FC Tampa Bay was in a good position to gain ground on second-place Puerto Rico in the NASL standings after taking an early 1-0 lead Saturday night.
Puerto Rico, however, scored two goals and beat the hometown team, which had come into the game having lost just once in its last 10 games, 2-1 in front of 2,935 fans at Al Lang Stadium.
On a night in which FC Tampa Bay created many more scoring opportunities then its opponent — it outshot the Islanders 24-10 — coach Ricky Hill said he was pleased with his team's effort despite the outcome.
"They've got nothing to be disappointed about apart from the result," said Hill, whose team begins a season-long four-game road trip Saturday when it faces the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at 7:30 p.m.
With the NSC Minnesota Stars also losing Saturday, FC Tampa Bay remains in sole possession of third (31 points) in the NASL standings, while Puerto Rico increases its cushion to 9 points.
FC Tampa Bay (8-7-7) struck first when forward Mike Ambersley, who is second in the NASL with 10 goals this season, pounced on a misplay from an Islander defender and scored just under the goalkeeper's outstretched arm.
But just minutes later, forward Nick Addlery evened the match at 1, beating FC Tampa Bay goalkeeper Jeff Attinella on a rebound.
In the 75th minute, with the Islanders (12-5-5) on the counterattack after a FC Tampa Bay set piece, forward David Foley took the ball about the length of the field, made a move on defender Frankie Sanfillippo and beat Attinella near post to break the deadlock.
"That's frustrating," Hill said of the goal which broke the tie, "because it's coming from our set play. I think we had numbers there. It was one against three in our favor. We tried to defend honestly, but I think we could've defended smarter at that stage."
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