Result of the A-League game of Sunday June 6th, 2004 between Toronto Lynx and Puerto Rico Islanders played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 6:00pm.
Toronto Lynx (all white, black names and numbers, yellow trim)
....................1 Richard Goddard
........2 Andres Arango...6 Aaron Steele...14 Tyler Hughes
15 Adrian Serioux...9 David DiPlacido...4 Joe Mattacchione (cpt)...17 Darren Baxter...13 Jamie Dodds
..................19 Ali Gerba...10 John Barry Nusum
Subs:...23 Brian Rowland (gk)...3 Lewis Blois (def)...7 Edgar Bartolomeu (def/mid)...11 Igor Prostran (mid)...21 Jure Pavic (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coach Billy Steele...goalkeeper coach John Moreira...medical co-ordinator Dr Robert Gringmuth
Puerto Rico Islanders (all blue, white names and numbers)
...................22 Michael Ueltschey
14 Joseph Toal...4 Christopher Gores (cpt)...8 Raphel Ortiz...6 Alexis Rivera
17 Isaac Nieves...18 Hector Rivera...13 Johanes Maliza...20 Carlos Astondoa
...................9 Carlos Garay...21 Michael Mourelo
Subs:...1 Eduardo Memendi (gk)...12 Alvaro Torres (def)...7 Raul Dias (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Hugo Maradonna...assistant coach Pedro Armstrong...medial co-ordinator Dr Carlos Placer
Game officials:...referee Jean Corrivault...referee's asssistants Zoran Kristo and Amato DiLuca...fourth official Steve Dipiero...(red shirts, black shorts and shirts)
pregame:...Three national anthems played before a game? That's something different. Ricky Franco sang the Star Spangled Banner, then O Canada. Then after the Islanders had jumped off the line, they were called back to hear a canned version of the Puerto Rican anthem.
1st Half:...game starts 6:05pm...Lynx defend south end on this warm evening with a bright sun in the northwest.
2 min...Lynx John Barry Nusum GOAL...Lynx goalie Richard Goddard kicks upfield through middle and Nusum gets through defender and with goalie Michael Ueltschey committed sends 10 yard shot from midair off underside of cross bar and into net. Richard Goddard earns the assist.
4 min...Lynx freekick from 30 yards on right bounces through players in box wide left.
6 min...PR Ortiz gets short pass on freekick and 30 yard shot from right is caught by goalie on left post.
8 min...PR player's 30 yard freekick from left is cleared.
9 min...PR Astondoa 10 yard blast in crowd of players after cornerkick from right has sliding Lynx goalie block ball, eventually cleared from box on another blocked shot.
11 min...PR Astondoa or Maliza has 15 yard shot blocked by goalie, PR Garay kicks rebound into net from 10 yards but offside flag was up.
12 min...PR YELLOW card...Mourelo for jumping out of wall before Lynx freekick from 25 yards.
13 min...PR YELLOW card...Toal for jumping out of wall before Lynx freekick from 25 yards. Lynx hadn't taken freekick yet and they'd drawn the Islanders into two Yellow cards!
14 min...Lynx Nieves 25 yard freekick is just high over left corner of net.
17 min...PR Hector Rivera centered pass and low 25 yard blast is wide left.
18 min...PR Mourelo 10 yard shot is stopped by sliding goalie.
19 min...Lynx Ali Gerba GOAL...Gerba gets ball and gets around PR defender Christopher Gores at 15 yards and boots 12 yarder into low left corner of net.
21 min...PR Mourelo volleys 18 yard shot over net. PR Garay was already injured after falling over ball while leading rush.
23 min...Lynx Dodds cornerkick from left is short but Lynx Baxter's weak shot is blocked by defender at 15 yards.
25 min...Lynx Nusum intercepts PR pass by defender dekes goalie then defender but chips 15 yarder that goalie catches after he gets back in position.
26 min...PR Gores long throw-in from left caught by goalie in crowd.
28 min...PR Mourelo flicks 15 yard header weakly to goalie.
28 min...PR Mourelo gets even with defender and tough angle shot is into wide right mesh of net.
29 min...Lynx Gerba wrestles PR Gores out of way but play whistled down on edge of PR box.
31 min...Lynx Gerba hard blast that spins off goalie and ball flies straight up in air, defender gets back to head ball away as Gerba can't see it.
34 min...Lynx Serioux long throw-in from left is headed away, Lynx Serioux gets rebound and shot is caught by goalie.
36 min...PR sub...Dias replaces Toal.
38 min...Lynx Mattacchione 20 yard freekick from extreme left is chested away by defender.
41 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Steele for kicking ball away after whistle.
42 min...PR Alexis Rivera 35 yard freekick is over goalie's head but wide right.
42 min...Lynx Baxter 15 yard roller from left is caught by goalie.
46 min...PR player sends ball dribbling into Lynx net but referee had whistled down play as defenders and goalie converged.
46 min...PR YELLOW card...Goalie Ueltschey for dissent as after last play, referee runs all the way down the field to give a card to the goalie.
48 min...half ends 6:58pm.
Islanders outshot the Lynx 9-4 in this half.
2nd Half:...starts 7:14pm.
halftime sub...Lynx Pavic replaces Nusum.
45 min...PR Alexis Rivera long throw-in from right is flicked wide left across across Lynx box by leaping PR forward.
51 min...Lynx Serioux long throw-in from right has PR defender in box head away.
51 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Hughes for knocking down player.
52 min...Lynx goalie catches long 40 yard freekick.
53 min...Lynx Dodds cornerkick from left is low and cleared from box.
53 min...Lynx Serioux long throw-in from right has Lynx Dodds pop up header from 10 yards wide right.
54 min...PR Nieves 35 yard shot caught by goalie.
55 min...Lynx Ali Gerba GOAL...Lynx Tyler Hughes had run down left wing and sends low cross in from 15 yards on left to Lynx Darren Baxter whose shot is stopped by goalie but rebound to Gerba who leaps for 2 yard tap-in in on right.
55 min...Lynx sub...Bartolomeu replaces Dodds.
57 min...PR player's 30 yard freekick from left is over players in box wide right.
60 min...PR Mourelo eludes defender to set up 20 yard shot well over net.
61 min...PR defender blasts clearance attempt off Lynx Baxter and ball deflects back to goalie.
61 min...Lynx Pavic injured at PR 6 yard box.
64 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Pavic for booting ball into PR net after offside whistle.
65 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Serioux for clipping PR Garay from behind near center line.
66 min...PR Maliza freekick from 25 yards on left has PR forward on right leap and head 7 yarder wide left.
67 min...Lynx goalie falls forward to grab ball left by defender as PR player charged in.
68 min...Lynx Edgar Bartolomeu GOAL...Lynx Ali Gerba crosses from 5 yards on right, Bartolomeu heads in from 5 yards to right corner of net with goalie all alone.
69 min...Lynx sub...Prostran replaces Baxter.
69 min...PR Dias 7 yard shot is rolled low and through box wide left of net.
70 min...Lynx DiPlacido pushes ball on right to Lynx Gerba and his blast from 20 yards on right has goalie dive to push ball wide left of net.
72 min...PR Ortiz 30 yard freekick is low and cleared on edge of Lynx box.
74 min...Lynx Ali Gerba GOAL...Lynx Edgar Bartolomeu rushes down left wing and sends low cross into box that has Gerba kneeling down to head ball into left corner of net from 5 yards.
75 min...Lynx sub...Blois replaces Serioux.
79 min...Lynx Arango nods 2 headers into PR box but each one is cleared.
80 min...Lynx DiPlacido 20 yard shot is just wide left of net.
82 min...PR RED card...Lynx Ali Gerba gets through ball and tries to chip goalie but goalie bats up ball with hand except that goalie was about three yards outside his box so is shown the RED card. Michael Ueltschey is ejected. Backup goalie Eduardo Memendi replaces outfield player Michael Mourelo.
84 min...Lynx Mattacchione gets tapped 22 yard freekick and blasts shot over net.
85 min...PR Alexis Rivera cornerkick from left is worked out and PR Nieves crosses and Lynx goalie leaps forward to grab ball in crowd of players.
86 min...PR Raul Dias GOAL...PR Raphel Ortiz sends in cross from right on 25 yard freekick. Dias leaps in crowd of players and heads ball from 7 yards over charging goalie into open net.
87 min...Lynx Gerba shanks 12 yard shot wide right of net.
92 min...Lynx Hughes blasts 20 yard shot over net after cornerkick from left is rolled to charging player.
94 min...game ends 8:03pm.
Final Score:.........Toronto Lynx.........5...........Puerto Rico Islanders.........1.........
Attendance was announced as 1699 on this warm early evening. Fans got a coupon for a free slice of pizza on their way out because the Lynx scored three goals. That has been a rarity in the years since Pizza Pizza has been a sponsor.
Lynx got a break even before the game began because the Islanders had only three substitutes including the back up goalie because some of their players couldn't get through Immigration into Canada to play. The Islanders were awful already with no wins and three ties in their first eleven games.
Both teams got some through balls behind the opposing defenders and had plays whistled down offside including a few goals called back. These certainly weren't the two best defensive teams in the league.
Ali Gerba scored put away about half of his chances and ended up with three goals on the evening. He fit in well with both John Barry Nusum in the first half and Edgar Bartolomeu from the 55 minute mark. Darren Baxter had recovered enough from a knee injury to play the first 69 minutes of the game and work up the ball in midfield. A game like this will hopefully be a confidence builder for the Lynx who pick up only their third win of the season against six defeats.
These teams will be back in action against each other on Wednesday for the Lynx School Day promotion in a special 11:00am game. If the Islanders can't bring in some back up players, the score on Wednesday could be even higher. Expansion team Islanders are on their second head coach already with Hugo Maradonna. He is the brother of former Argentina international Diego Maradonna and Raul 'Diego' Maradonna who played for Toronto Italia of the CNSL back in the mid 1990s.
Lynx head coach Duncan Wilde passed a message up to the press box to clear up some misunderstandings he's read on the Internet chat boards that he wants it known that it wasn't him who was in the pushing match with Montreal Impact head coach Nick DeSantis in Montreal last week but his assistant Billy Steele.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
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