USSFD2 Championship: Railhawks, Islanders Both Surprising Entrants
#2 Carolina Railhawks (1st NASL Conference, 13-9-8) v. #8 Puerto Rico Islanders (5th USL Conference, 9-11-10)
For the longest time, it seemed like it would be another entirely non-American final in the so called American second division. The Montreal Impact were steamrolling the Carolina Railhawks, and in the other series it was down to either the Vancouver Whitecaps or the Puerto Rico Islanders, who may be American politically but are considered foreigners in soccer terms (Puerto Rico has its own soccer federation and sends its own national team, albeit an extremely uncompetitive one, to World Cup qualifying). The last two USL First Division finals had both been entirely foreign: between Vancouver and Montreal in 2009, and between Vancouver and Puerto Rico in 2008. The last American-based second division champion was the Seattle Sounders, who took the crown in 2007 thanks to the striking of one Sebastien Le Toux.
However, Tom Heinemann’s 89th minute goal lifted the Carolina Railhawks into the final game, and as a result the United States may once again have a champion in its own second division. The Railhawks have not won a single honour, however petty, in their entire professional existence. No regular season championships, no US Open Cups, no league titles, nothing. Even when they took the NASL Conference crown this season, pundits including myself were writing off their playoff aspirations. They seemed to lack the key ingredients for playoff success and would surely go down to a team that might have a worse record but certainly had a better squad.
Well, just look at them now.
The last time a team south of the Mason-Dixon Line took a second division title was back in 2003, when current USL Second Division side and cross-Carolina rivals the Charleston Battery beat the now-defunct Minnesota Thunder in the playoff final. The Battery remain the only southern United States team to claim a second-division title since the formation of the American Professional Soccer League in 1990, despite the presence of very strong clubs in Richmond, Miami and Austin. Carolina will not only be fighting Puerto Rico for the crown, but a history of southern clubs emerging as major contenders and fading down the stretch. The Railhawks have managed quite the reverse so far: It remains to be seen if they can keep it up.
Of course, the Puerto Rico Islanders have had far from an easy path of their own. Sneaking into the playoffs as the last seed, they stunned the perennially successful Rochester Rhinos in the first round and scraped out a furiously tight victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the semi-final after extra time. Puerto Rico is best known among casual fans for their constant success in the CONCACAF Champions League, but at a league level they have always been the bridesmaid but never the bride. The Islanders rank among the most consistent teams in the second division and won the 2008 regular season title, only to lose in the playoff final. In both 2007 and 2009 they lost in playoff semi-final despite having very good teams. A CFU Club Championship victory earlier this year ended the Islanders’ title drought, but the Caribbean title is one the Islanders ought to win with their eyes closed. The Islanders boast a goalkeeper in Bill Gaudette whose recent form is as good as anybody in North America’s. Their strike force is dangerous. This is the best chance Puerto Rico’s ever had to get the monkey off their back, but Carolina has exploited overconfidence all season.
One of these teams will be proving a lot of doubters wrong and ending a long drought. The question is, which one?
