A-League game of Friday July 25, 1997.
Here are the results of the A-League game between Toronto Lynx and Rochester Raging Rhinos played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto with a 7:30pm kickoff.
Toronto Lynx (white socks and shirts, black shorts, purple numbers, yellow names)
....................................................1 Pat Onstad
3 Franco Spadafina....17 Daryl Holmes....16 Rick Titus....2 Ralph Golen
6 Kevin Holness....13 Carmen D'Onofrio....12 Lei Gong....14 Martin Dugas
...............................10 Paul Stalteri...........21 Michele Gioia
Subs:...22 Joe Ciaravino (gk)...4 Ian Carter (def)...5 Peyvand Mossavat (def)...20 Danley Johnson (def)...11 Tommy Kousmanis (mid)...18 Luca Centurione (mid)...15 Terry St Louis (fwd)...
Rochester Raging Rhinos (black socks, shorts, and shirts, white numbers)
.................................................1 Bill Andracki
17 Fuscini Dauda....27 Kevin Koetters....4 Leon Minott....12 Mike Kirmse
26 Novica Marajevic....8 Tommy Tanner....7 Henry Gutierrez....5 Gustavo Villagra
.............................11 Nikola Vignjevic............18 Jimmy Glenn
Subs:...0 Rett Thompson (gk)...21 Joe Mercik (def)...10 Yogi McKay (mid)...13 Bojan Vuckovic (mid/fwd)...25 Scott Miller (mid)...15 Ezekiel Alamo (fwd)...
Officials:...Referee Tony Comacho, Referee's Assistants Al Perreira and Manuel Oriana, 4th Official Jim Bainbridge.
1st Half: (Lynx defend South end in 1st half on this warm evening, kickoff is 7:38pm).
20 sec...Lynx YELLOW card...Holness for dragging down Kirmse on sideline.
2 min...Rhinos goalie catches header after Lynx Gong freekick.
9 min...Lynx Gioia on left side blasts shot from 10 yards after beating defender but goalie bats it down.
14 min...Rhinos Gutierrez gets through ball but Lynx goalie blocks point blank shot from 10 yards.
15 min...Lynx goalie stops corner kick rebound.
21 min...Lynx Stalteri gets 10 yard shot from left side, stopped point blank by goalie.
25 min...Rhinos YELLOW card...Gutierrez for clipping Lynx Gioia.
28 min...Lynx Stalteri semi shot from 20 yards rolls across box but Gioia can't get to it.
29 min...Rhinos YELLOW card... Minott for tackle from behind on Gioia who's injured on play at midfield.
33 min...Lynx GOAL...Stalteri gets 15 yard shot as he's cutting along just outside box of box to right corner of net beyond leaping goalie. Assist to Dugas who ran 40 yards down left side and made cross.
38 min...Lynx Gioia chips shot over bar from 15 yards on right side after short pass.
41 min...Lynx goalie comes off line to grab header and crashes into Rhinos forward looking to tee up shot.
42 min...Lynx Gioia in alone gets ball tipped over net as he waits too long to blast 7 yard shot.
43 min...Lynx goalie stops 20 yard shot from Kirmse who stepped through defenders.
2nd Half:
Halftime sub...Rhino McKay replaces Tanner.
........................Rhino Mercik replaces Minott.
47 min...Lynx Dugas sends shot into left side webbing of net from 15 yards after defender falls.
48 min...Rhinos GOAL...Glenn rolls shot into net from 10 yards. Assist Vignjevic who slipped him pass from right side.
49 min...Lynx goalie covers up low shot on edge of box.
51 min...Lynx goalie let's ball roll to him after he's fallen. He'd gone down for save but ball deflected.
56 min...Lynx sub...St Louis replaces Gong.
59 min...Lynx Gioia gets 20 yard header stopped just under bar by goalie.
60 min...Lynx goalie stops 25 yard blast by Rhinos Kirmse.
61 min...Lynx goalie stops 10 yard diving header by Rhinos Kirmse.
62 min...Lynx sub...Kousmanis replaces D'Onofrio.
65 min...Lynx St Louis blasts 35 yard shot but goalie knocks it down and covers it.
66 min...Lynx Golen long 40 yard freekick to head of Holness who pops it over net from 10 yards.
67 min...Rhinos Gutierrez blasts shot into left side of mesh from 15 yards.
69 min...Rhinos YELLOW card...Villagra for throwing ball after play whistled down and Rhinos YELLOW card...Tanner for either talking back to referee or slow to give 15 yards for freekick.
77 min...Lynx goalie stops Rhinos Vignjevic low shot from 15 yards.
79 min...Lynx Stalteri blasts 15 yard crossed pass well over bar.
82 min...Rhinos Vignjevic blasts ball over 8 man wall but Lynx Golen behind them gets head to it. Lynx goalie stops rebound blast from Gutierrez (?) then Rhinos McKay on left side drills shot through box.
83 min...Lynx sub...Carter replaces St Louis.
15 minute Sudden Death Extra Time. Starts at 9:35pm. Lynx defend south goal.
Extra time Rhinos sub...Alamo replaces Gutierrez.
92 min...Rhinos Vignjevic rolls freekick around 7 man wall wide left.
97 min...Lynx goalie comes off line to catch Vignjevic 25 yard cross from right.
99 min...Rhinos Vignjevic injured near edge of box. Vignjevic takes free kick and passes across edge of box where ball is blasted over net.
100 min...Lynx sub...Centurione replaces Gioia.
101 min...Lynx Dugas shoots rebound just wide right through crowd from 15 yards.
101 min...Rhinos sub...Vuckovic replaces Villagra.
103 min...Lynx Dugas curls shot into box on right side but goalie catches it.
104 min...Rhinos Vuckovic misses 10 yard header after cross from Vignjevic.
Shootout (best of 5 rounds). held in North end.
1...Rhinos Vignjevic...tries to kick to right corner over Onstad's shoulder but Onstad gets hand on it.
1...Lynx Golen...Golen ends up kicking right at goalie as Andracki charges out.
2...Rhinos McKay...McKay tries to come around on left side but Onstad on left of box cuts off his angle.
2...Lynx Kouzmanis...Kouzmanis takes shot to right corner but Andracki gets foot out to make save.
3...Rhinos Tanner...Tanner gets shot off from right side but shoots wide of post.
3...Lynx Holness...Holness races to edge of box but so does Andracki and hits his knee. Rebound hits Holness's shin but rolls harmlessly.
4...Rhinos Koetters...Koetters fires near edge of box but Onstad slides to block it. Koetters fires rebound high over net.
4...Lynx Stalteri...Stalteri on way in and Andracki charges full speed out. They crash on edge of box but Andracki injured on his sliding tackle but he knocks away ball.
5...Rhinos Vuckovic...Vuckovic fires after only a few steps but gets shot just wide left of post.
5...Lynx Dugas...Dugas chips ball from edge of box over the bar as Andracki charges out.
Now Shootout becomes one round shot each.
6...Rhinos Glenn...Onstad charges out to penalty spot and holds position as Glenn seems to stumble with ball and Glenn fires ball right to his feet.
6...Lynx Titus...Titus runs in like he's going to fake left but pulls right for clear shot on net. Andracki waves hands 'no good' but Titus shoots roller to left corner of net. The flag goes up and the whistle goes but the shot was away before this happened. I replayed this a lot from television. I suppose the rule is similar to basketball where those last second shots go in as the buzzer sounds. Referee signals it's good and the game is over.
Final Score:........Toronto Lynx.........(1) 1 (SO win).......Rochester Raging Rhinos...(0) 1...
Attendance was not announced (for the first time this year maybe because it was down) but other sources have it at 1488. This was augmented by hundreds of Rhinos fans making the 3 hour drive around Lake Ontario from Rochester. I even brought a friend to make up for him giving me a Blue Jay ticket at the last moment three weeks ago. Maybe I've found a new soccer convert as we both enjoyed ourselves.
Rocket Robin
robing@clo.com
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