The stadium
scoreboard at Kitchener's Centennial Stadium didn't work,
the lighting wasn't turned on, there were no telephone
lines in the press box, 105 minutes of soccer were played
without a single goal, the match was being played at the
same time the Leafs were defeating Philadelphia and at
the same time CTV Sportsnet was telecasting the Northern
Ireland - Canada match. Omens perhaps?
Fortunately for the Lynx, the only thing that actually
went more or less right was the final result - a 1 nil
victory over the 1998 league finalists Minnesota Thunder
in front of a crowd generously announced as 1183.
The Thunder, listless after their previous nights 1 nil
victory over league champions Rochester Raging Rhinos,
were capable of little fight. The Lynx would have the
only three good goal scoring opportunities of the first
90 minutes. Marco Reda would redirect an Edgar
Bartolomeu cross just wide of an open net in the 14th
minute, former St. Catharines Roma Wolves striker Carlo
Arghittu curled a long shot just over the bar in the
38th, and Gaucho forced Thunder keeper John Swallen to
make his only tough save of the match when he parried a
low hard free kick onto the goal post in the 89th minute.
The sudden death overtime was equally uneventful until
the 104th minute when after a goal mouth scramble,
referee David Scofield awarded the Lynx a penalty when a
shot was handled off the goal line by a defender. Ricardo
Munguia, on loan from Vera Cruz of the Mexican League,
prompty blasted it off the cross bar and out of
play. Not the best of debuts for the young
Mexican.
The saving grace of this tedious match was the
shootout. The artificial tie-breaker introduced by
the North American Soccer League in the 1970's would be
tied after nine rounds with the clubs drawn at four goals
each. It was goaltender Jim Larkin that made the
key save for the Lynx when he stopped Jim Coughlin in
round ten followed by Kosovar Albanian import Tony Precci
clinching the game for Toronto with a shot that beat
Swallen low to the right.
Unfortunately for the Lynx, the overtime miss by Munguia
would cost them two points in the standings under the new
and unusual A-League points system. A win in
regulation or overtime is worth four points while a win
via the shootout is worth only two. Minnesota did
not leave empty handed as clubs receive one point for a
shootout loss. Additionally, while not a factor in
this match, teams receive a bonus point for scoring more
than three goals in a game. Thankfully, teams
receive no points for regulation or overtime losses
although they are still eligible for the bonus point.
Notes: Chris Pozniak, the only amateur on the 1999
Lynx, played a strong match with flashes of ball skill
and speed .......... new Lynx Carlo Arhittu was a big
factor in St. Catharines Roma Wolves defeating Toronto
Olympians in the CPSL playoff final last fall ..........
Brazilians Edu and Jefferson were not available to the
Lynx last night, Jefferson being injured and Edu awaiting
the approval of his release from his former club
.......... keeper Jim Larkin and defender Marco Reda have
been invited to attend Canada's national Team training
camp for North American players taking place in Toronto
from May 10 to May 12 ........... while the Thunder's
John Coughlin may have been the goat in the shootout, he
was the hero of Minnesota's cup final rematch vs.
Rochester when he scored the decisive 62nd minute goal
giving the Thunder a 1 nil victory over the defending
A-League champions .......... the Lynx now hit the road
before playing their Varsity Stadium home opener on
Sunday May 30th at 6pm vs. Connecticut Wolves, one of
only five teams to have records worse than the Lynx in
1998 .......... the presence of a Carribean steel drum
band was a welcome change from the eardrum piercing piped
in music normally heard at Varsity Stadium - bring them
back! |
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