Monday September 24, 2001.
St Catherines
Standard: Win Gives Wolves Boost
by Winnipeg Fury
Win gives Wolves boost
Roma earns victory, tie; still
holding out hope for fourth-place finish
Bill Potrecz
The Standard
(Carlo) Arghittu Lucio Ianiero has been telling St. Catharines Club Roma
Wolves all season long they have the talent, experience and ability to be among
the elite of the Canadian Professional Soccer League.
But for much of
the season the Wolves have been inconsistent, struggling to put together the
kind of season they had hoped for when they bid to host this year's playoff
tournament.
Now, following an impressive 1-0 win over the powerful
Ottawa Wizards Sunday before about 250 fans at Roma Park, perhaps Ianiero's
message will finally sink in.
"I thought we were the better team," said
Ianiero, who left the game during the second half with a pulled hamstring.
"That's what I keep telling the boys -- we have the best team in the league and
that's proof right there.
"Ottawa is walking away with the league, and
we shut them down."
That's the good news for Roma. The bad news is that
the Wolves tied Montreal Dynamite 1-1 Saturday at Roma Park in a game that had
serious playoff implications.
With the win and tie on the weekend the
Wolves are now 10-6-5 on the season. They currently sit in the fourth and final
playoff spot with 35 points, five ahead of Montreal, but the Dynamite have three
games in hand on the Wolves. St. Catharines has only one regular season game
remaining, Friday Oct. 5 at Toronto Croatia.
Should the Wolves fail to
make the playoffs, they would still have one final shot as a wild card who would
challenge Montreal to a one-game playoff for the final spot in the playoff
tournament. That tournament is set to go at Roma Oct. 12-14.
Should the
Wolves qualify for the playoffs in that manner -- and it's beginning to appear
that's exactly what might happen -- it would mean playing games on three
consecutive days.
"That's physically taxing on the body," Ianiero said.
"We're all older now, and it takes effect, that's for sure."
Ianiero
said the club is still holding out faint hope they won't have to go that route,
but they'd need Montreal to go into slump.
"We're still trying to catch
Montreal," he said. "They still have to play Ottawa in Ottawa and play the
Olympians and we have to hope they drop points there."
Before the
season-ending tournament, the Wolves will participate in the Cup playoffs next
weekend in Ottawa. They'll square off against the Wizards in one of two
semifinal games Saturday with the finals set for Sunday at noon. Roma dropped a
2-1 decision to the Wizards earlier in the year at Ottawa.
"At their
home it's a little different, that's for sure," Ianiero said. "They saw what we
can do. They came to scout us Saturday and that speaks volumes. I think they
were a little worried about us."
After a scoreless first half, the
Wolves finally broke the deadlock when Carlo Arghittu beat Ottawa goalkeeper
Richard Goddard following a perfect pass from Sam Borgh.
Keith Moore and
Andrew Weiring, who both started the season with the Wizards, had strong games
for Roma against their former club.
Saturday, the Wolves received a goal
from Gary McGuchan while Bruno Nue replied for Montreal.
Roma had a
glorious chance to win with a penalty kick late in the game but Joe Carbonara's
shot went over the net.
THE SCOOP
Wolves 1 Wizards 0
Standard Star of the Game: Roma forward Keith Moore.
For the
Wolves: Carlo Arghittu. Shutout by Dino Perri.
For the Wizards: No
scoring.
Yellow cards: Moore and John Sozio for Roma, Volkan Agar for
Ottawa.
Saturday: Roma tied Montreal 1-1. Gary McGuchan scored for the
Wolves.
Up next: Roma take on Ottawa Saturday in a semifinal Cup game in
Ottawa at 3 p.m. Toronto Supra meet Toronto Olympians in the other semfinal at 5
p.m. The final goes Sunday.
.
.