A-League game of Wednesday July 8th, 1998.
Here are the results of the A-League game between Toronto Lynx and Connecticut Wolves played at Centennial Stadium in Kitchener Ontario at 7:30pm.
Toronto Lynx (white socks, shorts, and shirts, blue names and numbers, yellow & gray chevrons on short sides and shoulders).
.........................................1 Hubert Busby Jr
................14 Dragan Ianosev...4 Peter Sarantopoulos...17 Daryl Holmes
19 David DiPlacido...13 Kevin Holness...6 Nikola Vignjevic...8 Brian Ashton...16 Rick Titus
.............................25 Isa Bulku...23 Phil Caporrella
Subs:...22 Theo Zagar (gk)...2 Paulo Silva (gk)...20 Danley Johnson (def)...11 Giuseppe Lanotte (mid)...15 Edmond Lezha (fwd).
Team Officials:...head coach Peter Pinizzotto, equipment manager Sergio Grenci, medical coordinator Dr Gringmuth.
Connecticut Wolves (white socks and numbers, blue shorts and shirts).
...................................1 Chuck Martini
............2 Mick McDermott...4 David Kelly (cpt)...5 Derek Sullivan
6 Martin Tierney...12 Ryan Levesque...16 John Vaughan...23 Kyle Lessis
............20 Mike Cancada...10 Erik Barbieri...9 Chris Wright
Subs:...0 Jeff Lipman (gk)...14 Iman Siedat (mid)...22 Bonyoko Bokole (fwd)...17 Dylko Ismaili (mid).
Team Officials:...head coach Steve Stokoe, assistant coach Ramiro Alzate.
Officials:...referee Tony Comacho, assistant referees Neil Scofield and Frank Marcello, 4th official Mr Merhdad.
1st Half:...Lynx defend north goal on this slippery field. It had rained in the afternoon. Overcast evening.
3 min...Wolves Wright kicks ball over Lynx goalie but tap in prevented by Lynx defender.
6 min...Wolves 30 yard freekick tipped wide right for corner.
10 min...Lynx Ashton finishes pass from Lynx Vignjevic by cutting 20 yard grounder wide right of goal.
13 min...Wolves goalie races out to edge of box to grab ball from charging Lynx forward.
14 min...Lynx Vignjevic 15 yard shot tipped wide right by diving goalie.
14 min...Lynx GOAL...Ashton pounds 5 yard shot to top of net after Lynx Vignjevic corner kick from right.
15 min...Wolves rush almost scores.
22 min...Wolves goalie catches high cross in front of charging Lynx forward.
27 min...Wolves goalie catches Lynx Vignjevic cross from right side.
32 min...Wolves McDermott 40 yard kick over crowd caught by Lynx goalie.
35 min...Wolves Wright shanks shot in Lynx box wide right actually for a throw-in it was so far wide.
36 min...Lynx Bulku breaks down left side and goalie comes out to make point blank sliding 15 yard save. Cleared for corner.
38 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Sarantopoulos for holding back Wolves forward at center line when he stepped in front of him but missed ball.
41 min...Wolves Barbieri races down left side with Lynx Holmes but crosses across box goalie stops shot but Lynx Sarantopoulos blocks point blank rebound shot by Wolves Wright.
42 min...Lynx goalie catches high 35 yard shot.
43 min...Lynx 35 yard bouncing shot that Wolves goalie gives up huge rebound but two Lynx players can't put it in.
Official stats:...Lynx 5 shots, Wolves 3 shots.
Halftime:...A very hard rain starts to fall.
2nd Half:...starts at 8:44pm.
49 min...Wolves goalie catches short 5 yard shot from Lynx Bulku who dives forward.
52 min...Lynx Vignjevic cross from 20 yards caught by Wolves goalie.
53 min...Wolves YELLOW card...McDermott for argueing with referee while referee was talking to Wolves captain Kelly at midfield.
57 min...Wolves awarded a penalty shot for Lynx handball in the box.
57 min...Wolves Penalty kick by Kelly who blasts ball dead center but high over bar!
59 min...Lynx sub...Lanotte replaces Bulku.
61 min...Lynx Vignjevic 25 yard freekick from left banana shot palmed from right top corner by leaping goalie.
64 min...Wolves Levesque 25 yard shot smothered by goalie.
65 min...Lynx Caporrella 20 yard shot as he slips is smothered by Wolves goalie.
68 min...Lynx goalie palms wide left corner from right.
70 min...Lynx Caporrella 15 yard shot from right of box shot over net.
72 min...Lynx Caporrella flubs 20 yard shot that bounces to goalie.
73 min...Lynx Vignjevic cuts in from left line 20 yard out and puts shot wide right.
75 min...Wolves Wright shoots 25 yard shot from bounce just over bar.
77 min...Wolves sub...Bokole replaces Lessis. Lessis is upset about coming off and kicks a spare ball on sideline into an empty spot on the Wolves bench but it hits a chair and deflects onto field. An alert ball boy rescues it or there could have been a yellow card.
79 min...Wolves Tierney 20 yard shot deflected and rolls to Lynx goalie.
80 min...Lynx Caporrella 12 yard crossed shot from right cuaght by goalie diving forward.
81 min...Wolves Tierney from right 35 yard shot tipped wide right by diving goalie.
83 min...Wolves sub...Siedat replaces Cancada.
84 min...Lynx goalie catches cross. Wolves Tierney had been hurt by deflected ball at midfield.
84 min...Lynx sub...Lezha replaces Caporrella.
85 min...Lynx goalie punches out corner from left cross. Lynx give up three corners in a row.
88 min...Wolves Sullivan 15 yard shot from left of box wide left.
88 min...Wolves Barbieri pass to Wolves Bokole whose 10 yard scissor kick tipped wide right by Lynx goalie.
88 min...Wolves corner headed over net.
***Read carefully as the USISL sight has this minute of play wrong!!!***
90 min...Wolves YELLOW card...Wolves goalie for obstructing Lynx player as he overstepped line then held back Lynx player.
That would be a free kick from just outside line. Time has run out.
Wolves RED card...Tierney for argueing call.
Wolves RED card...Vaughan for argueing call.
Almost as if prearranged between the two teams, the Lynx player taps ball forward with no other Lynx players nor Wolves players around. Wolves goalie dribbles to sideline then the referee blows the whistle to end the game and goalie then boots the ball into the stands in a tantrum drawing a (2nd YELLOW) RED card.
Wow three Red cards in a minute of game play!
Final Score:........Toronto Lynx..........1.........Connecticut Wolves..........0.....
Attendance was announced as 1052. The threat of rain likely kept any walk up crowd from coming. It had rained in the afternoon and then at halftime, then it slowed down for the 2nd half. The rain drove half the crowd home before the 2nd half started.
Coming into this game, the Lynx were on a four game losing streak. Both teams had identical dreadful 5 wins, 10 loss records. The Lynx had 15 points because their wins have been in regulation time but the Wolves had only 5 points because they have not won in regulation nor overtime but by the 1 point awarded shootout. The Lynx badly needed to win this game for some confidence. They needed some great saves from Busby late in the game to preserve their lead. For the Wolves to miss a 57 minute penalty is supposedly not so unusual as reading their website, it's happened their previous game.
Kitchener is a city 105 kms west of Toronto. I was in the middle of a week's vacation because otherwise this would be too difficult to get here after work. This is one of the two home games that the Lynx are playing away from Toronto. The Lynx brought their whole show with them with plenty of souvenirs for purchase and The Lynxster mascot throwing balls to the crowd. Also the same halftime kick for cash just like at Varsity Stadium.
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