Puerto Rico Islanders beat Toronto FC 1-0 in first leg of CONCACAF Champions League play

Puerto Rico Islanders top Toronto FC 1-0

TORONTO — Kendall Jagdeosingh lifted the Puerto Rico Islanders to a 1-0 win against MLS team Toronto FC on Wednesday night in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round.

San Francisco of Panama beat San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad 2-0 at home, and Liberia of Costa Rica also secured an opening win with a 3-0 home victory over Honduran club Real Espana.

The return legs will be played next week, with the winners qualifying for the group stage.

The CONCACAF Champions League is the top club competition for North and Central America and the Caribbean. The final is scheduled for April 2010, and the winner will compete against the club champions from other continents in the World Club Championship.

Jagdeosingh scored the only goal for Islanders, a tournament semifinalist last season, by beating Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the 68th minute.

In other action, a 6th minute penalty from Carlos Vilarete and another from Temi Perez in the 39th minute gave San Francisco a solid advantage to take into the second leg against San Juan Jabloteh.

The Panamanian club earned the win despite a shooting by an unidentified gunmen earlier this week that caused minor injuries to three players.

In the final match Wednesday night, Michael Umana scored from the penalty spot after 30 minutes, and substitute Alejandro Alpizar added goals in the 75th and 88th minutes to lift Liberia over Real Espana.