Nikki's Night
Hat-trick leads Lynx to second straight win.
by David Bailey - Staff Writer
June 24, 1999 07:24 AM    In a battle of the A-League's North-East Division bottom feeders, the first-year Lehigh Valley Steam (3 wins / 4 losses) visited Varsity Stadium for their first meeting with a struggling Toronto Lynx (2 wins / 8 losses), a side in the midst of a badly needed rebuilding program.
 
   LeHigh Valley never had a chance as Milan Kojic opened the scoring in only the 3rd minute and Nikki Vignjevic followed up with a natural hat-trick, the first three goal game by any player in the history of the three year old Toronto franchise.  Jim Larkin kept a clean sheet as the Lynx triumphed 4 nil.
 
   The recently initiated Lynx salvage operation really began in early June with the return of 1998's most exciting player Nikki Vignjevic from a short four weeks with the Richmond Kickers.  Quickly thereafter, Head Coach Peter Pinizzotto was handed the position of General Manager after which he immediately started to revamp the clubs offensive capabilities by bringing in Brazilian striker Francisco Dos Santos, Canadian midfielder Rudy Doliscat and Jamaican striker Lloyd Barker.
 
   While the new players didn't totally mesh with the rest of the club during last Friday's loss to the Rochester Raging Rhinos, things began to look up on Sunday as Toronto defeated the Maryland Mania 1 nil on a goal by Dos Santos assisted by Vignjevic.
 
   It was this "new" Lynx that took to the field against a Lehigh Valley Steam that wasn't nearly as bad as their points total indicated.  While they were only 2 points ahead of the Lynx in the North-East Division standings, they were only one game under .500 with ten points in seven games including a Sunday 1 nil loss to Rochester, a team that has had no trouble taking apart the Lynx.
 
  Lynx defender Milan Kojic opened the scoring in the third minute off a corner kick that was flicked on by Nikki Vignjevic.  Kojic decisively headed it past Steam(ed) keeper Tom Dutra to give the Lynx a shocking and rather rare 1 nil lead.
 
   From that point on it was the Nikki show.   
 
   In the 19th minute, Adrian Serioux sent one of his incredibly long throw-ins into the box.  Courtesy of some very poor defending, the ball found its way to the boot of Vignjevic who fired it just under the cross bar to give the Lynx a 2 goal lead, their first of 1999.
 
   Vignjevic would strike again in the 42nd minute courtesy of a very smooth build-up from the back.  Rudy Doliscat ran the ball up through midfield and then passed to Lloyd Barker.  His long attempt at goal was blocked by a Steam defender but rebounded to Vignjevic who cleanly beat Dutra and the Lynx had a three goal lead.
 
  The second half settled into a rather boring pattern of see-sawing midfield play with each team succeeding in making an occasional thrust at the other teams goal with no real effect until the 80th minute when Lehigh Valley defender Kerry Zavagnin was stripped of the ball by Vignjevic who found himself with only the goaltender to beat.  He did so with ease completing his hat trick and bringing his season total to a team leading five.
 
   Lynx Assistant Coach Armando Costa said of Vignjevic, "We all know what Nikki can do offensively, that's no surprise.  We wanted to see him improve his defensive side.  We don't expect him to be a hard nosed player because he's not but he does so many things technically with the ball. He's in a different class even compared with the best players in the league. Now he's really come into his own both offensively and defensively." 
 
   So anemic had the Lynx offence been prior to this match, it had not managed a multiple goal game since their last match of 1998, a September 6th 3-2 loss to the Raging Rhinos.  The Lynx had not scored three goals, let alone four since a 4-1 victory over the Worcester Wildfire on May 24th of 1998.
 
  Costa was pleased with the progress the club has made, "We knew that we were weak in certain areas and we knew that we were 2 or 3 players away from competing with everybody."  He also pointed out that the Lynx have been competitive all season.  "All the games with the exception of the Rochester matches were one goal games that could have gone either way".

Notes:  The Saturday, June 26th Lynx match vs. the Long Island Rough Riders can be seen on CTV Sportsnet's "A-League Game of the Week" on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, June 27th at 8:00am .......... The Lynx next home game is Thursday, July 1st vs. the Milwaukee Rampage.  The first 500 spectators will receive a free Canadian flag.  Coach of Canada, Holger Osieck will be present for the celebrity kick-off .......... former Scottish International Graham Leggat of TSN took part in today's celebrity kick-off.  Leggat holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in English First Division history scoring three goals in three minutes for Fulham in 1963 .......... Goaltender Jim Larkin has been selected to play for Canada against Saudi Arabia on July 9th in Ontario, California .......... Francisco Dos Santos most
recently plied his trade with Kreuzlingen F.C. of Switzerland.

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