July 25, 2007 W-League Toronto Lady Lynx vs Laval Comets (from Lynx media release)
TORONTO LYNX GAME REPORT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESENTED BY CAW - THE CANADIAN AUTO WORKERS UNION
Lady Lynx Send Comets Crashing Out of Playoffs
Drop Laval 3-1 to advance to Eastern Conference Finals
Date: July 25, 2007
Venue: Centennial Park Stadium, Toronto, ON
Kick Off Time: 7:30 PM EDT
Final Score: Toronto 3 Laval 1
Match Summary:
The Toronto Lady Lynx picked a fine time to record their first-ever win over the Laval Comets, recording a 3-1 come-from-behind victory tonight at Centennial Park Stadium in the Northern Division semi-final. The Lady Lynx recorded three second-half tallies to sink the Comets, and advance to the Eastern Conference finals this weekend, being held in Ottawa. Toronto will face the Northeast Division champion Washington Freedom at 2:00 PM at Keith Harris Stadium in the first semi-final. The winner will face the winner of the second semi-final between the host Ottawa Fury and Jersey Sky Blue on Sunday afternoon at 5:00 PM in the Eastern Conference final. The champion will represent the Eastern Conference in the W-League finals being held in Rochester the following weekend.
Laval opened the scoring early when Andreanne Gagne launched a mammoth shot to goal from 40 yards out, beating a leaping Justine Bernier in the Lynx goal to make the score 1-0 for the visitors in the 7th minute. The Lady Lynx, however, rallied quickly and began to push forward and attack their guests after the goal, but were unlucky on a number occasions and were not able to find the back of the net. The first half ended at 1-0 in favour of Laval.
Toronto continued to press after the interval, and within two minutes levelled the match. Defender Lexi Marton, who was named to the W-League Team of the Week today after her strong performance in last week's matches, recorded her first-ever goal to make the score 1-1 in the 47th minute. Adrienne Ruhe Lischke corralled a loose ball inside the Laval penalty area and flicked it on to Marton, who chipped it past Marie-Pier Bilodeau in the Comets goal.
Claire Ramsdale gave the Lady Lynx the lead ten minutes later when she also recorded her first W-League goal. The English midfielder picked up a deflected ball inside the box and slammed it into the open Comets net to give the Lady Lynx their first lead of the evening at 2-1. Laval thought they had scored the equalizer one minute later, but the score was ruled offside and the score remained at 2-1 in favour of Toronto.
The Lady Lynx put the game away in the 70th minute when Stefania Morra headed home a brilliant left-footed cross from Danielle Blair to give the hosts a 3-1 lead. Laval battled to the end, but the Lady Lynx defense held, and the game ended in favour of the Lady Lynx.
The Lady Lynx will now make their second trip in three seasons to the Eastern Conference finals. The club narrowly lost 2-0 to the Ottawa Fury in 2005 in the Conference Final, and will look to better that performance this weekend. The Washington Freedom, who joined the W-League from the now-defunct WUSA, present a formidable opponent for the Lady Lynx in their opening match, finishing the regular season a stellar 12-1-1 record and claiming the Northeast Division in their first season as a full-fledged member of the USL. The club finished the season on a six-game winning streak, and boast a host of US Internationals and veterans of their 2003 WUSA championship squad. Head Coach Danny Stewart, however, expects his squad to be fully prepared for the encounter and looks forward to the challenge. "We expect to win on Saturday. We've matured as a squad as the season has progressed, and our performance tonight shows just how far we've came. It's exciting that we have the chance to move on and challenge for the W-League title."
Final Score:Toronto 3 (0) Laval 1 (1)
Lineups: Toronto: Bernier, Schwarz (Melander, 85), Conley, Marton, Chapman, McCalla (Blair, 59), Romagnuolo, Ramsdale (Arduini, 87), Moore (Harrison, 17), Ruhe Lischke, Morra (Bisnott, 76) Laval: Bilodeau, Bouchard, Walsh, Acton, Mercier, Hopper (Scott, 79), Gagne, Lapalme, Rusilacchi (Lehr, 67), Legault, Busque (Dumais, 87) Officials: Referee: Patricia Peebles Referee’s Assistants: Afshin Korkorian, Cesar Guzman 4th Official:Corina Iorga Cautions: Toronto: 2 (Ramsdale, 48; Harrison, 85) Laval: 2 (Busque, 54; Bilodeau, 83) Ejections: Toronto: 0 Laval: 0 Shots: Toronto 13 Laval 13 Saves: Toronto 5 Laval 4 Fouls: Toronto 11 Laval 13 Offsides: Toronto 3 Laval 2 Corners: Toronto 10 Laval 2 Scorers: Toronto: 47' Marton (Ruhe Lischke) 57' Ramsdale 70' Morra (Blair Laval: 7’ Gagne
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
ROB IRWIN, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, TORONTO LYNX SOCCER CLUB
416-251-4625 ext. 23
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