League 1 Ontario 2017--Week 18

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Saturday August 26, 2017 League 1 Ontario game
between Masters FA Saints and Vaughan Azzurri played at L'Amoreaux Park
in Scarborough at 1:00pm.

15 min...VA Joseph Di Chiara GOAL...Di Chiara recovers ball on turnover
and from 15 yards shoots into top right side of net.

31 min...VA Ryan Raposo GOAL...VA Jarek Whiteman on rush on right rolls
pass from 25 yards and first VA player in middle dummies shot and Raposo
comes forward on left to shoot low 15 yarder to far right corner of net
past diving goalie Daniel Gosciniak.

43 min...VA Dante Pavan GOAL...VA Joseph Di Chiara has run on right and
cuts between two defenders and sends short centering pass through box
and Pavan shoots 12 yard roller up middle into net.

66 min...VA Jarek Whiteman GOAL...VA Jordan Haynes sends pass to Whiteman
at 40 yards for a run forward and up right and from 20 yards blasts low
shot to short left side just inside post over diving goalie.

75 min...VA Jorgo Nika GOAL...VA Jarek Whiteman cross from 25 yards
on right has Nika head 10 yarder from right into center of net.

89 min...VA Tre Crosby GOAL...VA Christopher Mannella cross from 60 yards
on right finds VA Jordan Haynes at 50 yards on left. Haynes passes forward
on left and VA Crosby in open runs to end line and low shot from 12 yards
near left end line finds inside of right corner of net.

Final Score:...Master's FA Saints.......0.......Vaughan Azzurri......6....

Attendance was about 35 on this warm day with a bright sun in the south.

Referee Flip Dujic gave out only one Yellow card that I noticed—to Master's
Jose De Sousa for complaining about not being awarded a Penalty kick
at 18 minutes.

Both teams had enough chances to win if their shooting was more accurate
but more accuracy would have put Vaughan in double digits. Master's goalie
Daniel Gosciniak had some spectacular saves to keep the score down.

Jarek Whiteman had a goal and two assists but missed a few chances on shots
and headers. He increases his lead in the scoring race to 23 goals—9 more
than Elvir Gigolaj of FC London. Master's Jose De Sousa is tied for third
place with 12 goals but he was held of the board today.

Colm Vance earned the shutout for Vaughan with a few key saves. Vaughan had
a midweek game on Tuesday with a shutout away win against FC London using
former Canadian international David Monsalve. He wasn't even here today.
Last Friday I was in Pickering to see one of Vaughan's teenage
goalies—Michael Argyrides earn a 4-2 win against Durham in his L1O debut.
Their other 1999 goalie Shyon Gaaeni was on the bench today.

Chris Mannella (ex-TFC) was playing midfield today after returning from
tryouts in Spain. He answered me that he was waiting for a possible
callback. None of the three Mills brothers were here today.

Vaughan must have a huge data base of players. York University is playing
this weekend and are in Windsor playing the Lancers tonight after losing
away to University of Western last night in London. Vaughan head coach
Carmine Isacco is away with York coaching them this weekend.
Patrice Gheissar was calling instructions from the Vaughan bench today.

Joey Melo took most of the freekicks and cornerkicks for Master's and
Jose De Sousa had most of the scoring chances for them. Players got
frustrated late in the second half as every run upfield that would
be stopped wout result in a quick Vaughan counterattack putting a strain
on the Master's defence. It's almost like there was a turning point
as at 30 minutes Melo rushed up the middle from 40 yards and rolled
a pass to the left for the charging Cisco Thomas who ran from 15 yards
to the end line and rolled a centering pass that sliding MFA players
including Malek De Freitas just a step behind from connecting in the
six yard box. A minute later Vaughan was back upfield scoring their
second goal.

This is the fourth win in a row for Vaughan dating back to a midweek
loss (August 9) to Woodbridge Strikers a few days after

Woodbridge also beat them in the L1O Cup Final. They have split their
league game season series and won't play each other again this season.
I can expect they may be dueling for the lead right to the last weekend.

Master's record falls to 5 wins, 10 losses, 2 ties for 17 points
that's good for sixth place in the eight team Eastern Conference.

Vaughan's record improves to 12 wins, 5 losses, 1 tie for 37 points.
This result moves them into first place in the East for now—in that
Woodbridge Strikers play tomorrow and could leapfrog over Vaughan
before the weekend is over. Vaughan has a +32 goals for/against which
is tied for best in the league with Oakville Blue Devils who happen
to be in first place in the West. So plus/minus in goals
do mean something!

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter RocketRobin01
 

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Saturday August 26, 2017 League 1 Ontario game
between Aurora FC and Durham United FA played at St Maximillion Kolbe HS
in Aurora at 4:00pm.

30 min...DUFA Duwayne Ewart GOAL...DUFA Jonathon Parolini sends ball
from 60 yards to Ewart on a pinpoint pass to right and he cuts forward
and to middle surviving defender's slide from behind at 22 yards and
rounds goalie Alexander Jakma at 15 yards in middle and takes sharp
angle shot from 15 yards on left into open net. Ewart then takes
a Yellow card after the play for swearing at an Aurora player.

51 min...AFC sub...Matthew Peres replaces Alexander Jakma in goal.
Jakma had been hurt early in the first half and told the bench he might
not be able to continue but kept answering head coach Derek O'Keefe
that he could last a bit longer.

65 min...DUFA Kashiff Dejonge GOAL...DUFA Joseph Moncrieffe takes
cornerkick from right and Dejonge flicks 8 yard header into right
side of net past goalie Matthew Peres.

Final Score:.....Aurora FC......0.....Durham United FA......2....

Attendance was about 50 on this late afternoon which had become hot
and humid as the afternoon wore on with the sun shining cross-field
from the West.

Referee Timothy Wong gave out only one Yellow card to each team
in a game full of end to end action although DUFA had more of the
better chances by a wide margin. There was one more change because
of injury when Yaniv Samson who was going to sub in for Basel Rashrash
but instead replaced Ruben Dos Santos at 77 minutes who'd just been
injured on a check. DUFA defender Vince Sasso was sent off
at 56 minutes to have treatment for a bloody nose and was rejected
twice from getting back into the game until the trainer did more
to clean up the mess.

Eugene Alves earned the shutout for DUFA with a few key saves.

The insurance goal certainly eased the pressure on DUFA. 82 minutes
had an AFC cornerkick from the right which AFC Aidane Elder headed
a 10 yarder on the left that goalie Alves swatted across the box.
One minute later AFC Petros Vasilos rushed on the left and passed
over to Elder whose 12 yard shot down the middle was off the
underside of the bar but stayed out. DUFA also had their chances
to add a third when AFC opened it up to go all out for a goal.

Aurora head coach Derek O'Keeffe and the goalies complained about
all the free headers that DUFA players were getting on cornerkicks
and freekicks. DUFA certainly looked they had choreographed moves
about who would run in or step back to shake a defender and get
a clear header inside the AFC box.

Both teams are just finishing off their schedule as only the
Conference winners play in the championship game.

Aurora FC's record falls to 2 wins, 13 losses, 1 tie for 7 points.
They are seventh in the Eastern Conference out of eight
(Toronto Skillz are behind them).

Durham United's record improves to 8 wins, 6 losses, 3 ties
for 27 points. They are in fourth place in the East but 10 points
behind Vaughan Azzurri who I just saw win an hour before this
game started.

I had a never tried to get on to the 404 at Finch from the East
and just scouted it on my drive past from the west to get to the
first game by looking over my shoulder and seeing a sign. However
passing that sign coming the other way I turned off too soon and
found myself driving through an industrial park losing valuable
time until I could get back to access the expressway a few km
further up the road. Thanks to L1O staff for having an extra set
of game sheets waiting for me.

There were two more games later tonight at the same time west
of Toronto but I'd reached my limit and would have no time
to write up what I've seen and get to possibly two games tomorrow.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Sunday August 27, 2017 League 1 Ontario game
between Toronto Skillz FC vs Ottawa South United Force played at L'Amoreaux
Park in Scarborough at 12:00pm.

26 min...Skillz Kamara Joseph GOAL...Skillz Leslie Fitzpatrick chips pass
from 40 yards on right that finds Joseph in open on slight left and
his 18 yard chip shot is over goalie Muicahit Elevi and drops into top
left corner of net.

67 min...OSUF Soheil Varahram GOAL...OSUF George-Anthony El-Asmar chips
pass from 35 yards and Varahram gets ball in clear at 12 yards and
he shoots low to right corner of net beyond goalie Tim Van Gelderen.

85 min...Skillz Kamara Joseph GOAL...Skillz Jeremy Nand hangs onto ball
on right and low cross into box is through first player who dummies and
Joseph at 12 yards on left rolls shot into right corner of net.

Final Score:...Toronto Skillz...2...Ottawa South United Force...1..

Attendance was about 35 on this warm afternoon with a bright sun in the
south east and a strong crossfield breeze from the east.

Referee John Vlahos gave out only one Yellow card (to OSUF) in a game
that was end to end action although a lot of it was played in the
Skillz end.

Skillz used 17 year old goalie Tim Van Gelderen. I saw regular goalie
Lucas Birnstingl get Red carded last week in their game with North
Toronto Nitros and Van Gelderen finished the last 40 minutes of the
game and kept them off the board for the rest of the game but this
was only his second appearance and his first start.

A Skillz official before the game said they've had a lot of players
go off to school including three placed at Nipissing University
(North Bay, Ontario), one, Achuthan Shanmugaratham is a goalie.
The Nipissing team is in Toronto this weekend playing University
of Toronto yesterday and Ryerson today.

This was only Skillz second win of the season. This time it was a fully
manned opposing squad instead of the ten man (no subs) Windsor team
of two weeks ago at Skillz other home Birchmount Stadium. I was
at L'Amoreaux yesterday afternoon to watch Master's FA host yesterday.
Skillz had played a close game against North Toronto Nitros last week
but were hampered in a comeback bid when their goalie was Red carded
early in the second half.

I had been wondering about OSUF in the last two weeks they've had games
cancelled including a road trip to the GTA and last week a home game.
I asked head coach Traian Mateas about it. He said they found that
players that had gone off to university had not been released by their
school teams and found they didn't have enough players. They have
filled their ranks today with members of their youth teams. They are
a first year L1O team but welcome to the post-July season
League 1 Ontario world!

I also asked how early they left this morning to get here from Ottawa
(hmm five + hours away?). Mateas answered that they got to Toronto
yesterday and stayed overnight. They rotated all five of their subs
into the game.

OSUF kept the pressure on Skillz during most of the second half but
Skillz found the winner at 85 minutes. Then OSUF really turned it up
for the remaining regular and three minutes injury time. That action
was so furious I couldn't write it all down. OSUF Rowen Martino-Hoilett
received a pass on the right and crossed from 28 yards and the ball
hit the top of the bar. Skillz defenders Nithan Ramanathan,
Thanujan Jeyathilaka, and Nicholas Goddard protected their goalie.
It looked near the end that there were at least six defenders but they
were back swarming the OSUF forwards breaking up passes
and blocking shots.

One of Skillz best second half chances was at 55 minutes when
captain Leslie Fitzpatrick sent in a cornerkick from the right and
the goalie bobbled it in on the right post but a goal was called off
because he'd been pushed into the net.

The win improves Skillz' record to 2 wins, 13 losses, 0 ties
for 6 points and they are still eighth (last) in the
Eastern Conference.

OSUF's record drops to 6 wins, 8 losses, 1 tie for 19 points
and they are in fifth in the East.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
 

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Sunday August 27, 2017 League 1 Ontario game
between Woodbridge Strikers and North Toronto Nitros played
at Vaughan Grove in Woodbridge at 7:00pm.

9 min...Nitros Jayden Vernon GOAL...NTN Niklas Bauer is given pass
at 40 yards on left as defender was intercepted and runs forward
to 20 yard line where he rolls a pass forward and centered to the
charging Vernon who rolls 12 yarder up middle to right corner of net
past diving goalie.

59 min...Woodbridge Emmanuel Issac GOAL...WS Christian Cavallini sends
high cross from just outside top right corner of box over box and
WS Michael Krzeminski chests it down at 12 yards on left and takes low
shot that's saved by sprawling goalie Stefan Dusciuc on left post but
he gives up rebound that Issac pounds in from 7 yards low into open net.

61 min...Nitros Alex Bauer GOAL...Bauer receives pass up right wing
at 40 yards and dribbles forward with retreating defender between him
and goal. Bauer cuts back on end line and defender slips and Bauer rolls
ball back on dribble attempt. Another WS player intercepts at 10 yard
line turns and has his rolled clearance intercepted at 15 yards
by NTN Kevin Da Silva. Da Silva taps pass forward and Bauer takes
low 10 yard shot from far right into left corner of net past sprawling
goalie on right post.

90 min...WS player's cross from left near sideline after receiving
short throw-in bounces into box and hits hand of NTN Alex Bauer just
inside box. Referee John-Morgan Pizzuti awards WS a Penalty kick.

91 min...WS Dylan Carreiro GOAL...Carreiro blasts Penalty kick down
middle just under bar as goalie sprawled away from it diving to right.

97 min...game ends.

Final Score:..Woodbridge Strikers...2...North Toronto Nitros...2..

Attendance was about 80 on this evening which started off mild
but the temperature was cooling rapidly. Some fans thought their
windbreakers were not enough and went back to their cars at halftime
for blankets.

Referee John-Morgan Pizzuti gave out three Yellow cards (two to
Nitros players) and awarded the Penalty kick. There were a few
sliding tackles (a grass field like this is more prone to this
kind of play) and trainers from both teams were needed—even
in injury time when WS Stephen Almeida was injured sliding to block
an NTN kick at 12 yards and deflecting it for a cornerkick. He had
to be subbed out (good thing WS hadn't used their fifth sub)
and that added three more minutes to the four minutes
originally given.

Michael Scavone played in this first league game of the year
in the Woodbridge goal. I asked head coach Peter Pinizzotto before
the game when I saw the gameday roster and Quillan Roberts listed
as the only player 'suspended'. He said Roberts had picked
up a Yellow card in their last game (Tuesday in a 4-1 win
against Master's and he was suspended for Yellow card accumulation).
The L1O website software doesn't list goalies' Yellow or Red cards.
Roberts was the last of the L1O goalies to play every minute
of every league game. That was 17 games for 1440 minutes total.
Woodbridge ranks second behind Oakville in only conceding 17 goals.
The defence did give Scavone a good deal of protection and even
on a few NTN breakaways had a defender catch the player when
he hesitated.

Niklaus Bauer had one of the NTN goals. I watched him score all
three two weeks ago when they came from behind and beat
Toronto FC III 3-2—the winner on a Penalty kick. Last week he had
one in their 3-1 win against Toronto Skillz (also on a Penalty kick).
Tonight he was called for a handball that set up Strikers for the
tying goal. He had a few chances for more games but was stripped
of the ball a few times—the word must be getting around.

Nitros made only two subs and were a bit short on the bench.
Last week they only worked three into their roster. More subs
from a larger choice could have helped the tiring players.
It appears their link with University of Toronto is not as close
as Vaughan Azzurri and York University. Vaughan has also brought
in some overage players who are showcasing for the new Can Prem
league starting as soon as next year.

Nitros really needed to win to stay in the race for the Eastern
Conference title as they are seven points behind two
teams—Woodbridge and Vaughan. Only the Conference winner plays
the Western champs for the title in October.

The result improves Woodbridge's record to 11 wins, 2 losses,
and 4 ties for 37 points. They move into a tie with
Vaughan Azzurri for first place in the eight team Eastern Conference
(although they had a two point lead before the weekend).
Vaughan is ranked higher by either having one more win and
a +32 goals for/against. Woodbridge still holds an advantage
in that they hold one game in hand.

Nitros' record improves to 9 wins, 4 losses, 2 ties for 30 points.
They are in third place in the East. Both they and Woodbridge
have a +17 in goals for/against.

A bloop in the schedule left me seeing all eight teams in the
East over one weekend in four hard fought games. I don't expect
that to continue as Toronto FC and TFC II will be back in town
filling up my weekends.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
 

[Kent]

I didn't realize they allow more than 3 subs in a match in L1O. Are they allowed to re-enter the game too?

Quillan Roberts was famously the first goalkeeper to score in a World Cup (u-17), and the first goalkeeper that I have heard of getting suspended for yellow card accumulation! That's messed up.

[Rocket Robin]

Five sub limit.  That used to be the limit in USL too (until this season) when they started and were considered a development league and from the bad old days of playing two games on a weekend road trip back in the A-League days. 

Once they're subbed out a player can't come back into the game. 

[Kent]

12 hours ago, Rocket Robin said:

Five sub limit.  That used to be the limit in USL too (until this season) when they started and were considered a development league and from the bad old days of playing two games on a weekend road trip back in the A-League days. 

Once they're subbed out a player can't come back into the game. 

Ok, as long as they aren't returning I think that's good for a development league. Thanks for the info Robin!