Originally posted to Voyageurs Soccer Talk message board.
Toronto Sun: Lynx Travel to Rochester Equal
by Winnipeg Fury
Lynx travel to Rochester on equal terms
By MIKE
KOREEN -- Toronto Sun
When the Toronto Lynx had a chance to put
the nail in the Rochester Raging Rhinos'
coffin last night at Varsity
Stadium, Scott Vallow saved the visitors.
Seconds after Francisco
Dos Santos scored a highlight-reel goal during the 63rd minute
to put the
Lynx ahead 1-0 in Game 1 of their A-League Eastern Conference final
against
the Rhinos, Juan Arango's blast from the penalty area was stopped by
diving Rochester
goalkeeper Vallow.
That save gave momentum to
the Rhinos and during the 75th minute Dan Stebbins beat
Toronto netminder
Theo Zagar to tie it 1-1.
The second end of the two-game,
total-goals series will be played tomorrow at 6:05
p.m. at Frontier Field in
Rochester, where the Rhinos went 14-1 during the season and
attracted the
largest crowds in the league.
"We had a chance to go ahead 2-0 and
their goalie made a big save," Lynx coach Peter
Pinizzotto said. "I don't
think we deserve to go to Rochester tied 1-1, but I'm still
confident we can
win this series."
The Lynx, (13-11-4 during the season), will be
underdogs against Rochester (17-9-2),
although they did defeat the Rhinos 2-1
in the season opener in Rochester.
"We're going to Rochester and
the pressure is all on them because they are at home,"
Lynx captain Marco
Reda said. "We were the only team to beat them there and we're
going to go
and do it again."
Still, the Lynx know they let a win slip away in
front of 2,811 fans last night.
Toronto went up 1-0 when a corner
kick by Lloyd Barker was headed to Dos Santos.
The Rhinos tied it
when Onandi Lowe fed a pass to a charging Stebbins.
The Lynx
caught a break late in the first half when Lowe, the Rhinos' leading
playoff
scorer, received a yellow card for arguing an out-of-bounds call by
referee Gerry Proctor.
It was Lowe's third yellow of the playoffs, meaning he
will be suspended for Game 2.
The Lynx will be missing midfielders
Nikola and Nebojsa Vignjevic (attending Nikola's
wedding in Serbia) tomorrow,
while defender Milan Kojic (hamstring) is questionable.
The winner
of this series will meet the winner of the Western Conference final
between
the Minnesota Thunder and the Milwaukee Rampage in a sudden-death
championship
game next Saturday. The Thunder won Game 1 in Milwaukee last
night 4-3 and will play
host to Game 2 tonight.
If the Lynx
reach the championship game, it will be the first time since 1984 a
Toronto
team has played for a North American professional soccer title. The
Toronto Blizzard lost
the 1984 North American Soccer League final to the
Chicago Sting.
Posted on Sep 23 2000, 5:46 AM
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