While the RailHawks are on the road this weekend at Puerto Rico, three players are returning to what was once home.

RailHawks defender John Krause and midfielder Chris Nurse are making their first return to Bayamon, Puerto Rico, since they departed the Islanders after the 2009 and 2010 seasons respectively, and midfielder Jonny Steele is going back to the site of one of his best seasons for the third time, but first with the RailHawks. Steele was the 2008 USL-1 MVP while starring for the Islanders, and he visited twice in 2010 while playing for Vancouver and Tampa Bay.

Krause and Steele were at the heart of the Islanders 2008 squad that won the USL-1 Commisioner’s Cup, and they put the Islanders on the CONCACAF map with their stirring run to the Champions League semifinals.

“I was there for three and a half, four years,” Krause said. “It’s got a big place in my heart, for sure.”

“I have nothing but good words to say about the coaches there, the fans there,” said Steele. “I fell short of getting a championship, but it was probably one of the best times in my career. Colin Clarke’s a good manager and Adrian Whitbread, his assistant, I think very highly of. They basically changed my career.”

Nurse was a stalwart for the Islanders in 2010, when they won the USSF D-2 championship after an unspectacular regular season.

“Going back is going to be a bit difficult,” Nurse said. “I enjoyed a lot of good times there. It was probably my best year as a footballer, so far. We beat LA Galaxy 4-0. We beat Toluca. And we won the championship. Winning a championship at any level is going to be one of your career highlights. It’s a shame we did it against Carolina, obviously.”

While the trio didn’t play together in Puerto Rico, they’ve equated themselves well since joining forces with the RailHawks this season.

Krause has been a rock in the defense, appearing in 17 matches, and he has helped the RailHawks establish themselves as the best defense in the NASL, with a 0.842 goals against average and six shutouts.

After overcoming a couple of nagging injuries at the start the season, Nurse has been magnificent in the midfield, posing as a defensive menace and a threatening attacker. While he sits mainly in the back of the RailHawks’ diamond midfield, he’s expertly timed his runs forward and has accounted for one goal and three assists.

Steele has been nothing short of sublime in his return to the RailHawks. He’s assisted on six goals, second most on the team. But more telling is the fact that he hasn’t seen a single yellow card this season (though he was harshly red carded in the season opener). In his first stint with the club in 2007, he saw nine yellows, which stands as a dubious record for the Northern Irishman.

While the first-place RailHawks have built a comfortable 12-point lead over the second-place Islanders with nine games to play, this weekend’s match in Puerto Rico looms large in their quest to win the regular-season championship. The team to come away with 3 points will put themselves in a great position to close out the season.  Puerto Rico can make up valuable ground on Carolina’s lead or the RailHawks can continue to add to the comfortable lead they have experienced so far this season.  The Islanders will have the benefit of playing 7 of their final 9 matches (including this week) at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel, where they are undefeated so far in 2011 (4-3-0).

“We know if we want to win a championship, Puerto Rico is a team we’ve got to beat,” Krause said. “I think this is huge. We’re going in knowing how big it is, and I think they’ll be thinking the same thing.”