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. |
"Back to Lynx menu">
.
.