Playoff pairings are set

• by Soccer America , Sep 21, 2009

[USL-1] The USL First Division field had been set since Sept. 11, so the final week determined the first-round pairings for the six teams behind regular-season champion Portland. Carolina, which had never advanced to the playoffs, took second place and will defending champion Vancouver in the first round. Other first-round pairings: Puerto Rico-Rochester and Charleston-Montreal. Complicating the playoff picture for the Islanders is their home game Tuesday against Saprissa of Costa Rica in the Concacaf Champions League.

Results:
Sept. 17
Portland 2 Cleveland 1
Goals:
POR: George Josten (Johan Claesson) 6
POR: George Josten (Mandjou Keita) 55
CLE: Ryan Stewart 63
Att.: 12,567

Sept. 18
Carolina 2 Montreal 0
Goals:
CAR: Daniel Paladini (penalty) 59
CAR: Brian Plotkin (Matthew Delicate) 90
Red Card:
MON: Stefano Pesoli 57
Att.: 2,316

Rochester 0 Charleston 0
Att.: 6,795

Vancouver 2 Cleveland 1
Goals:
VAN: Charles Gbeke (Marcus Haber) 11
CLE: Teteh Bangura (Jason Hotchkin) 45
VAN: Marlon James (penalty) 73
Att.:  5,642

Sept. 19
Miami FC 1 Puerto Rico 3
Goals:
PR: Nicholas Addlery (Cristian Arrieta) 1
PR: Jonathan Steele (Nicholas Addlery) 26
PR: Josh Hansen 60
MIA: Own goal 73
Att.:  880

Sept. 20
Minnesota 2 Charleston 3
Goals:
CHA: Darren Spicer (Nelson Akwari) 17
CHA: Tsuyoshi Yoshitake (Jamie Franks) 26
MIN: Melvin Tarley 28
MIN: Ricardo Sanchez (Marco Terminesi) 35
CHA: Dan Antoniuk (Tsuyoshi Yoshitake) 79
Att.:   3,773

Final Standings:
TEAM W L T GF GA P
Portland 16 4 10 45 19 58
Carolina 16 7 7 43 19 55
Puerto Rico 15 7 8 44 31 53
Charleston 14 5 11 33 21 53
Montreal 12 11 7 32 31 43
Rochester 11 9 10 34 32 43
Vancouver 11 10 9 42 36 42
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Minnesota 7 13 10 39 44 31
Miami FC  8 17 5 26 52 29
Austin (-2) 5 17 8 28 51 21
Cleveland 4 19 7 22 52 19

Leading Scorers:
12 Gbeke, Vancouver
11 Menyongar, Rochester
11 Keita, Portland
10 Pore, Portland
10 Arrieta, Puerto Rico
9 James, Vancouver
8 Addlery, Puerto Rico
8 Tarley, Minnesota
9 Haber, Vancouver