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Late Effort Comes up Short in Scorpions Loss to Islanders

July 11, 2012 - North American Soccer League (NASL) San Antonio Scorpions

Bayamon, Puerto Rico (July 11, 2012) - A strong second half effort was not enough for the San Antonio Scorpions in a 1-0 road loss to the Puerto Rico Islanders on Wednesday night.

The Scorpions (8W-4T-3L) and Islanders (8W-4T-4L) are now tied for first place in the NASL standings with 28 points each.

San Antonio will now travel to Florida to take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Saturday, July 14 to conclude a short two-game road trip.

The Islanders had a number of opportunities early in the match, including a cross into the box to forward Nick Addlery in the 14th minute, but his header went wide of the post to keep the game scoreless.

But Addlery put the Islanders ahead with his sixth goal of the season in the 24th minute with a header off a pass from Noah Delgado that beat Scorpions keeper Daryl Sattler.

Sattler made an impressive save on a shot from Jonathan Faña in the 32nd minute after the Islanders forward made a run down the right side and found himself one-on-one with the Scorpions keeper.

The Scorpions entered the second half trailing 1-0, but came out on the attack and nearly scored the equalizer in the 51st minute when forward Esteban Bayona made a sprint up the field and into the box.

Bayona delivered a cross in front of the Islanders net and a Puerto Rico defender almost knocked the ball into his own net, but keeper Richard Martin was able to make the save to keep the Scorpions off the scoreboard.

Another opportunity presented itself in the 56th minute when Scorpions midfielder Hans Denissen rifled a shot from the top of the box that went off the crossbar.

San Antonio continued to apply pressure on Puerto Rico as midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan knocked a header on goal that Martin was able to deflect narrowly wide of the post, again denying the Scorpions on another scoring opportunity.

The Scorpions had another golden chance in the 89th minute when Denissen delievered a corner kick that ended up at the feet of Pablo Campos right in front of the goal. But the shot from Campos sailed high over the crossbar.

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North American Soccer League Stories from July 11, 2012


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