June 18, 2003

NEWS
CONSISTENT CARLO ARGHITTU LEADS ROMA WOLVES WITH TWO GOALS IN 2-0 DEFEAT OF BRAMPTON HITMEN WEDNESDAY

St. Catharines Roma Wolves forward Carlo Arghittu is one of the most consistent goalscorers in the Canadian Professional Soccer League and he maintained that reputation by scoring both goals in a 2-0 shutout of Brampton Hitmen in the only game played on Wednesday night.

Both defences gave little away at Club Roma in St. Catharines, an encounter that could easily have gone in Brampton’s favour even after Arghittu put St. Catharines ahead at the 25th minute mark. The teams fought through the remainder of the first half and the entire second half before Arghittu found the net again in injury time and just before the final whistle.

Carlo Arghittu scored for his side in the CPSL season opener on May 24, a 2-1 St. Catharines win at Durham Flames, and he repeated the effort in a 4-2 losing cause to Ottawa Wizards on June 8. He scored 13 goals in 2002, fourth in the scoring table.

St. Catharines move to the top of the Western Conference on a 2-1-0 WLT record for six points, while the Hitmen are in sixth position with a single point from a 0-1-1 record.

Good coaches will tell you there are some essentials to a successful season—a good team that survives the rigours of a tough campaign with few injuries, in a well balanced schedule.

However good the team, too many injuries will take their toll and a schedule that brings back to back games, especially early in the season, does nothing for the team’s performance.

North York Astros have not suffered too many injuries yet, and their schedule has been reasonably balanced, but the team’s failure to hold on to a solid 2-1 lead with just 10 minutes remaining following a grueling game in a winning 2-0 cause at Cove Road just four days ago, all adds up to a less than ideal mix.

That’s the view of Astros’ management and coaching staff following their 2-2 tie with Metro Lions in a highly entertaining, physical contest at Esther Shiner Stadium, the lone encounter in the CPSL schedule on Monday night.

“We just want a fair schedule with games reasonably spaced and with some luck with injuries, I think we are in for a good season,” explained Astros’ owner and GM Bruno Ierullo, who was a touch disappointed his team could not hold on to a lead that would have given last year’s CPSL Championship finalists a second win since Friday.

Head coach Alcides ‘Jose’ Diaz was more philosophical in his outlook: “There is a long way to go and we have made a reasonable start,” said Diaz who saw his team take the lead twice and lose it twice in what most fans considered was a fair result.

The Astros certainly had a defence to bring the desired result, with Blazet Skoczylas on the left and Ryan Thompson to the right, putting up a wall to counter a wave of attacks down both wings in the last 20 minutes and it was looking like the 2-1 half-time score was going to hold up.

Peter Zorbas had given the home Astros a 1-0 lead at the 28th minute mark, but the lead was short lived when the former GS United player, midfielder Koreem Reynolds leveled the score 1-1 for Metro Lions just five minutes later.

The ever reliable Kurt Ramsey put North York 2-1 up just before the interval and the tying goal for Metro Lions came when Maxim Dorneval struck a hard cross from Caswain Mason to beat Mirando Luciano in the Astros’goal.

At 19, Skoczylas was the youngest on the field and one of the most impressive in intercepting the frequent crosses that came his way. Returning from knee surgery during the winter, the former Woodbridge Strikers’ player showed good pace throughout. “The pace was there, but I kept on top of it and was disappointed we couldn’t hold on,” said the Polish-born defender.

North York Astros go into their next game against Durham Flames at the Civic Stadium in Oshawa this Friday with a 1-1-1 WLT record for four points, while Metro Lions with a 0-0-2 record and two points are at home to unbeaten Toronto Supra this coming Saturday, a 7 o’clock kickoff at Birchmount Stadium.

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