May 28, 2005 USL Toronto Lynx vs Puerto Rico Islanders (from a-league.com)

Grab Bag of Thrills in Stunning Home Tie

by Rob Lynch, a-league.com Match Reporter
28.May.2005
Toronto Lynx: 4, Puerto Rico Islanders: 4

Starting Line-Ups:
Toronto: Theo Zagar, Rick Titus, Jeremie Piette (SUB: Robin Hart, 46th min), Abraham Francois, Rumba Munthali, David DiPlacido, Jamie Dodds, Sita-Taty Matondo, Niels Dekker (SUB: El Tabe Huffman, 46th min), Conrad Smith (SUB: Sean Fraser, 77th min), Dave Simpson.

Puerto Rico: Dan Kennedy, Fernando Zuleta, Chris Gores, Raphel Ortiz (SUB: Alejandro Gonzales, 85th min), Marco Velez, Alexis Riviera, Petter Villegas, Johanes Maliza, Noah Delgado, Corey Woolfolk (SUB: Drew McAthy, 83rd min), Mauricio Salles (SUB: Junihno DaSaliva, 77th min).

(Centennial Park Stadium, Toronto) For those who chose not to take in tonight’s match against the visiting PR Islanders, and despite the hometown Lynx still searching for their first win, a thrilling match with a little of everything was missed. Brave goalkeeping, a teeter-totter scoreline, a come-from-behind near-victory, and the emergence of two squads considered in the USL to be easy targets for other “bigger fish” teams.

These are two teams both with a great load to prove (Toronto with a consistent player pool and credible winning record, and Puerto Rico looking to shake the demons of a miserable inaugural season in 2004) and seemed, in many ways, to take it out on each other over a sometimes graceful, most times ackward 90+ minutes of topsy-turvy footer.

Even before the starting whistle was blown, controversy was quietly brewing in the hometown camp with last week’s sale of star striker Ali Gerba to rivals Montreal (think Thierren Henry going to play for Manchester United), and the hometown supporters were in a dour, vocal mood. Strangely though, without the power forward in Toronto colors, the Lynx were able to almost double their Goals For stat, getting service from a variety of sources. Then again, so did the visiting Islanders.

The game was Toronto’s until 2-minutes from the final whistle. Leading by a wondrous 4-3 on a goal from Simpson in the 91st minute (and having just come back from a 3-1 scoreline at halftime), the Islanders were able to pot one in less than a minute later, catching the Lynx still entrenched in the distraction of a victory mere seconds away, and robbing them of their still-elusive first win of 2005.

“It’s the same as what we’ve seen all season, the same as usual”, stated Captain Rick Titus afterwards, “mental lapses. There are only so many times when teammates can be told to be professional and conduct themselves as such. They got that last goal because our guys were still too busy celebrating from our fourth (goal), plain and simple. But, we took advantage of all our scoring chances, played much better as a whole team, and got 4-goals out of it.”

While the game wasn’t a particularly physical contest, Puerto Rico’s habit of over-extending the after effects of innocuous challenges would leave a casual observer thinking it was a session of Fight Club. Salles, despite his finishing prowess and good work with ex-Rhino Corey Woolfolk, may be the worst offender of stretching rules and regulations since Charleston’s Justin Evans personal interpretation of the 50/50 ball. That blight notwithstanding, the visitors are a much improved squad from last year, passing smartly and using the long ball technique with great effect.

The first half ended with the Lynx down 3-1, on visiting goals by Woolfolk (19th min), a cracker bicycle kick from Salles that caught GK Zagar craftily off his line (25th min), and a penalty kick he also put away 2-minutes from the half on a take-down in the goal box by the Toronto defense. The Lynx had managed one through the finished efforts of Conrad Smith, a well-timed blast off a previous deflection in the 23rd minute.

The mid-game break did wonders for the Lynx, and they came out of the gate looking to salvage 45-minutes of utter disaster. After a couple of well-timed substitutions and increased “urgency” (as denoted by Robin Hart), the Lynx began reading the greater game plan of the visitors in scope and passing forward more fluidly. First, in the 55th minute newcomer Simpson put home a short side blast off a Jamie Dodds corner kick. Then came Dodds’ 68th minute free kick, a complete wonderstroke, curling it just-so over the Rico’s wall from 30-yards and deftly in the top right corner to tie the match at 3-3.

A couple of scoring chances from either side took place over the next 15- minutes of play, with both keepers coming up big to keep the stalemate rolling (Zagar with two in particular, one-handed grabs on breakaways that were careened wide on impatient finishes from the Islanders attackers). Then, distracted by the sweet taste of an impending win, the Lynx lost concentration when most vital and found their goalmouth smothered with an onslaught of blue attackers, and the tie was tucked home (I believe) on a deflected lob by a rushing Zuleta.

It’s not a chalkmark in the W column, but certainly a much-improved step in the right direction. Toronto’s midfield worked solidly the whole match, with excellent efforts by DiPlacido and Munthali in particular, and the addition of Matondo from the Montreal Impact injected their offense with pace and gutsy intention. While the Lynx’ defensive woes are still far from gone, the back line tightened in supporting Zagar to greater, but not-yet great, effect.

Perhaps that elusive win can be found in their forthcoming matinee game against the visiting and also struggling Rochester Raging Rhinos on Tuesday May the 31st at 11am.

Card Infractions: Toronto- Dodds (YELLOW, 43rd). Puerto Rico- Delgado (YELLOW, 81st), Gores (YELLOW, 89th).

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