JOHN KRAUSE LEADS PUERTO RICO ISLANDERS INTO USL FINALS

Ironmen Defender Traveling to Vancouver for League Final on Sunday

Newark, N.J. (Friday, October 10, 2008) – New Jersey Ironmen defender John Krause did not take much time to regroup after a heartbreaking goal by the recently-inked and then Baltimore Blast forward Adauto Neto knocked the Ironmen from the 2008 postseason. Once the former Vanderbilt star zipped up his equipment bag at Prudential Center, he headed back to his place in the Ironbound to pack his bags for Puerto Rico to start a second season with the Islanders of the USL-1.

“We had a new team in the beginning this year,” Krause commented. “We had a lot of new players on the team and naturally started slowly.”

The slow start Krause refers to is a 4-5-3 record after the opening 12 matches. The 12^th game was a tight 1-0 loss to the Miami FC Blues, the first contest in a crucial six-game road swing. Doubts may have existed when the Islanders boarded an airplane to head north of the border to play the Montreal Impact, but none were present in the mind of Puerto Rico Head Coach Colin Clarke. The Islanders were heavily challenged by the Canadian club but were able to pull out a slim 1-0 victory. It was then that their real challenge came, one that may be the reason they play for the USL title this Sunday at 7:00 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

“When we came back into the locker room from winning that game in Montreal, Coach addressed the team,” Krause reflected. “He said that he wasn’t one to do this, but he challenged us the win the rest of our games. He truly believed we could.”

The Islanders took their coach up on that challenge, first winning the remaining four games of their road trip before heading back to Puerto Rico. Their first game at home was a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders, and it would be their only loss in the remaining 17 games after the challenge was issued.

“In that game in Montreal, we clicked,” Krause said. “We truly came together on that road trip, and we started to realize how talented we are.”

After finishing the regular season with a cumulative 15-6-9 record and a first place finish atop the USL standings, the Islanders knocked off the Rochester Rhinos in their semifinal match-up last weekend to advance to the final against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The two sides played three times this year with two draws and a win by Puerto Rico in their last meeting.

Although much more is riding on the fourth and final contest between these clubs in 2008, Krause insists it is business as usual.

“The only major difference is more media,” he remarked. “For the team and me personally, we will approach this game the same way we always do. I’ll drink my cup of coffee before the game and still put on my left shin guard before the right.”

For Krause and fifth year Puerto Rico, they hope the game will also end the same way as it has the majority of the time since that game in Montreal. I will tell you one thing. They are up for the challenge.