That was a deserved win for Columbus, I think they're unbeaten in twenty-two or something at home now and it was easy to see why, they dominated large swaths of the match and were technically much better that the Islanders as well so 2-0 was a fair score line.

Colin Clarke missed this match, he's still suspended for fighting in a CFU Champions Cup match, and it was somewhat apparent. Is Fabrice Noel injured or otherwise unavailable? He should've been in the match for Puerto Rico, particularly considering they missing Jagdeosingh through that phantom red card he picked up against Toronto. Addlery looked isolated and I don't think the Islanders ever really tested Hesmer, Steele's crossing was uncharacteristically poor.

The first goal came indirectly from a set piece, Schelotto -- who's brother incidentally used to play for Puerto Rico -- put in a cross which eventually found it's way to Steven Lenhart via a low cross, Lenhart was never missing, in fact, a patio broom would've scored.

Near the end the second goal also started on the right hand side and finished with Robbie Rogers putting beyond Bill Gaudette, Gaudette it must be said again gave a good account of himself as his goal was more or less under siege for the entire match.

Columbus looked like the MLS champions in this one, and they're obviously a better team than Puerto Rico's previous opponents, Toronto, but I wish they had as many songs as Toronto. I'll probably be hearing that one in my sleep.

Both teams have difficult tests ahead, Champions League runners-up Cruz Azul and Costa Rican giants Saprissa round out the group. Both teams travel next week with Puerto Rico on the plastic pitch at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, while Columbus travel to the Mexican capital.

That was fully expected. RBNY isn't a comically bad team, it's a tragically bad team. Having seen both Red Bull NY and the Charlotte Eagles, who currently occupy fourth in the USL Second Division, this year, I can say this: Red Bull New York would struggle to make the playoffs in the USL Second Division. Bermuda and Pittsburgh are the only two professional teams in the American pyramid that are worse, and comparing the budgets of the three would literally make your head spin.

I'm not discounting the quality of the TT Pro League, the league in which Red Bull's conquerors W Connection currently sit in sixth -- the lower half of the table, I'm just saying what I think is true.

At times Connection looked horribly disjointed but they can be excused, hey, this is the CONCACAF Champions League, excuses are the norm when MLS teams are involved. To the best of my knowledge there isn't a single FieldTurf surface in the TT Pro League and the surface would've felt extremely foreign to them. They themselves didn't make any excuses though, they simply went out and won. I would say "they made the most of what was given to them" but they didn't, in reality they should've sawn New York apart and Kevin Goldthwaite and Danny Cepero gave them every chance to do so. Cepero made Julian Speroni look like Gigi Buffon.

Despite the fact that they were expected to lose, there will be apologists pointing to the fact that Juan Pablo Angel was out, and I'll counter that by saying Jonathan Fana Frias was out for W Connection. Is he the same player? No. Is he as important to Connection as Angel is to Red Bull? Yes.

It's probably best for American soccer than Red Bull bowed out, they're nothing short of an embarrassment.

Congrats to Connection. It should also be stressed that they have a chance. Pumas will be favored, heavily, to win the group but Connection could get something against Comunicaciones and the winner of Liberia and Real Espana. It'll be interesting for that second transfer spot in Group D.

Here's a piece everyone should read by Kartik Krishnaiyer. He explores why American soccer fans should've all supported Puerto Rico over Toronto and the extreme line taken by MLS apologists in regards to the USL. He also explains how the USL is more than just the USL First Division.

Oh, and just to add: W comes from Williams. W Connection was founded by brothers David John Williams and Patrick John Williams. Officially the club is called W Connection Football Club, but that's where the name comes from.

And that's what happened, Puerto Rico won.

It wasn't that Toronto outplayed them and got unluckly, Puerto Rico just won. Kendall Jagdeosingh scored a classic in the first leg and that was it.

You couldn't really take anything from this match other than Puerto Rico knowing they only had to draw, thus playing the more powerful Addlery from the start, and that Toronto couldn't finish a phone call.

Credit has to go to Puerto Rico keeper Bill Guadette, he's somewhat maligned because of his time wasting tactics but he's a very, very competent stopper and it showed during the tie. Rock solid and Bob Bradley needs to give him a look, I don't care that he's not playing in MLS or Europe.

Excuses will be made for Toronto, excuses are made when MLS teams lose in these competitions, it's the status quo, but none can be greater than Puerto Rico coming off a nine game road spell that included stops in Vancouver and Portland in addition to Toronto and Montreal. Puerto Rico just won, that's what happened.

One problem I need to address is the red card shown to Jagdeosingh in the 84th minute, what exactly did he do? The replay showed no contact with the defender so unless he said something particularly unpleasant to the match official, expect Puerto Rico to appeal that in about 30 minutes, if they haven't already.

At the end of the match Batallon S-10, I believe, raised a banner -- much to the delight of Bill Gaudette -- which stated "USL owns MLS", it's been a point of much contention recently, but tonight, it's nothing other than a fact.

Did I mention that Puerto Rico did it with their manager, Colin Clarke, banished to the stands for both legs? Because they did.

Be proud, Orange Troop, you've earned it.

Pachuca finished their destruction of Jalapa, it ended 7-1 on aggregate.

DC United needed penalties to beat Firpo. The match was horrible at first but got better towards the end. There was a controversial moment when Firpo scored, but there isn't a rule against that kind of penalty. You can't really say DC did well to advance, they're a better team than Firpo and should've beaten them without extra time, let alone penalties since Firpo are in pre-season and only in the Champions League because the other team forgot to register on time.

There weren't any real surprises in the first legs, I guess you could count Puerto Rico winning in Toronto as a surprise but I won't.

Toronto came at Puerto Rico, they just couldn't finish. Puerto Rico, like last year, seemed content to sit back and wait on chance to counter attack or get a set peice, which is what they did. The only goal of the match came from an indirect freekick, the finish was wonderful, but the match wasn't worth watching as a neutral.

New York were, unsurprisingly, held to a draw by W Connection in Trinidad. I understand that the Red Bulls are having a bad season, and anything they do isn't reflective of MLS as a whole, but W Connection aren't exactly flying. They sit fifth in the TT Pro League. No disrespect to the pro league, but MLS likes to tout itself as a regional giant, this isn't the kind of result a regional giant should be getting.

DC United fielded a reserve team for the most part, which kind of excuses their draw at home with Firpo. Firpo weren't actually supposed to be in the competition, they got in since the team that qualified failed to submit the proper paperwork. For parts of the match you would've thought DC were the team in pre-season form, hopefully they'll take the second leg seriously.

Meanwhile, the two Mexican teams handled their opponents, one of whom came from Costa Rica, with reletive ease as Pachuca won 3-0, and Cruz Azul 2-6. The Mexican league is still the standard for CONCACAF, and MLS has a lot of catching up to do.

The other matches saw Liberia of Costa Rica beat Real Espana 3-0 in a match that was played in Alajuelense's stadium as Liberia's doesn't meet the requirments. Panama's San Francisco beat San Juan Jabloteh 2-0, and Olimpia of Honduras saw off Árabe Unido from Panama 2-1.

There is a small section of people referring to Puerto Rico Islanders players as "MLS rejects" and inferring that they simply aren't good enough to go toe-to-toe with "the stars of Major League Soccer" and were therefore cast-off, sent the scrapheap if you will, where they were picked up by lowly USL side Puerto Rico.

Here's someone you may know, his name is Arsene Wenger, and he's the manager at Arsenal, one of the world's biggest clubs. Wenger has a reputation for picking up "rejects" and using them to win trophies. Here's another name you may know: Thierry Henry. Henry was named French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, but after moving from Monaco, Juventus simply didn't think he was good enough...they "rejected" him. Sold him off to Arsenal, and the rest is history. Henry is not alone in his story. In 1992 a young player named Kevin Phillips was deemed not good enough for Southampton and was released, after a spell at tiny Baldock Town the striker moved to Watford and subsequently Sunderland. In the 1999-2000 season "Super Kev" found the net a gobsmacking 30 times.

These stories of rejection are more an indictment of coaches and scouts than of those players. Indeed, their ability far exceeded what their previous coaches thought about them.

MLS is not immune to this.

Many of these players were never given a fair shake in MLS because of politics, namely because they're from outside of the US, or in the case of Bill Gaudette fell victim to salary cap rules. Sandi Gbandi, who notched a goal and an assist last night, never even got a shot.

The "rejects" in question are Jamaican international Nicholas Addlery, Trinidad and Tobago international Osei Telesford, and the aforementioned Gbandi. These players have a combined thirteen MLS appearances, most of them (eleven) made by Addlery. They were never given a fair chance. I know the purpose of Major League Soccer is to develop Americans, but too many times we see poor, poor Americans (see: the Los Angeles Galaxy) given chance after chance when young foreign talents are quickly cast aside.

In fact, these "rejects" did something the "stars of Major League Soccer" have never done. They went to Costa Rica and won. I don't care about that Mexico stat. You can argue yourself breathless about altitude. Alajuela is lower than Denver and Salt Lake. Yell about pollution. Costa Rica is the cleanest country in the western hemisphere, in fact, it aims to be carbon neutral by 2021. The country, not a city, the country. There is no excuse for Costa Rica, which is why Puerto Rico won there, which is why Puerto Rico didn't beat Carmelita, San Carlos, or Puntarenas...they beat Alajuelense, they knocked out the heavyweight champion. These rejects knocked out Costa Rica's George Foreman.

I'm not going to say the USL is better than MLS, it isn't. But the league isn't a joke, and to arrogantly dismiss it's players as rejects when your own players are getting stomped (Joe Public 6-1 New England) is insulting.

Puerto Rico haven't defeated Cruz Azul yet, they still have a ton of work to do and indeed it could all fall apart. But they have shown heart, desire, and passion. They may be winning ugly, but they're winning. If Puerto Rico marches on, and they very well may, these "rejects" could line up against Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, or another giant come December in a meaningful match, not a pre-season friendly.

Who needs Beckham when you've got Noah Delgado?

Gbandi 5, Addlery 37 (PRI)

There is still magic in the glass slipper. Puerto Rico made sure to take a 2-0 advantage on to the Estadio Azul on April 7th with first half goals from Liberian Sandi Gbandi and Jamaican Nicholas Addlery at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium.

Puerto Rico struck early with a rare well worked move in a match that proved very scrappy for the most part. Lovely interplay led to Josh Hansen playing a beautifully weighted ball to Gbandi in the box, Gbandi applied a textbook finish to put the hosts ahead with barely five minutes gone. The goal certainly delivered a shock to the Mexicans system.

Later in the first half Addlery would make it 2-0 as he got his foot on a well-placed Gbandi freekick to poke the ball around the goalkeeper.

Puerto Rico had a real shout for a penalty turned down in the second half as Hansen was seemingly hauled down in the area, the replays did show contact with the man and not the ball. Cruz Azul will count themselves extremely lucky as 3-0 would have been crushing.

The cementeros were not without chances though but they often found themselves denied by Puerto Rico custodian Bill Gaudette, the rugged former Brooklyn and Columbus goalkeeper making several fine saves despite nursing a shoulder injury he received in a second half collision.

Cruz Azul tempers came to a boil in stoppage time as Puerto Rico seemed more than content to waste time in the corner. No fewer than three players from the Mexican side were booked after falling victim to mind games from Trinidad and Tobago international Kendall Jagdeosingh.

Puerto Rico will go to the altitude of Mexico City with a 2-0 advantage, proud to not concede an away goal, but they will have to be very mindful of Montreal's quarterfinal collapse in Torreon.

Man of the Match: Bill Gaudette (GK), Puerto Rico on 90 minutes.

Att: 12,751 (of 12,500 seats).

Puerto Rico Islanders v Cruz Azul - CONCACAF CL SF1 Preview

Bayamón isn't Montreal, so the Islanders aren't generating the press that the Impact did, but their story is an amazing one nonetheless. In the month of March Madness the ultimate Cinderella steps onto the ballroom floor once again at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium.

The Islanders have turned their converted baseball stadium, now the Mecca of Puerto Rican football, into a fortress. In this edition of the competion the Islanders have only lost at La Islandera, conceding a late goal to Guatemalans Municipal, and have claimed the scalps of giants Alajuelense and Santos Laguna.

It's hard to explain how the Islanders have made it this far, but it's easy to see how deserving they are. Colin Clarke's charges have contested every ball in the Champions League and have never taken their eyes off the task at hand. Many have theorized that their British long ball style has left Latin defenses confused, and it has played a role, but they've also outworked opponents in every department.

Meanwhile opponents Cruz Azul have not made an impressive start to their Clausura campaign. After 10 matches the eight-time Mexican champions sit 12th in the overall classification. In the Champions League the cementaros have been solid in defense, and that may bode well for them against the Islanders.

It will be interesting to see how the match plays out. Having already claimed one win at home against Mexican opposition, Puerto Rico will be looking to do the same as they expect to sell their stadium beyond it's 12,500-seat capacity for what is surely the biggest match in the club's young history. Cruz Azul will look to find some form as the search for their first title since 1997.

Santos Laguna 5 : 2 Montreal Impact (5-4 on aggregate).

Benitez 16 (San), Brown 24 (Mon), Sebrango 38 (Mon), Vuoso 52, 75 (San), Quintero 90*, 90* (San)

Montreal's dream came to an abrupt end in the most heartbreaking of fashions. After going down early, the Quebec side managed to peg back Santos twice to find themselves leading in Torreon. It was done by taking the game to a Santos side which found itself forced to attack having lost the first leg 2-0.

Montreal seemingly caught a break in the first half when Mexican international goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez was subbed off after a leg injury, no word on how serious the injury is. The Impact quickly took advantage of his replacement Miguel Becerra when first leg hero Eddy Sebrango made it 2-1.

Despite all of this, Montreal abandoned their plan in the second half and resorted to defending, a move which proved deadly. Santos equalized early in the half through Matías Vuoso, and took the match lead through him on 75 minutes. At this point it still seemed unthinkable than Santos would find two more goals and Montreal continued to defend as the Mexicans heaped on the pressure. Many times Montreal found themselves saved simply by their height advantage granting them the ability to clear crosses and corner kicks, but soon Santos found a way to break Montreal's backs through Carlos Quintero. The Colombian striker netted twice deep into injury time to break Montreal's hearts and seal a place for his side in the semifinals where they will face fellow Mexicans Atlante.

It meant the end of the road for Montreal's unlikely journey, but they won't be without pride. The Impact represented Canadian soccer in a better light than anyone involved could have hoped, and for that they should keep their heads head high.

As for the United Soccer Leagues, they still have an interest in the Champions League as Puerto Rico managed to top Marathon of Honduras 1-0 (3-1 on aggregate) to claim a spot against Cruz Azul in the other semifinal.

55,571 fans made up the third largest soccer crowd in Montreal history Wednesday night as the home side Montreal Impact defeated visiting Mexican giants Santos Laguna 2-0.

The goals both came from former Vancouver Whitecaps player Eddy Sebrango, and though neither will win any goal of the year competition it's unlikely that anyone associated with the Impact cares.

Sebrango's first goal came almost out of nowhere on five minutes as the former Cuban international combined with Roberto Brown take advantage of some lackadaisical Santos defending to slot the ball to the right of Mexican number one Oswaldo Sanchez.

Throughout the game it was evident that the artificial surface was a factor with the bounce of the ball being hard to judge.

Aside from a stray looping header, Montreal found it hard to trouble Sanchez for the remainder of the first half and the story was much the same at the other end with only Chucho Benitez testing Matt Jordan.

Santos seemed to pick up the pace in the second half, actually forcing Jordan into action several times, including a fabulous low save off a Pedro Quiñónez free kick. But again it was Montreal who would find the net, and again slack defending was to blame when Nevio Pizzolitto's long ball was headed on by Brown and eventually tapped over a hapless Sanchez by the head of Sebrango.

The lead gives Montreal a comfortable, though far from safe advantage heading into next week's second leg at the Estadio Corona in Torreon.

The night's crowd was the largest in this year's Champions League, in stark contrast the Houston Dynamo assembled a crowd of just over 10,000 as the drew with Atlante on Tuesday at Robertson Stadium. There was talk that MLS commisioner Don Garber was among the 55,571, but should the question be "Montreal for MLS?", or "Does Montreal need MLS?"?

DC United defeated the Charleston Battery 2-1 in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday night to claim their second Open Cup crown.

The match between two of the more tradional sides in the American game got off to a fast start with DC scoring quickly and Charleston wasting no time in finding an equalizer.

It was the introduction of Fred late in the first half that would change the game. Just after half time the substitute found his way through the Charleston defense to put DC ahead, a lead they would not relenquish despite spirited play from the South Carolina side.

The match was not without controversy however as Charleston had a stoppage time equalizer disallowed for offside, replays disagreed with the decision.

Elsewhere the Puerto Rico Islanders scored twice at the death to get by Costa Rica's Alajuelense. The Costa Ricans went ahead early but the Islanders kept their cool in order to find the two goals they needed to qualify for the group stage. The result gives the USL, two, as many teams in the Champions League as MLS. Marathon of Honduras and Cruz Azul of Mexico also advanced.

The final two preliminary matches take place tonight as Jalapa look to defend their slim lead over San Francisco in Panama, and Pumas take on Harbour View in a one-legged affair followed the cancelation of the first leg due to Hurricane Gustav.