July 4, 2012 W-League--Toronto Lady Lynx vs London Gryphons (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Wednesday July 4th, 2012 W-League game between Toronto Lady Lynx vs London Gryphons played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 11:00am.

Toronto Lady Lynx (white socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)

....................25 Sarah Fiorini
17 Shelby Rolling...20 Nour Ghoneim...10 Alyscha Mottershead (cpt)...12 Leticia Skeete
..........18 Jessie Bujouves...2 Cathryn Rodgers...14 Nicole Waters
...........22 Kodee Williams...15 Ashley Campbell...13 Kinley McNicholl

Subs:...00 Lauren Kadet (gk)...5 Shanoska Young (def)...8 Maxine Murchie (fwd)...16 Chelsea Spencer (mid)
team officials:...head coach Danny Stewart

London Gryphons (all navy, yellow numbers, white sleeves)

.....................1 Emily Davidson
10 Amanda Masson...5 Krystal Shaw...12 Tara Telford...2 Laura Twinem
14 Raquel Araujo...16 Karina DeFreitas...8 Melissa Bigg...13 Samira Sarvian-Somer
...............7 Melissa Smith (cpt)...21 Holly Bigg

Subs:...3 Jessica Hong (def)...4 Liz Hildebrank (mid)...9 Lauren Cantin (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Aaron Lauterbach

Game officials:...referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin...referee's assistants Sharon Welsby and Fabrizio Stasolla...no fourth official ...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st half:...game starts 10:59am...Lady Lynx defend north end on this extremely hot and humid morning with a bright sun in the south.
3 min...TLL McNicholl cornerkick from left is shorts and TLL Campbell 20 yard shot is wide left of net.
6 min...TLL Rodgers 28 yard shot from left is over net.
6 min...TLL Ghoneim chips 45 yard cross from right has goalie beat TLL McNicholl to pick up ball.
8 min...TLL Rolling 45 yard cross from right has TLL Campbell not able to control ball on left end line.
10 min...TLL Williams cross 25 yard near right end line through 6 yard box unplayed.
11 min...TLL Campbell 20 yard midair shot from left is wide right of net.
13 min...Lady Lynx Alyscha Mottershead GOAL...TLL Kinley McNicholl takes cornerkick from left that has Mottershead head ball from 7 yards into center of net below bar.
15 min...TLL Bujouves rolls through ball from 50 yards on right has goalie pick up before TLL McNicholl can get to it.
17 min...TLL McNicholl 30 yard shot from left bounces to goalie.
20 min...TLL Williams 30 yard through pass up middle rolls wide left of net.
21 min...TLL Waters 22 yard roller up middle smothers ball.
22 min...Lady Lynx Ashley Campbell GOAL...TLL Kinley McNicholl from 45 yards on left sends through ball pass to Campbell at 30 yards and she rolls 20 yard shot into right corner of net.
24 min...TLL McNicholl takes a 12 yard cross from the left through the box and TLL Williams fires an 8 yard shot wide right of the open net.
26 min...TLL Bujouves is injured in collision at TLL 40 yards.
30 min...TLL Mottershead takes a 30 yard freekick into the box from the right and has the ball knocked around in the 6 yard box and TLL Waters takes a 5 yard shot that deflects off the prone goalie and deflects for a cornerkick.
31 min...TLL McNicholl cornerkick from left has TLL Williams head 12 yarder that bounces to goalie.
33 min...TLL goalie catches 30 yard shot from right.
34 min...TLL McNicholl on a break down the middle has a 20 yard shot saved by the sliding goalie at 8 yards.
34 min...TLL Bujouves returns to field after 8 minutes.
35 min...TLL Rolling 35 yard shot from right is wide left.
41 min...TLL McNicholl 25 yard shot is cleared from box.
42 min...TLL Rodgers chips 30 yarder from right to left has TLL Campbell beat offside trap and have shot saved.
43 min...TLL Bujouves 35 yard shot up middle is wide of net.
44 min...TLL Rolling 45 yard cross from right has flying TLL Campbell misses connecting on 8 yard header.
45 min...half ends 11:46am.

2nd Half:...half starts 12:01pm.
halftime sub:...LG Canton replaces Davidson (the goalie) although Holly Bigg switched from midfielder to play goal.
46 min...LG goalie guilty of hand ball just outside box.
46 min...TLL McNicholl 22 yard freekick from left is high wide right of top corner of net.
48 min...TLL Campbell cross from right end line is cleared by defender.
49 min...TLL McNicholl rolls pass from 30 yards on left to TLL Waters who has 15 yard shot is saved by goalie.
50 min...Lady Lynx Nour Ghoneim GOAL...TLL Cathryn Rodgers at 25 yards sends forward pass to Ghoneim who shoots down middle from 18 yards into left side of net beyond goalie Holly Bigg.
51 min...Gryphons Lauren Cantin GOAL...LG Jessica Bigg at 20 yards in middle rolls ball to left to Cantin in clear to shoot 18 yarder that goalie Sarah Fiorini gets a hand to overhead at 8 yards but pushes ball into top right corner of net.
53 min...Lady Lynx Kinley McNicholl GOAL...McNicholl runs down left and gets ball back from sliding defender at 18 yards and keeps rushing and takes 8 yard shot from extreme left that goes in off inside of right post.
54 min...TLL sub...Young replaces Campbell.
55 min...TLL sub...Spencer replaces Bujouves.
56 min...TLL Williams 18 yard shot from extreme right is palmed onto top of net.
57 min...TLL McNicholl short cornerkick from right has ball sent back to her and her cross attempt is blocked.
60 min...Gryphons Melissa Bigg GOAL...LG Lauren Cantin takes cornerkick from left that has Bigg in middle head 6 yarder into right side of net.
63 min...TLL McNicholl 8 yard shot in middle is blocked by defender.
65 min...TLL Young receives pass at 22 yard and turns but flubs on shot that rolls to goalie.
66 min...LG Shaw 40 yard freekick from right has defender head ball wide right for cornerkick.
67 min...LG Melissa Bigg cornerkick from right has defender head ball over box wide left of net.
68 min...LG Cantin 5 yard freekick from extreme left is into outside webbing of net.
69 min...The referee chews out the LG coach for complaining about a call.
71 min...TLL Young 28 yard shot from left is caught by goalie in front of center of net.
73 min...TLL Young beats defender on left and cross from 12 yards has TLL McNicholl blast 12 yard shot that goalie bats away and rebound is cleared.
74 min...TLL Rodgers rolls 25 yard shot through crowd of players wide right.
75 min...LG sub...Hong replaces Araujo.
77 min...TLL Spencer 25 yard shot up middle bounces to goalie.
78 min...LG Cantin on break rolls 20 yard shot wide left of net.
81 min...TLL Rodgers touched back pass and shoots 22 yarder from left over net.
83 min...TLL Ghoneim shanks clearance attempt but wins freekick call at TLL 22 yards when pushed over and LG player hits post on 15 yard shot.
84 min...TLL Waters 30 yard shot down middle is caught by goalie.
87 min...TLL goalie runs out to 30 yards to clear through ball.
89 min...LG Telford clearance off TLL Young at 30 yards and ball deflects back for goalie to catch.
91 min...TLL Young rush on left and pass to TLL Rodgers who shoots 18 yarder that flying goalie bats down and crawls to smother ball at 5 yards.
92 min...game ends 12:49pm.

Final Score:....Toronto Lady Lynx......4......London Gryphons.....2....

Attendance was about 50 on this extremely hot and humid day with a bright sun in the south. There were no kids watching from summer camps like in past years but most were family members of the players.

Although the score appears close, the Lady Lynx had most of the ball possession and there was not a real threat at the end of the game that the Gryphons would tie. Gryphons switched goalies at halftime although I didn't notice the change until I saw the league game report.

Best non-scoring chances were at 24 minutes when TLL Kinley McNicholl took a 12 yard cross from the left through the box and TLL Kodee Williams fired an 8 yard shot wide right of the open net. 30 minutes had TLL Alyscha Mottershead take a 30 yard freekick into the box from the right and had the ball knocked around in the 6 yard box and TLL Nicole Waters take a 5 yard shot that deflected off the prone goalie and deflect for a cornerkick. 34 minutes and McNicholl on a break down the middle had a 20 yard shot saved by the sliding goalie at 8 yards. 73 minutes had TLL Shanoska Young beat a defender on the left and cross from 12 yards that had McNicholl blast a 12 yard shot that the goalie batted away.

Lady Lynx record improves to 6-3-1 and second place at the moment although they've played more games than their pursuers. Gryphons record falls to 0-8-2. They are in last place after losing to preannual doormats Rochester Ravens on the weekend.

I asked Lady Lynx head coach Danny Stewart about the playoff format. There are seven teams in the Central Conference. Ottawa Fury are hosting the final four tournament this year so they get a bye. One other spot in the Central Conference is available besides one spot each for the best Eastern and Western Conference teams. Four Central Conference teams will play down for that one spot. Toronto, Laval, Quebec City, and Hamilton have qualified with still two weekends left in the season. The best Central team will host a playdown tournament July 21st and 22nd with a semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. All but Hamilton can still earn enough points to be the host. Otherwise this is the last home game of the season for the Lady Lynx with two games to play to finish the regular season.

The benches of both teams were thin on a hot day when each team would like to play maximum substitutes. Stewart counted down six Lady Lynx players that are away at a Canadian U-20 national team training camp in Montreal this week. Goalie Sabrina D'Angelo, defenders Jade Kovacevic, Rachel Melhado, and Shelina Zadorsky, and midfielder Adriana Leon, and forward Cloe Lacasse are there. That's six of the 24 players at the camp playing for Toronto! 20 players will make the cut then there will be some exhibition games in Europe and then over to Japan for the Women's Under 20 World Cup between August 19th to September 8th.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Lady Lynx starters