Barca & Strikers Score 3 Each

With a 3-0 victory over Racing Santander this past weekend and goals by Pedro, Messi, and Iniesta, FC Barcelona has climbed into first place in La Liga and appears to be well on track towards yet another Spanish League championship in the early season.  So this week, we will instead focus on the surprising Fort Lauderdale Strikers instead, who appear to have hit their stride in the postseason and are now just one victory away from appearing in the NASL Cup final.

As reported in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel,

"The Fort Lauderdale Strikers have a leg up on the Puerto Rico Islanders after the first game of their NASL semifinals on Saturday.

Goals by Martin Nunez, Walter Restrepo and Brian Shriver helped lead the Strikers to a 3-1 victory over the Islanders in Puerto Rico. It was the Islanders' first loss at home this season.

The Strikers, who have eight goals in two playoff games, can advance to the league finals with a tie or even a loss by one goal in the second leg of the home-and-home series on Oct. 15 at Lockhart Stadium.

After the Islanders cut the Strikers' lead to 2-1 in the 85th minute, Shriver scored in stoppage time on a Mike Palacio assist.

The Strikers took the lead in the 49th minute on Nunez's goal on an assist from Lance Laing. They made it 2-0 in the 82nd minute on Restrepo's unassisted goal."

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers have chosen the best possible time to hit their stride and are now clearly living up to their moniker.  This win over the Islanders-- who until the playoffs started were clearly the class of the NASL-- proves the Fort Lauderdale can win it all. 

Go Strikers!