The Puerto Rico Islanders, Joe Public and San Juan Jabloteh qualify for the final round of the CFU Club Champions Cup
Two-time CONCACAF Champions League qualifier the Puerto Rico Islanders moved within a step of a third straight trip to the confederation club championship, joining Trinidadian sides Joe Public and San Juan Jabloteh in the final round of Caribbean championship.
The three teams will join Bayamon FC – which secured its berth last week — in a last group stage April 28-May 10, from which three teams will advance to the Preliminary Round of next season’s CONCACAF Champions League.
The Islanders completed a 5-0 aggregate victory over Haiti’s Racing des Gonaives on Sunday in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, securing their berth in the four-team final league phase with a 3-0 win on a pair of goals by Josh Hansen. Hansen secored in the seventh and 49th minutes, and English forward David Foley added another goal in the 36th in a game in which both teams finished with 10 men.
Similarly, former Caribbean champions Joe Public and Jabloteh won their respective groups in Trinidad with a pair of victories.
Kerry Baptiste scored three goals over two games, twice in Joe Public’s 5-0 victory over Suriname’s Walking Boys on Wednesday, and again in a 3-1 victory over St. Vincent’s System 3 on Sunday. The results finished Joe Public atop Group D with six points, three better than second-place Walking Boys. System 3 finished last with two losses.
The goals increased Baptiste’s total to eight in the Caribbean Club Champions Cup, twice as many as his closest rivals.
Jason Marcano also scored three goals, providing all of Jabloteh’s offense in victories over Alpha United of Guyana (2-0 on Wednesday) and River Plate Puerto Rico (1-0 on Sunday) in Group C
