Battery are now tucked into second place in the Eastern Conference on six points – the same number, but a weaker goal difference – than current leaders Tampa Bay Rowdies following the second week of the 2017 season.
Griffith put a high-ball into the penalty area from on the right side and midfielder Dante Marini trapped it on the far side of the box. He played it into the path of Williams for the Jamaican striker to defy the challenge of two defenders and put a firm shot low to goalkeeper Cody Mizell’s right in the 70th minute for his first goal of the season.
The Battery, whose starting line-up also included the Trinidad & Tobago pair Ataullah Guerra and Neavel Hackshaw, as well as Cuban midfielder Maikel Chang, got their second goal from Forrest Lasso seven minutes later before working hard to hold onto their lead in the remaining minutes.
In Reno, history was written when defender Griffiths broke the deadlock in the fourth minute from a textbook set-piece.
Junior Burgos’ ball from the right corner flag stayed above Vancouver’s back line and Griffiths timed his jump well, heading the ball across the mouth toward the far right corner of the frame to give Reno the lead, but Vancouver’s Thomas Sanner found an equalizer just four minutes later.
Griffiths also went close to tallying the winner on the final delivery of the match, but his header went wide of the post in stoppage time.
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