12 April 1997
Mandarin High School Stadium
Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville Cyclones (1) 3:1 (0) Toronto Lynx
36' (JAX) John Duguid
A looping ball from the midfield stripe by Jacksonville's left back Stuart Fitzsimons finds left winger (and Jacksonville Englewood High School men's soccer head coach) Duguid (pronounced DOO-good), who races ahead of the Toronto defense. From the left corner of the penalty box, Duguid flicks it over the advancing Lynx keeper Ian Ritchie to the far post and into the net.
56' (JAX) Stuart Fitzsimons
Another looping ball down the left flank beats Toronto's offside trap and finds Cyclones captain Dion. The central midfielder took it deep to the edge of the left side of the penalty box, drawing Ritchie out to meet him. Dion tries a shot from the difficult angle, and Ritchie deflects it straight to the 6'5" Fitzsimons, who was all alone at the top of the six and pounds it into the unguarded net.
69' (JAX) Jesus Ledesma
Building from the back, Jacksonville forward Ben McKnight sends a cross-field pass from the right to the left that finds attacking midfielder Jesus Ledesma forty yards from goal ahead of the slow-reacting Lynx defense. Ledesma takes it into the box, jukes left to avoid the charging Ritchie, then knocks it into the empty net.
80' (TOR) Elvis Thomas
Taking a pass from 74' sub Luca Centurione into the congested box with his back to the goal from ten yards away, Thomas uses his body to shield the ball from center-back Manny Motajo, does a 180 to get around Motajo on the right and beats Cyclones keeper Johnny Walker with a shot to the top left corner of the net.
87' (RED) Luca Centurione
A pass from the back down the right flank finds McKnight open, sixty yards from goal with only Ritchie to beat. Centurione, with the fresher legs, is catching McKnight and forty yards from goal makes a reckless diving tackle on McKnight from behind. Centurione receives the red card for the foul on the breakaway.
.................................JAX...TOR
SHOTS ON GOAL.....10.....12
SAVES......................... 4......2
CORNER KICKS........ 1......3
OFFSIDES................... 3......4
JACKSONVILLE (3-5-2) -- Johnny Walker, Stuart Fitzsimons, Manny Motajo, Rodrigo Rojas, John Duguid (Chris Charles 77'), Dion, Marconi de Oliviera, Paul Tomaro (Cris Errazuriz 45'), Jesus Ledesma (Jason Phelps 89'), Brad Schmidt, Ben McKnight.
CAUTIONS: Schmidt, Dion, Errazuriz.
TORONTO (4-4-2) -- Ian Ritchie, Daryl Holmes, Ralph Golen, Armando Manjarte, Franco Spadafina (Luca Centurione 74'), Czeslan Zajac, Darren Tilley, Elvis Thomas, Phil Caporrella, Dwayne de Rosario, Paul Moore.
CAUTIONS: Spadafina, Golen.
EJECTION: Centurione.
REFEREE: Roger O'Brien.
TEMPERATURE: Mid-to-upper 70s. WIND: 5-10 mph crosswind. PITCH: Soft.
ATTENDANCE: 5,190.
OTHER NOTES: We've got a small cheering section going. After sitting in the East Stands the entire first half amongst parents of soccer children who came to have their kids baby-sat by the game, I walked over to the West Stands around the 50' mark to find that two Mexican college students (one wearing a Necaxa jersey) had gotten the fans in these stands going with some chants one would expect to hear at Mexican soccer matches (meaning that some of the chants were in Spanish and the non-Hispanic fans were clapping along :-). Anyhow, the last 40' of the match were much more enjoyable for me. It was especially fun seeing the U-10s getting into the chants, despite their parents' wishes.
After the match, I ran into someone wearing an Aston Villa jersey and we talked some friendly English Premier League trash (as I was wearing my Liverpool jersey).
The Cyclones next match will be a home friendly against the Nashville Metros on Sat 19 Apr. Jacksonville then resumes its league schedule with a home match versus the Long Island Rough Riders Thu 24 Apr.
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G. Warren Abao - wabao@southeast.net
"Lady, I'm not a villain -- I'm vanilla." --Uncle Creamy
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