TFC2 2017 Discussion

[L.MODRIC]

Jason Bent is a great coach but even better person 

I'm almost certain that he doesn't have full control if any of the players who will start/be in the 18 on game day or who comes on into the game/games as a sub

he deserves better than what he's getting now 

[Bison44]

Well that is how it goes when you are starting your career eh?  Especially with a farm club like TFC2.  Hopefully he is making the most of this opportunity, learning the ropes.  Its great to see him and De Guzman taking the first steps into coaching.  Hopefully if CPL ever gets going they will give a bunch of CDN guys coaching/front office jobs as well.  

[Rocket Robin]

3 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Well that is how it goes when you are starting your career eh?  Especially with a farm club like TFC2.  Hopefully he is making the most of this opportunity, learning the ropes.  Its great to see him and De Guzman taking the first steps into coaching.  Hopefully if CPL ever gets going they will give a bunch of CDN guys coaching/front office jobs as well.  

Jason Bent has been doing this for quite a few years.  Here's a report from a CPSL Toronto FC Academy game (first league game) from 2008.  http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports08/08csl008.htm

note one of the defenders on the team was Ashtone Morgan and the manager was Nick Dasovic. 

[L.MODRIC]

32 minutes ago, Rocket Robin said:

Jason Bent has been doing this for quite a few years.  Here's a report from a CPSL Toronto FC Academy game (first league game) from 2008.  http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports08/08csl008.htm

note one of the defenders on the team was Ashtone Morgan and the manager was Nick Dasovic. 

Yes even then I'm pretty sure it wasn't all up to him(Jason Bennt)who would play,come on as a sub....And if he had full control then he didn't have a good core/selection of players

To me TFC legend Danny Dichio had much better teams/selections of players during his TFC coaching stint in the CSL....Even he though only made CSL playoffs.

The CSL was great in 2011 & 2012 seasons when Montreal Impact Academy,Toronto Fc Academy,Capital City(Clint Irwin former team-before going to the MLS 

Those were the good old days

I would really want to see Jason Bent coach and be in full control of a team,he defiantly deserves his chance 

[to70]

Good to see TFC II get a victory over the 1st place team without any of the "big" names. Had 8 Canadians in the starting line-up and Hundal got the only goal of the game

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Wednesday September 27, 2017 USL game between
Toronto FC II and Louisville City FC played at the Ontario Soccer Centre
in Vaughan at 7:30pm. 

73 min...TFC Shaan Hundal GOAL...TFC Jordan McCrary receives a pass
at the center line on the right and runs downfield and sends low pass
forward from 35 yard line.  Hundal outruns LC Paco Craig to get to ball
at 15 yard line inside box on right side and carries forward to 7 yard
line and rolls 12 yard shot into left corner of net past sliding
goalie Gregory Ranjitsingh who came out to challenge. 

89 min...Louisville RED card...Paco Craig earns his second Yellow card
within four minutes from referee Yusri Rudolf for following through
on a tackle of TFC Matthew Srbely bumping him over after Srbely had
given a short pass at LC 50 yard line upfield to TFC Shaan Hundal. 

Final Score:...Toronto FC II.....1.....Louisville City.....0.....

Attendance was announced as 726 on this cool night with the heatwave
which drew the hottest temperatures of the year in the GTA finally
dispersing and the weather getting back to being like a Fall night
should be at the end of September.  Some folks weren't dressed
warm enough. 

Referee Yusri Rudolf gave out only three cards this game (two to
Louisville) which didn't get rough.  He didn't fall for Penalty kick
calls by either team.  He gave two Yellow card to LC Paco Craig
within four minutes.  The first one was for his challenge
on TFC Matthew Srbely smashing him over at the LC 35 yard sideline
and resulting in a lengthy delay for an injury.  His second Yellow
was much tamer but was also against Srbely.  TFC goalie
Angelo Cavalluzzo was injured at 79 minutes when he dived forward
to break up a pass that found LC Mark-Anthony Kaye in at 8 yards. 
These two delays which both required the trainer were the major
reason six minutes of added time was announced.  Another injury,
this time to TFC Aidan Daniels at 93 minutes extended time
to 98 minutes. 

Louisville's frantic injury time action had LC Mark-Anthony Kaye
have a 10 yard shot on the right blocked by a defender,
an LC player's cross land on top of the net, and LC Paulo Delpiccolo
take a cornerkick from the right that had LC Luke Spencer in a crowd
of players at 10 yards head a ball over the bar. 

TFC Angelo Cavalluzzo earned the shutout.  He had less to do then
most games but the save on Brian Ownby's blast at 68 minutes
where he flew to the right and palmed the ball just over the
bar probably saved the game for TFC when the score was still 0-0. 

TFC Julian Dunn-Johnson looked really good in the first half with
some spectacular defending.  This included two headers
at 26 minutes at 15 yards to clear a cross from the right then
at 8 yards to clear a chipped shot. In the second half I didn't
notice him as much as LC may have been avoiding him. 
Another defender, Lars Eckenrode made some key stops in the
first half as well. 

I thought midfielder Matthew Srbely (first pro-player announced
in League 1 Ontario as he had a contract that allowed him
to play for TFC III (ie L1O) and TFC II) played his best game
of the time I've seen him with TFC II.  He had some good runs
and passes.  The best was at 12 minutes when he stole the ball
off a defender and raced in on the right from the 45 yard line
and cut to the middle but another defender caught him and
the goalie fell on the ball at 12 yards without him getting
a shot away.  

Midfielder Aidan Daniels was suddenly taking all the freekicks
and cornerkicks tonight.  With no Sebastian Endoh nor
Brian James in the lineup, Daniels fit in quite well with
some threating drives. 

The TFC forward line was Shaan Hundal (age 18) and
Malik Johnson (age 19) which the team has never paired
up at the start of a game before. 

Tonight's game page with the recent TFC III signings included,
the TFC II lineup has bloated to 35 (that includes nine
TFC dropdowns).  That can be contrasted with the Louisville
roster of only 20 (which is a bit low from other USL team game
rosters I've seen).  So many players make it difficult to keep
a consistent roster week by week. 

TFC didn't use any players with MLS experience.  They had
no one with a number less than '35' although #20 Sergio Camargo
was an unused sub but except for playing during the Canadian
Championships he has not played an MLS game.  One of the
soccer dad's after the game agreed with me that TFC II played
better without the dropdown players from the MSL team. 
"Yes", he said, "some of these kids have been playing
together for five years!".

I was at Saturday night's League 1 Ontario game and defender
Rocco Romeo was a halftime sub in that game but at the
USL level was an unused sub tonight.  Another recently
signed to a USL contract player, Dante Campbell, was back
down to L1O and played the entire 90 minutes but was not
on the bench tonight.   Daniel DaSilva who came in as a sub at 60 minutes played the first 60 minutes in the L1O game too. 

The players didn't have much time to come to the fence and
talk to fans as they had to disappear for a meet-and-greet
inside to thank fans who'd donated used soccer equipment
for a drive the team was holding.  

I was looking forward to seeing Louisville for two players. 
Goalie Gregory Ranjitsingh I used to watch in L1O in 2014
play for Sigma FC.  Web bios skip this and only include
his time at Mercer University in Georgia.   He's not been
capped by T & T because of his father's heritage but
I still consider him a Toronto guy (OK Pickering like
singer Shawn Mendes). 

Second is Mark Anthony Kaye who didn't get the start
tonight but he came on at 59 minutes.  I was surprised
he came in as a forward and was double teamed most
of the time.  I used to watch him play on TFC Academy
in 2014 and TFC II in 2015.  He used to wear #44 and
was used as a defender.  I made sure to say hello to him
by the fence before the game and gush about how I watched
him play at BMO Field earlier this month with the
Canadian Nats against Jamaica (used as a midfielder
in that game). 

Louisville has only been operating since 2014.  From what
I'd heard Orlando City had a championship USL team and
they were rewarded an MLS team.  They moved their USL
team out of state to Louisville.  Orlando later decided
they did want a USL team in their city and in 2016
started Orlando City B.  Louisville kept the purple
colour uniform scheme from their Orlando days.  Just last
week Louisville councillors and investors agreed
to a promised new stadium and will move out of
Slugger Field, a minor league baseball stadium.   

This was the third last game for TFC II at the Ontario
Soccer Centre.  Next year they will play at BMO Field
(I'll assume after the MLS team games) and Lamport Stadium
(I'll assume stand alone games).  I'm warming up a little
to that idea as today's drive to get here during the
rush hour took over an hour.  Weekend games and driving
home at 9:30pm are a breeze and certainly beat
downtown transit. 

Louisville City is the first place team and would have
clinched the Eastern Conference with a win tonight said
Mark-Anthony Kaye before the game. 

TFC has had good results against first place teams before
getting results aganst Charleston and Charlotte in two
games in a row in a tough part of their schedule yet
other times lose to the fourteenth place Richmond which
keep them in fifteenth. 

The result improves TFC II's record to 6 wins, 17 losses,
7 ties for 25 points.  They remain in fifteenth place
(last) in the Eastern Conference. 

The loss drops Louisville City's record to 16 wins,
6 losses, 7 ties for 55 points.  They stay in first
place but don't clinch the East. 

The difference in their records is contrasted in that
this was TFC's sixth win and Louisville's sixth loss
and TFC has a minus 24 goal difference and Louisville
has a plus 24 goal difference. 

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
 

[Rocket Robin]

Results and details of the Friday October 6, 2017 USL game between
Toronto FC II and Bethlehem Steel FC played at Ontario Soccer Centre
in Vaughan at 7:30pm.

18 min...BSFC Santi Moar GOAL...BSFC defender on left side sends long
low pass forward from 75 yards that TFC Julian Dunn-Johnson slides
to but misses at 45 yard line and Moar receives at 35 yards and runs
down left with zig zags to cut towards middle. When near end line
he takes 12 yard shot around TFC Mitch Taintor and ball hits foot
of retreating TFC Lars Eckenrode and pops into top center of net
with goalie Mark Pais kneeling on the left post.

21 min...BSFC Santi Moar GOAL...BSFC player passes forward in middle
from 65 yards to BSFC Seku Conneh on center line who taps ball
to BSFC Adam Najem who runs forward to TFC 28 yard line and rolls
pass forward to Moar. Moar is a step ahead of retreating
TFC Julian Dunn-Johnson and takes 15 yard tough angle shot from
left into top right corner of net with goalie guarding left post.

52 min...BSFC Derrick Jones GOAL...Derrick Jones cross from 45 yards
is over to right where BSFC player at TFC 35 yard line runs forward
on right. He centers pass forward to BSFC Adam Najem just inside
right side of box. Najem turns and rolls centering pass
to Derrick Jones who was diagonally charging over from left with
TFC Julian Dunn-Johnson behind him and from 8 yards even with right
post fires shot forward low into center of net just over sliding
goalie at 5 yards.

60 min...TFC Shaan Hundal GOAL...TFC Anthony Osorio long run
on left and low cross from 22 yards is blocked by BSFC Aaron Jones.
Osorio gets possession back and crosses into box from left edge
and Hundal chests ball at 8 yards in line with left post and takes
midair shot that hits BSFC Charles Reymann in the back. Hundal
then rolls 7 yarder into right corner of net with goalie Jake McGuire
guarding left post.

80 min...BSFC Seku Conneh GOAL...BSFC Aaron Jones takes cornerkick
from right that's popped away by TFC player in crowd of players
in box. BSFC Joshua Yaro at 22 yards on right pops header forward
and BSFC Aaron Jones at 18 yards with back to goal flicks header
forward and centered for charging Conneh to shoot 12 yarder low
to left side of net freezing goalie in middle.

87 min...TFC Shaan Hundal GOAL...TFC Luca Uccello rolls pass forward
on left from 50 yard line and TFC Ryan Telfer runs down left sideline
with retreating BSFC Joshua Yaro in his way. Telfer at left end line
rolls centering pass and Hundal at 8 yards with BSFC Auston Trusty
having fallen shoots forward that sprawling goalie gets arm to but
ball deflects into left side of net.

Final Score:...Toronto FC II...2...Bethlehem Steel FC...4...

Attendance was not announced but the USL website lists it as 647.
The threat of rain possibly killed a lot of the walk up crowd.
It started to rain right after the national anthems but stopped before
the 10 minute mark and didn't rain again until overnight.

Man of the Match (who is always at TFC II player) was announced
as Shaan Hundal and with his two goals was an obvious choice. He was
paired up with Daniel DaSilva who was playing only his second USL game
and his first start and the pair were dangerous together.

Referee David Barrie gave out no cards in this game and players weren't
begging for Penalty kicks so just a few routine fouls.

Noble Okello made his first appearance in USL subbing on at 70 minutes
replacing Brian James (who now has dyed his hair blonde). Okello is the
last of the three pro-contract signees (September 15) to make
an appearance as Julian Dunn-Johnson is a starter on defence and
Rocco Romeo gets some time.

Dunn-Johnson I have praised in my reports before and tonight after
the game as well in front of his family. Now high MLS draft choice
Brandon Aubrey is not even on the bench. However watching the goals
replayed and his part in them, I better hold back my applause at least
for this week.

Mark Pais was TFC's goalie and didn't look that great. Maybe it's because
Angelo Cavalluzzo who must be considered #1 has makes such spectacular
saves that are often hyped as 'Save of the Week' are commonplace,
it had me wondering, 'Could Cavalluzzo have stopped that?'.

BSFC almost turned this into a rout at 57 minutes when Santi Moar had
what would have been his third goal called back for offside then Hundal
scored three minutes later and the result was in doubt. Injury time
had TFC with a few chances to close. 90 minutes had TFC Anthony Osorio
(very common play this game) cross from 35 yards on the left that had
TFC Luca Uccello leap and head a 10 yarder over the net. 91 minutes had
Hundal intercept the goalie's clearance at 35 yards, give a short pass
to TFC Matthew Srbely who shot a 22 yarder from the right wide left
of the net.

During warm-ups I saw TFC's Sergio Camargo and BSFC Chris Nanco talking
at the center line. They were both students of Syracuse University.
Both players seemed to be trying too hard this game. Nanco had a large
cheering section as he is from Brampton. I checked with him after the
game that I watched him with League 1 Ontario Sigma FC then he was
drafted by MLS Philadelphia Union and they placed him in Bethlehem for
playing time. He had 15 yard shot at 42 minutes sent wide and a 25 yarder
a minute later that was also wide. 53 minutes had him shoot not just over
the net but over the back fence. Camargo who has got in to games since
recovering from a long injury had a few off target shots as well but was
trusted with some of the cornerkicks.

The MLS team didn't play in the Internatioal break this weekend but there
were no TFC players dropped down and slumming it. Neither were there
any player here who played for TFC III last night in L1O action that got
hammered 5-0 in their game against Sigma FC. Six Canadian starters tonight
and six of seven players on the bench were Canadian makes me happy!

In TFC II's previous game, a 1-0 upset over first place Louisville FC,
midfielder Liam Fraser made the USL 'Team of the Week' but because
he picked up another Yellow card, he missed tonight's game.

About that attendance, I certainly knew they didn't announce it at the game
and estimated it was slightly smaller than their last home game against
Louisville when the hottest weekend of the season (even though it was
already Fall hit the GTA) and tonight the rain warning would dampen crowds,
I wasn't sure I'd find it on the USL site so asked a TFC official. He said
he was told not to announce it over the PA but gave me what he remembered
(actually under by about 20). Ashamed of the attendance? Fine but I said
wait until next year where they will play at BMO Field and Lamport Stadium
and they can build off the MLS crowd and the attendance will look like
it has improved exponentially.

This was the only game in the USL tonight.

The result drops the TFC II record to 6 wins, 18 losses, 7 ties
for 25 points. They are in fifteenth (last) in the Eastern Conference.
They are now four points behind Richmond Kickers with one game to go
so that's where they will finish. Only team worse than them
is Portland Timbers 2 who are last in the West. Their +/- in goals
scored/allowed is

Bethlehem's record improves to 12 wins, 11 losses, 7 ties for 43 points
with two games left. They jump from tenth to a tie for sixth place
in the East in one night! Eight teams in each Conference make
the playoffs.

Bethlehem owes some of their standings success to playing TFC as they
have now won all three games this season. They played at BMO Field
on May 13 and won 1-0 and in Bethlehem on August 13 and won 3-1.
Their Jamaican international Cory Burke scored in both those games.
He did not play tonight because of suspension but he was sitting
in the section beside me. The team moves on to Rochester to play the
Rhinos on Tuesday.

MLS directly owned teams are not doing well at all in the USL.
Seattle Sounders 2, LA Galaxy 2, Vancouver Whitecaps 2,
and Portland Timbers 2 hold the bottom spots in the West in that
order. In the East, Orlando City B is eighth and New York Red Bulls 2
are ninth (after being first last year and winning the playoffs).
There's talk of moving the MLS B teams down to a new USL third
division and letting the indie-owned teams stay in the USL top
division. I don't know of the MLS associate teams like Bethlehem
who have a looser agreement with Philadelphia Union.

TFC II's final game of the season is next Saturday against
FC Cincinnati at 7:30pm at the Ontario Soccer Centre. Cincinnati
are the other team tied for sixth place right now so they will be
looking desperately for the win. One thing is they be surprised
by the size of the crowd as TFC II is only drawing 3% of the crowd
size of Cincinnati home games.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
 

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Saturday October 14, 2017 USL game between
Toronto FC II and FC Cincinnati played at The Ontario Soccer Centre
in Vaughan at 7:30pm.

9 min...TFC Tsubasa Endoh GOAL...TFC Luca Uccello runs on left to top
left edge of FCC box and he crosses ball to center where charging
TFC Ben Spencer heads 8 yarder up middle low towards right post with
sprawling goalie Mitch Hildebrandt getting shins to it and deflecting
it away. Endoh charges forward and shoots 10 yard roller while in line
with right post into left corner of net.

30 min...TFC Tsubasa Endoh GOAL...TFC Luca Uccello on right taps ball
to sideline for TFC Dante Campbell who takes high cross from 30 yards
on right. TFC Ben Spencer on left side of box heads ball from 8 yard
line across box to Endoh who blasts low 10 yard shot that hits sliding
defender at 6 yards and deflects over him and sliding goalie and into
right side of net.

40 min...FCC Danni Konnig GOAL...FCC Kenney Walker takes freekick chip
from left edge of box near endline and leaping Konnig at 6 yards heads
ball forward in crowd of players and over flying goalie Mark Pais's
outstretched arms just under bar.

49 min...FCC Kenney Walker GOAL...Walker pass attempt from 30 yards
in middle hits TFC player. FCC Tyler Polak recovers ball at 25 yards
and taps to Walker who one-touches low shot forward around
TFC Luca Uccello and into right side of net just between post
and diving goalie.

53 min...TFC Shaan Hundal GOAL...TFC Mitch Taintor taps ball
from 65 yards back to TFC Brandon Onkony who chips pass from 70 yards
forward that finds Hundal behind two defenders on one bounce
at 25 yards and he chips 22 yarder from just outside box on right
over goalie who was just inside box and ball one-bounces
into empty net.

66 min...FCC Djiby Fall GOAL...FCC goalie picks up ball after
TFC Ben Spencer faceplants in box and rolls ball forward. An FCC
player at FCC 20 yards sends low pass forward for charging
FCC Jimmy McLaughlin near center line. He charges forward
to edge of TFC box and runs to left endline with TFC Rocco Romeo
keeping him outside of clear shot. McLaughlin slides to send
cross near end line into middle of 6 yard box and charging
FCC Djiby Fall steps in front of TFC Mitchell Taintor to tip
in 5 yarder up middle into center of net with goalie frozen
in middle.

85 min...FCC Justin Hoyte GOAL...Hoyte at 30 yard line on right
sideline sends centering pass to FCC Kenney Walker closer
to middle. He steps forward and chips ball into box where
charging Hoyte gets behind TFC Mitchell Taintor who heads ball
backwards as he doesn't jump high enough at 12 yards. The ball
lands at 8 yards and Hoyte on bounce shoots 4 yarder while
in line with right post into left corner of net.

Final Score:...Toronto FC II...3...FC Cincinnati...4...

Attendance was announced as 1,119. It had started to rain
hard before game time and continued all night. I'll admit
there were more fans than last the last game which was
a surprise for such a miserable night but nowhere near those
numbers actually turned up. There were more than thirty
traveling fans—more than just parents and family of team
members. They were chanting the whole game up against the
pre-teen Little Ultras who had been absent the last two
home games. There was even a fog that drifted in for the
start of the game.

I was in a tough spot as when I say 'notebook' that doesn't
mean a computer but pen and paper. I couldn't get my umbrella
to wedge between the fencing of the stands for protection
so well before game time I asked to squeeze into what
I call the treehouse/pressbox. Permission eventually granted
but it was somewhat an obstructed view. My goal descriptions
are embellished by rewatching them on YouTube. Interesting
hearing the PA staff also skeptical about the number
of fans and earlier reading through the stadium rules
about forbidden behaviour and objects in the stands
"...large bags and umbrellas..." and them mumble away
from the microphone "except for tonight". Everyone had
a raincoat or umbrella.

There were some questions before the game which was the
last weekend of the regular season of whether TFC II would
use their young players or drop some TFC players down that
wouldn't play in the MLS game tomorrow against Montreal.
It might be important to keep them tuned up for the MLS
playoffs. Would they give their MLS regulars a rest that
were away at World Cup qualifying which meant Michael Bradley
and Jozy Altidore for the USA and Armando Cooper for Panama.
Nicolas Hasler was NOT away playing with Liechtenstein.

In a mid-week game, because Tampa Bay beat Orlando City B,
Cincinnati clinched a playoff spot without playing. Although
tonight they could move up a spot or two I wasn't sure
if they would rest players.

Man of the Match (who is always a TFC II player) was
Tsubasa Endoh who with the first two goals of the game
was the obvious choice. Ashtone Morgan and Ben Spencer were
the other MLS roster players starting tonight's game.
Defender Morgan was injured earlier this year but has had
a hard time finding playing time at the MLS or USL level.
His playing tonight solved the push-pull between TFC Academy
grad young Julian Dunn-Johnson and MLS high draft choice
Brandon Aubrey for the starting spot. Neither player was
even on the bench. Dunn-Johnson's positional doppelganger
Nobel Okello was an unused sub.

Neither of the goalies were spectacular in this game but
weather conditions played a big factor I think.
Mitch Hildebrandt had saved three of four spot kicks after
extra time in a Round of 16 US Open Cup game against
MLS Chicago Fire. Cincinnati were eventually knocked out
in the semi-finals. He didn't look good at all being caught
out on Hundal's goal. I was only surprised that Mark Pais
started instead of Angelo Cavalluzzo because Pais allowed
four goals last week against Bethlehem.

Referee Fab Stasolla gave out four Yellow cards (three
to TFC but two of them were after the 90 minute mark)
in a game that's only danger was slide tackles. Roughest
part of the game was when FCC Harrison Delbridge and the
TFC goalie got into a pushing match after Delbridge bent
over to grab the ball after their goal at 40 minutes
to hurry up and get the game restarted.

FCC almost didn't need the end of game heroics as one minute
after that goal at 40 minutes FCC Djiby Fall jumped for
a cross sent in from the left and his low shot from 18 yards
hit the right post and FCC Danny Konig standing all alone
at 8 yards was called offside. 47 minutes had FCC Corben Bone
at 30 yards in the middle roll the ball forward and right
for Konig who received it at 20 yards, turned, and fired
between defenders at 18 yards and hit the bar. The ball
deflected back and downward and hit the back of the flying
goalie and deflected back and hit the bottom of the right
post from 4 yards and then TFC Mitch Taintor cleared over
his own end line. The next minute had Konig tapped a pass
and blasted a low 15 yarder between players from the left
side of the box and the goalie blocked but couldn't hold
on and a defender cleared.

I was surprised that TFC only made one sub in the game
so no players were rewarded for participating. I'd expect
it was because the game was undecided until almost the end.

FCC dominated possession especially in the second half with
TFC counterattacks their only chances. League stats post
FCC leading 8 to 1 in cornerkicks.

The TFC lineup again made me happy with six Canadian starters
and six of seven players on the bench being Canadians.

This was 'fan appreciation day' although I don't recall seeing
the ice cream truck here tonight nor any burger tent set up.
A popcorn wagon was brought to the game to give the fans free
popcorn but I don't know how many takers would want popcorn
coated with rainwater with their butter. Halftime had the finals
of the KIA car. One finalist of the six chosen throughout the
season was allowed to draw out a key which might start the car
electronically from the 50 yards away. The third contestant
succeeded which ended the building suspense.

There was not much of a 'meet and greet' promised by the team
before the game. The rain had fans just as anxious to leave
as soon as they could. Players came over to the fence to chat
with fans and the end gate was opened so fans could come out
onto the field but there were few takers. Many of the players
used that gate as an exit back to the locker room.

Cincinnati's huge USL crowds of 20K have sent them up the list
of potential MLS expansion teams. Thinking ahead I thought
some potential expansion draft that TFC who lost oft injured
defender Mark Bloom of home state Georgia to Atlanta United,
would lose oft injured defender Nick Hagglund to his hometown
Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is one of the independent USL teams—not in any kind
of arrangement with an MLS team. They have some former
MLS players on their roster including TFC forward Andrew Wiedeman
which the PA guy mispronounced which proves he's newer than 2014.

Cincinnati ends the season at 12 wins, 10 losses, 10 ties
for 46 points. Their plus/minus is -2. They climb to sixth place
in the East (not knowing all the weekend results yet). Eight teams
in each conference make the playoffs but finishing fifth to eighth
is a handicapped since each round is only one game and hosted
by the higher ranked team so Cincinnati is almost guaranteed
to play all their games on the road. 

The result ends the season for Toronto FC II. Their record falls
to 6 wins, 19 losses, and 7 ties for 25 points. They have a goals
plus/minus of -27. 27 goals for, 54 against. They finish
fifteenth (last) in the Eastern Conference. Last year
(in a 30 game season) their record was 7 wins, 18 losses,
5 ties for 26 points. They were eleventh out of fourteen
teams last season.

The League 1 Ontario championship final was originally to be
held here tonight when it was scheduled back in the spring
but was bumped by TFC II having preference with the
Ontario Soccer Centre according to L1O chair Dino Rossi.
After some uncertainty they have rescheduled to play here
on Friday the 20th . The rain was fitting destiny for L1O
assuming the weather will be better. Ironic that this was
the last game TFC II will play at this location as next
season they will groundshare at BMO Field and
Lamport Stadium in downtown Toronto.

I think TFC II are glad to leave the OSC facility despite
the polite thank you tweets. Fans won't miss the aluminum
bench seating (particularly in cold weather or rainy weather
like tonight) and the port a potties. The ownership will
be glad to control concession revenue rather than lose
it to indie-owned mobile food trucks. The new locations
will allow liquor sales so will attract a more hard core
support replacing the family entertainment atmosphere
of games the last few years.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
 

[Gian-Luca]

Final goal scoring stats for TFC II:

Shaan Hundal led the team with 7 goals in 22 appearances, although Jordan Hamilton had the best strike rate with 5 goals in just 9 appearances. Jordan finished 2nd and of course also got two for the senior team in extremely limited minutes.

Endoh & Uccello tied for third with Endoh getting 2 in the final game to match Uccello's season total of 3.

As for Ben Spencer, he was tied for 6th along with Ashton Morgan (7 games), Jay Chapman (who only played 3 times for TFC II) and Sergio Carmargo for 1 goal on the season. Because he had more appearances than either Morgan or Chapman, he actually finished 8th on the team in scoring. Good thing he got that promotion to the first team this year.