June 2, 2010 MLS--Toronto FC vs Vancouver Whitecaps (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Wednesday June 2nd, 2010 NCC game between Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps played at BMO Field in Toronto at 8:00pm. This was the final game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship

Toronto FC (all red, white names and numbers)

..............30 Milos Kocic
26 Doneil Henry..20 Ty Harden...15 Joseph Nane...34 Raivis Hscanovics
27 Gabe Gala...6 Julian de Guzman (cpt)...2 Sam Cronin...25 Martin Saric
...........7 Fuad Ibrahim...35 Allando Matheson

Subs:...1 Jon Conway (gk)...14 Dwayne De Rosario (mid)...16 Matt Stinson (mid)...28 Brennan McNicoll (mid)...29 Nicholas Lindsay (fwd) ...33 Maksim Usanov (def)...36 Oscar Cordon (mid)
team officials:...acting head coach Leo Percovich

Vancouver Whitecaps (all blue, white names and numbers)

..............1 Jay Nolly
77 Jurab Tsiskaridze...2 Nelson Akwari (cpt)...3 Luca Bellisomo...8 Wes Knight
29 Nizar Khalfan...12 Jonny Steele...99 Ricardo Sanchez...15 Philippe Davies
.......24 Marcus Haber...39 Cornelius Stewart

Subs:...31 Simon Thomas (gk)...4 Chris Williams (def)...7 Martin Nash (mid)...17 Randy Edwini-Bonsu...18 Doudou Toure (mid)...22 Takashi Hirano (mid)
team officials:...head coach Thordarson

Game officials:...referee Geoff Gamble...referee's assistants Cameron Blair and Pierre Cantave...fourth official Silviu Petrescu...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 8:06pm...TFC defend south end. There is a heavy rain that has fallen for a few hours before the game got started and continues at least as a light rain except for a period from 30 minutes to the end of the first half when it actually stopped.
1 min...TFC Ibrahim blasts 30 yard roller from right well wide left of net.
2 min...TFC Nane goes to kick ball from TFC 25 yards and slips and is injured. Van Davies takes loose ball runs towards goal and from 15 yards centers pass to Van Stewart who's soon surrounded by two defenders but works ball back to Van Davies who then chips cross across box but sliding TFC Henry clears.
5 min...TFC sub...Usanov replaces injured Nane who it turns out sustained a serious shoulder injury on his fall. Nane is helped from the game.
7 min...TFC Gala runs down left sideline and cross from cornerflag deflected by sliding Van Knight for cornerkick.
7 min...TFC player's ccrnerkick from left is headed away by Van Haber on left edge of box.
9 min...Van Sanchez 25 yard freekick down middle is blasted over top left corner of net.
11 min...TFC Matheson battles Van Akwari for ball at 25 yards and gets away blast that soars well over net but referee had called hand ball on Akwari.
12 min...TFC Ibrahim is touched freekick and blasts low shot up middle from 25 yards through wall and wide left of post.
13 min...TFC goalie runs to edge of box to beat Van Stewart to through ball on left.
18 min...TFC Henry ducks to get header from TFC 25 yards but misses and Van Haber gets behind him at 15 yards and he shoots 10 yarder over net from left as he's covered by another TFC Harden.
21 min...Van Steele runs to ball on right wing but TFC Henry keeps him from two cross attempts into box and checks him off ball and clears.
22 min...Van Sanchez 35 yard freekick from right has ball sail over to left side where Van Tsiskaridze gets foot to it on left end line but can't keep it in bounds.
25 min...Van goalie punts out defender's pass back into box ahead of charging TFC Ibrahim upfield but then diving defender at 30 yards heads ball back towards goal. Ibrahim chests ball down at 12 yards then takes 8 yard shot on left well wide right of net although he was flagged offside.
29 min...Van Davies freekick from 20 yards near left sideline has sliding TFC Cronin clear ball from box at 10 yards.
30 min...It has stopped raining!
30 min...Van Knight long throw-in from left has Van Haber leap to knock ball down on corner of box but defender clears.
31 min...Van RED card...Haber earns a direct ejection for a sliding tackle on TFC Doneil Henry at TFC 45 yards after he'd gotten rid of ball. Henry is injured on the play taking foot to the knee.
33 min...Van YELLOW card...Bellisomo earns it for a sliding tackle from behind on TFC Ibrahim at Van 45 yards.
35 min...Van Stewart rolls 25 yard cross from right that is directly at goalie to pick up.
37 min...TFC YELLOW card...Henry for holding Van Stewart at TFC 15 yards on left wide of box.
37 min...Van Sanchez freekick from 20 yards is hooked well over players wide right for goalkick.
38 min...TFC Cronin high cross from 30 yards on right and TFC Gala on left tries to deke Van defender but ball is cleared out of box.
41 min...Van Tsiskaridze is knocked over on sliding tackle by TFC Henry on left sideline.
42 min...Van Davies 40 yard freekick from left has Van Akweari pop up ball with foot on edge of box and TFC goalie charges right to catch ball.
43 min...TFC YELLOW card...Cronin earns it for holding Van Steele charging over center line.
44 min...Van Davies gets short pass from left and 25 yard shot has flying goalie push wide right from top right corner of net.
45 min...Van Sanchez cornerkick from right is well over players in box wide for throw-in.
47 min...Van Tsiskaridze long throw-in from left has Van Akwari pops up ball inside but ball headed out of box and cleared for TFC fast break.
47 min...TFC Ibrahim 30 yard roller up middle is saved by diving goalie on left.
47 min...Van Stewart run up middle to take pass but TFC Harden checks him off ball and clears for throw-in.
48 min...Van Tsiskaridze long throw-in from left is headed away.
48 min...half ends 8:56pm.

Halftime entertainment was provided by Nutrilite with children from across Canada kicking a ball through a hole in a board in front of a net. Fans in the stands were thrown t-shirts from Lowe's home hardware stores.

2nd Half:...starts 9:11pm.
halftime sub:...TFC Lindsay replaces de Guzman.
45 min...Van Tsiskaridze long throw-in from left is headed down and cleared from edge of box.
It starts to rain again...lightly at first but then much harder.
50 min...TFC Hscanovics cross from 22 yards on left has Van Akwari head ball away.
51 min...TFC Hscanovics rolls cross from left into box but ball cleared by Van Akwari.
51 min...Van Bellisomo makes sliding tackle on TFC Usanov charging into Van box and clearance inside Van box after already down on block.
51 min...TFC Gala cornerkick from right has Van Akwari head ball away.
52 min...TFC Lindsay blasts 8 yard shot into right side of webbing of net after defender had popped up header.
53 min...Van Tsiskaridze cross from 15 yard line near left sideline has Van Davies not quite able to turn header at 7 yards.
55 min...Van Stewart injured at Van 50 yards on check from behind by TFC Henry.
57 min...TFC Lindsay gets to ball on right wing and crosses from near end line that deflects off defender for cornerkick on right.
58 min...TFC Gala high cornerkick from right has leaping goalie punch ball out of box in crowd of players.
58 min...Van Stewart charges down middle to get to ball on left end line and passes back out to Van Khalfan who bends cross from left edge of box which TFC Harden heads away from 8 yards.
59 min...Van Knight blasts roller through crowd of players from 30 yards but shot is wide left of net.
62 min...TFC Gala 25 yard freekick from right sideline has Van goalie charge out to leap and punch away ball in crowd of players.
63 min...TFA players 35 yard chip from left is well wide right of net.
65 min...Van Stewart long run to get ball on left and cross from 15 yards deflects off TFC Henry for cornerkick on left.
65 min...TFC sub...De Rosario replaces Matheson.
65 min...Van cornerkick from left has TFC Hscanovich head ball wide left for another cornerkick.
66 min...Van cornerkick from left has leaping Van Steele head ball from 8 yards off top side of bar for goalkick.
68 min...TFC Usanov and Van Tsiskaridze both slide to ball at Van 30 yard line on right but Van player is injured with foot in face.
69 min...Van Nash replaces Nash.
69 min...TFC player's long throw-in from right is caught by leaping goalie.
72 min...Van Stewart run down left to get sliding cross in from 8 yards along left end line has goalie dive forward to stop ball.
74 min...Van Stewart low blast from 30 yards down middle has goalie smother ball.
76 min...TFC Saric blasts 28 yard shot down middle deflecting off defender and bouncing wide right for cornerkick.
76 min...TFC Gala cornerkick from right has defender block with header. Gala gets to recross from 20 yards and TFC Hardin pops up header wide left from 15 yards.
77 min...Van sub...Moose replaces Khalfan.
78 min...Van Tsiskandze cross from near left cornerflag is blocked and cleared by defender.
80 min...TFC Usanov cross from 25 yard line on right sideline has defender head away on edge of box.
80 min...Van Edwini-Bonsu replaces Stewart.
81 min...TFC Hscanovics rush down left and cross from 25 yards has Van Bellisomo deflect ball wide left for cornerkick.
82 min...TFC Cronin cornerkick from left has Van Akwari head out of box on right side.
82 min...TFC Usanov slips but pokes ball through from 22 yards in crowd wide left for goalkick.
83 min...Van Edwini-Bonsu rush on left and rolls cross from right 15 yards through box and TFC player clears. Van Nash blasts 30 yard partial clearance well over net.
84 min...TFC YELLOW card...Hscanovic for tackle on Van Davies at Van 30 yards on sideline.
86 min...TFC Usanov cross from 30 yards on right sideline has charging TFC Ibrahim head 18 yarder that's caught by Van goalie.
87 min...TFC De Rosario blast from 35 yards through crowd of players is well wide left.
89 min...Van Edwini-Bonsu beats one defender on left while cutting towards goal from left but rolls ball over end line when TFC Harden slides for checkat 5 yards.

Final Score:.....Toronto FC......0..........Vancouver Whitecaps.........0......

Attendance was announced as 15176 on this wet evening. I would suggest there were maybe only two thirds of that number actually showed up. There would be three reasons from being 5000 less than usual. The weather conditions that were predicted days ahead of time that rain would fall until midnight. This tournament was decided last week when Vancouver managed only a draw with Montreal Impact and could not mathmatically win the championship with a win tonight. Also the club had said for a few days that they would be giving up to seven TFC Academy players a chance to play in this game.

Toronto FC wins the Nutrilite Canadian Championship for the second year in a row. This year they finished with a 2 wins, 2 ties record. Vancouver finished second with a 4 ties record.

Toronto FC were presented with with the Voyageurs Cup. I helped pay for that trophy a decade ago--I estimate about 7% of the cost. Dwayne DeRosario won the tournaments MVP award. He scored two goals in the tournament but had one taken away a few days later and given to Ty Harden. I think it was one of the reasons that De Rosario made an appearance in this game so he could get the captain's armband and be leading the team at the final whistle.

The TFC players charged to the corners of the field and did belly flop slides in front of the fans so the fans could get a close up look. They then circled the field after being presented with the trophy.

TFC Academy players Doneil Henry and Allando Matheson were starters for this game. Nicolas Lindsay came on to start the second half. TFC Academy captain Matt Stinson, Brennan McNicoll and Oscar Cordon (all midfielders) stayed on the bench. Henry had the most impact when he had the Whitecap player Marcus Haber draw a direct Red card for a sliding tackle against him. The Academy players will be back in action this Saturday after the TFC home game against Kansas City when they play the Montreal Impact Academy.

The Whitecaps could not generate enough sustained pressure up front playing short for the last hour of the game.

TFC now moves on to play Club Motagua of Honduras in the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League. Club Motagua is the current club team of former TFC player Amado Guevara although there's been stories that Guevara may retire from playing right after the World Cup is over next month.

match stats from whitecapsfc.com

Scoring Summary
none

Match Stats
Shots: Vancouver 6 - Toronto 7
Saves: Vancouver 2 - Toronto 2
Fouls: Vancouver 8 - Toronto 10
Corners: Vancouver 5 - Toronto 3
Offsides: Vancouver 0 - Toronto 1

Cautions
34' - VAN - Luca Bellisomo
37' - TOR - Doneil Henry
45' - TOR - Sam Cronin
85' - TOR - Raivis Hscanovics

Ejections
31' - VAN - Marcus Haber

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 77.Zurab Tsiskaridze, 2.Nelson Akwari, 3.Luca Bellisomo, 8.Wes Knight; 29.Nizar Khalfan (19.Justin Moose 78'), 
12.Jonny Steele, 99.Ricardo Sanchez (7.Martin Nash 70'), 15.Philippe Davies; 24.Marcus Haber, 39.Cornelius Stewart 
(17.Randy Edwini-Bonsu 81')

Subs not used: 31.Simon Thomas, 4.Chris Williams, 18.Doudou Toure, 22.Takashi Hirano

Toronto FC
30.Milos Kocic; 34.Raivis Hscanovics, 15.Joseph Nane (33.Maksim Usanov 6'), 20.Ty Harden, 26.Doneil Henry; 27.Gabriel Gala, 
6.Julian De Guzman (29.Nicholas Lindsay 45'), 2.Sam Cronin, 25.Martin Saric; 7.Fuad Ibrahim, 35.Allando Matheson 
(14.Dwayne De Rosario 66')

Subs not used: 1.Jon Conway, 16.Matt Stinson, 28.Brennan McNicoll, 36.Oscar Cordon

TFC starters