Ironmen Players a Boon to Palace

Ibrahim Kante - Image from Crystal Palace Website

First place Crystal Palace Baltimore of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Second Division has benefited from the strong play of two Ironmen players. Forward Gary Brooks is second in the league with five goals scored in only five games played. Brooks has also added an assist to his point total this year.

Brooks' last two goals came this past Saturday against the Western Mass Pioneers. Brooks leveled the match twice in the first half with a goal in the sixth minute and a successful penalty kick just before the halftime whistle.

Palace's other Ironmen player, defender Ibrahim Kante, played hero against the Pioneers with a goal off a free kick deep into second half stoppage time. The goal gave Palace a late 3-2 victory and extended their win streak to five straight. Kante has tallied two goals in five games for the USL-2 side this season.

Both players were named to the USL Second Division Week 6 Team of the Week for their performances against the Pioneers.

Kljestan Trains With Metro

Irons' defender Gordon Kljestan trained with Metro/Red Bull New York last week. Kljestan also started and played 76 minutes in the Red Bull reserve team's 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Wizards reserves on May 18th.

Kljestan was originally taken by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft. He is the only Ironmen player to see action in every match for New Jersey last season.

Irons in the USL

As promised, we will be checking in on our players' progress throughout the off season. A good number of Ironmen ply their trade in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) during the MISL break. The current USL season is less than two months old and it looks like all Ironmen players have been productive thus far. Here's a quick list of Ironmen players' USL First Division teams and stats (we'll check up on the USL Second Division in later posts):

• Dan Antoniuk (Carolina RailHawks) - 2 Goals

• Lazo Alavanja (Charleston Battery) - 1 Assist

• Frederico Moojen (Minnesota Thunder) - 1 Assist

• John Krause (Puerto Rico Islanders) - 1 Goal

• Mauricio Salles (Rochester Rhinos) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

Local FE 26: Upcoming Plans

Our apologies for the lapse in posts toward the end of the season. We here at the Local FE 26 have been hopelessly bogged down with a number of projects for the past month or so. It was a season of firsts for the team as well as us. Tasks like supporter organization and website maintenance proved to be a bit trickier than first thought. However, we are confident that we have worked out most of the major kinks. We should be up and running at full strength by the time the Irons take to the turf on opening day.

In the meantime, we will keep you posted on any Ironmen related news that comes our way. We will also check in on our players, many of whom play for sides in the USL during the off season. Plus, we will be working diligently on creating the new Local FE 26 supporters' website.

Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section below. What ideas do you have for the website? How can we make the Local FE 26 a stronger supporters group?