MIAMI FC-LATEST NEWS

[Frank Cunha]

Miami FC says farewell to 2008 season on a high note



Miami, September 21, 2008 - Miami FC played the final game of their season against the Atlanta Silverbacks on Sunday afternoon at Tropical Park and ended victorious with a 1-0 win. In the home finale there was some good soccer played and a strange series of events led to a Sean Fraser goal to cap off the season for the Blues.



The Blues looked good and fast early as they did not want to disappoint the good crowd (2,301) on hand for the finale. Miami attacked, with Alex Afonso acting as the spearhead of the offense.



Walter Ramirez was part of the action in the first 25 minutes as he played as his usual self by going one on one down the left flank. In the 21st minute he ripped a low hard shot from the edge of the box that forced Atlanta keeper Felipe Quintero into a low diving save.



In the 32nd minute Sam Reynolds had to save a hard header that was directed down into the goal by Martin Lancaster of the Silverbacks. Reynolds blocked it away and did well by dealing with the header from only a few yards away.



Ansu Toure almost opened his Miami FC account in the 44th minute as his left footed shot whizzed by the top left angle. He was only a few feet from scoring against his former team.



After a competitive first half the Blues went into the locker room looking to cap their season off with a victory.



Miami started off the second half well and in an unusual way. A poor back pass to keeper Felipe Quintero started a strange play. The ball bounced high in the air toward the goal and Quintero ran back to block it out of goal but Afonso put pressure on the keeper and the ball bounced and hit the cross bar. Sean Fraser swooped in to easily put home the rebound and put Miami up 1-0.



In the 76th minute Afonso almost aided another goal. He stormed through the Silverbacks defense and had an excellent shot fake which he turned into a slick pass through the back line. Sean Fraser almost got a foot on it but it slid just past him.



In the 78th minute Eric Brunner misheaded a ball that was crossed into the area and Duke Hashimoto was unmarked at the 6 yard box but his header went right down into Sam Reynolds.



The whistle was blown after several minutes of added time and with it an exciting season came to a close after the 1-0 victory.

[Frank Cunha]

Miami FC’s Alex Afonso takes scoring honors despite missing playoffs



USL-1 statistical honors announced





Tampa, September 25, 2008 - United Soccer Leagues announced today the statistical award winners for the 2008 USL First Division season, honoring Miami FC’s Alex Afonso, Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Steele and Montreal’s Matt Jordan.



Brazilian striker Alex Afonso in his first season with the Miami FC Blues captured the Scoring Championship for leading the league in points (34) as well as the Goal Scoring Championship with 15 on the campaign.



Afonso’s 15 goals accounted for over half of Miami’s total of 28 on the season. He is the second from Miami to earn the honor with famed Brazilian World Cup champion Romário sharing the honor two years ago with Seattle rookie Cam Weaver. Afonso was the fourth player in the last six years to win the Scoring Championship playing for a club that failed to qualify for the playoffs, joining Weaver, Dante Washington (Virginia Beach 2004) and Thiago Martins (Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2003) as the only players to have earned the honor despite not reaching the postseason since 1991.



Afonso finished two points and one goal ahead of last year’s honoree, Sebastien Le Toux from the Seattle Sounders, in both categories.



Playing for the Puerto Rico Islanders, Jonathan Steele led the Assist table for nearly the entire season, posting 1 for the year to earn the Assist Leader honor. He finished the year with two more than Rochester’s Luke Kreamalmeyer and twice as many as the rest, who finishing with five or fewer. Combined with a pair of goals, Steele ranked tied for 13th in the league in points. Puerto Rico’s offense led the league with 43 goals, three more than Minnesota and six more than the next two.



Steele’s teammate Bill Gaudette came up just shy of finishing as the GAA Champion, an honor that fell to Montreal Impact netminder Matt Jordan with a goals against average of 0.760. Jordan was second in the running for the honor last season with an average of 0.648, finishing behind Portland’s Josh Wicks. The honor of finishing with the league’s best goals against average returns to Montreal, where Greg Sutton was the top goalkeeper from 2003-06.



The All-League Teams and Goalkeeper of the Year honors, as voted on by club general managers and coaches, will be announced Tuesday, September 30. The finalists for Defender of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player will be unveiled Thursday, October 2. The winners of the marquee awards will be announced at the USL First Division Championship banquet.