Perez Zeledon players and staff (pictured) celebrate after winning the Costa Rican Apertura title on December 23, 2017, in Heredia, Costa Rica.
HEREDIA, Costa Rica – Perez Zeledon earned its first-ever Costa Rican national title after drawing 0-0 with host Herediano in the second leg of the 2017 Apertura final, capturing the series 1-0 on aggregate.
By virtue of the triumph, the Guerreros del Sur will compete in either the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF League or the 2019 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
For Herediano, which was aiming for a second straight championship, it was anti-climactic end to a campaign that saw it complete the regular-season unbeaten (16W-6D-0L), only to go winless in six of eight postseason encounters.
After falling in the first leg, the Florenses went immediately on the attack at their Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero, but the visitor’s defense – lifted by the play goalkeeper Bryan Segura -- was able to manage those initial threats.
Perez Zeledon is the 13th different team to win a Costa Rican league title, breaking a streak of 15 consecutive crowns secured by either Alajuelense, Herediano or Saprissa. Brujas – the 2009 Invierno champion – was the last team, other than that trio, to lift the trophy.
NOTES: Perez Zeledon was founded in 1991 through the merging of Asociacion Deportiva Municipal Generaleña and Asociacion Deportiva Perez Zeledon … Keylor Herrera was the referee for the final, second leg … Perez Zeledon won the final, first leg on Jeikel Venegas’ 15th-minute goal.
