Jomal Williams scored his sixth goal of the season for Luis Angel Firpo in the El Salvador Primera Division, but it came in a 2-1 loss to Jocoro at the Tierra de Fuego Sporting Complex, Jocoro on Saturday.
The host grab the early initiative when Santos Guzman fired in the opener in the 13th minute and nine minutes later John Machado doubled the lead which they carried into the half-time interval.
With 17 minutes left in the match the 27-year-old William, formerly of W Connection, sliced the deficit in half for Luis Angel Firpo with his seventh goal in 12 matches this season but in the end, Jocoro held on for the win.
The defeat left Luis Angel Firpo in the seventh spot on the 12-club table with 16 points from 12 matches while Jocoro improved to joint-fourth spot with Platense on 19 points each, eight adrift of leader Alianza.
Second on the table is FAS with 25 points while Once Deportivo is third with 22.
Garcia on target as Wanderers keep playoffs hopes alive
T&T striker Akeem Garcia scored for only the second time this season in 15 appearances for HFX Wanderers in their 2-2 draw with York United at York Lions Stadium on Sunday.
Wanderers coach, T&T’s Stephen Hart, made several changes for the visitors including the return of goalkeeper Christian Oxner, dropping leading scorer Joao Morelli (14 goals) to the bench and starting Garcia after Alex Marshall picked up an injury just before kick-off.
It was a nervy opening few minutes for either side as these familiar foes settled into the game. The breakthrough, however, came early on when a poor defensive header from Peter Schaale landed in front of a wide-open Álvaro Rivero who squeezed the ball under Oxner just 12 minutes in to give the host the lead.
Needing a response, the Wanderers lunged forward with most of their attack coming down the right-wing and the repetition eventually paid off for the visitors when team captain, T&T’s Andre Rampersad played a ball wide over the top for Cory Bent, who then teed up a sliding Garcia, last year’s league top scorer, to level things 1-1 in the 27th.
The match continued to be a testy affair with either side pushing to turn the tie in their favour. York’s Max Ferrari and Lowell Wright caused problems for the Wanderers while Garcia continued to be a threat for the visitors.
Eventually, the visitors turned things around 2-1 when Mamadi Camara found the back of the net four minutes from half-time.
The Wanderers maintained control of the game for most of the second 45 minutes but York United saw multiple chances fall just short.
Oxner, in particular, made two good saves to keep the hosts from tying things up.
However, the persistence from York eventually saw them break the visitors down and substitute Julian Ulbricht tied things up 2-2 in the 76th.
Chaos ensued as the clock continued to count down with York United pushing for a victory. Numerous scrambles in the box almost saw them take home all three points but the Wanderers, who replaced Garcia in the 89th minute with Morelli, found a way to hang on.
The draw left Wanderers, last season league’s beaten finalist, one point outside of the top four playoff spots with 29 points from 21 matches, one behind York United.
At the top of the eight-team table is Pacific with 39 points, four ahead of Cavalry, who have a match in hand while Forge is third with 34 from 19 matches.
Elsewhere, Malcolm Shaw and Ryan Telfer both failed to trouble the scoreboard, the latter coming close with a deflected shot as Atletico Ottawa suffered a 3-0 defeat against Forge at TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, Ontario, and on Friday, T&T defender Federico Pena made an 85th-minute appearance for Valour in a 1-1 draw at home to Edmonton.
Valour is sixth on the table with 24 points, five ahead of Edmonton while Atletico is bottom of the standings with 17 points from 22 matches.
Riley opens FIU account with stylish volley
Kareem Riley scored a stunning volley as Florida International University (FIU) secured one of its biggest wins in programme history on Saturday night, defeating the formidable Charlotte 49ers in front of a roaring home crowd at FIU Soccer Stadium, Miami.
With the victory, FIU improved its record to 7-1-1 on the season including an undefeated 2-0 record in Conference USA. The Panthers also remained undefeated at home and now own a perfect 4-0 record in front of the Panther faithful.
The Panthers wasted very little time getting on the scoreboard against the 49ers, as Stephen Afrifa scored in the fifth minute off a pass from Yushi Nagao.
Afrifa then turned provided on FIU’s second goal for Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro in the 19th minute.
Riley then scored one of the most dramatic goals FIU has seen in recent memory and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
Five minutes before the half-time interval, the T&T native located a ball that was cleared away from inside the box off a corner and one-timed it before the ball hit the ground, sending a high moonshot into the air that landed just behind the outstretched hands of Charlotte's goalkeeper for his first career goal for his team.
In the second half, the Panthers kept their foot on the gas with another seven shot attempts after the break, and in the 73rd minute, FIU struck gold again when Steven Riad set up Mauro Bravo for the Panthers' fourth goal of the day.
With the win, FIU earned its first victory over Charlotte since joining Conference USA.
James makes it eight goals in as many matches
Former national women's youth team striker Asha James scored her eighth goal of the season while team-mate Emily Avila's penalty was the difference on Saturday afternoon as West Texas (WT) A&M defeated Texas A&M-Commerce 3-2 at the Pitch, Canyon, Texas.
The Lady Buffs improve to 6-2-0 overall and 2-1-0- in Lone Star Conference in what could be the final meeting between the two programmes.
The Lady Buffs controlled most of the possession in the opening 15 minutes before Reagan Matacale scored her fourth of the season in the 18th minute off a free-kick past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Jen Peters.
West Texas continued to push numbers forward as former Signal Hill Secondary player James and Hannah Kelly-Lusk saw their shots saved in the 20th minute.
Avila then hit the woodwork before James became the second Lady Buff to hit the woodwork in the opening minutes in the second half as her shot from distance ricocheted off the crossbar.
Against the run of play, A&M-Commerce tied the game at 1-all in the 53rd minute when Karalie Morrison got on the end of Skylar Sorrell's cross.
WT would retake the lead in the 56th minute on James' seventh goal of the season after Maliyah Mendoza created space before leaving the ball for the T&T player to rifle into the top corner of the net. James would have another chance two minutes later but her left-footed shot to the near post was saved by Peters.
A&M-Commerce would find an equaliser again in the 83rd minute on Morrison's second of the game before Avila scored the game-winner in the 85th minute after the referee awarded the Lady Buffs a penalty for handball.