July 15, 2012 PDL--Toronto Lynx vs Hamilton FC Rage (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Sunday July 15, 2012 PDL game between Toronto Lynx and Hamilton FC Rage played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 4:00pm.

Toronto Lynx (all white, black numbers)

................00 Ben Ur
20 Jon Parolini...4 Terence Smith...6 Eric Crawford...2 Callum Home
11 Andrew Deyrayeh...8 Aaron McKenna...13 Anthony Doran...10 Leigh Veidman (cpt)
...........7 Macca Wilde (cpt)...15 James Galvani

Subs:...14 Blair Stevenson (mid)...16 Jushua Portillo (fwd)...17 Jadon Bingham (mid)...23 Justin Gordon (fwd)...24 Cam Eisses (def)
team officials:...head coach Duncan Wilde

Hamilton FC Rage (all navy, white numbers)

...................13 Justin Silveira
7 Josh Bennett...6 Shane Keely...2 Shevie Powell (cpt)...5 Garret McConville
10 Will Grocott...8 Scott McCaleray...19 Matt Barcelona...20 Adam Camillo
.............15 Miro Miroslav...23 Andrew Ferguson

Subs:...1 Conor Hurley (gk)...4 Jack Warburton (--)...9 Mark Reilly (--)...12 Chris Brown (--)...18 Andrew Sacchetti (--) ...22 Marco Gennaccano (--)
team officials:...head coach Brett Mosen

Game officials:...referee Manuel Orellano...referee's assistants Jorge Martinez and Jeff Pearlston...no fourth official...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 3:58pm...Lynx defend north end. A pregame rain fell during the warm ups with lightning falling. By gametime it was still raining.
40 sec...Lynx Leigh Veidman GOAL...Lynx James Galvani in the pounding rain gives Veidman a pass at 20 yards and he takes 15 yard shot from right into left side of net past goalie Justin Silveira.
9 min...Rage Grocott 45 yard freekick from left is headed behind endline by Lynx Home from 6 yards.
10 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from left has goalie fumble ball but turn around and smother it.
11 min...Lynx Doran gets into right side of box but pushes defender out of way for whistle.
12 min...Rage Ferguson beats defender at 20 yards but pushes ball forward over right end line.
The rain stops and the skies clear up.
16 min...Rage player's shot deflects off defender at 5 yards and bounces wide right for goalie to grab.
17 min...Rage Bennett wins cornerkick sliding tackle against him knocks ball away.
18 min...Rage Ferguson cornerkick from right is over players in box.
20 min...Lynx Doran cross from 30 yards on right has goalie jump to punch away ball at 7 yards preventing Lynx Gilvani from getting header.
23 min...Lynx Galvani ducks against defender and heads 15 yarder on left to goalie.
24 min...Rage Miroslav taps ball to Lynx goalie from 6 yards as he tries to get between two defenders.
25 min...Lynx Leigh Veidman GOAL...Veidman on a run from left cutting towards goal slides body under defender to shot 12 yard roller into right corner of net.
26 min...Lynx Veidman receives a pass on the left and shanks a 15 yard shot high and wide left of net.
28 min...Rage Barcelona receives a pass from the left that rolls through everyone in the Lynx box and standing at 2 yards on the right post shoots wide left back across the 6 yard box.
36 min...Lynx Doran rush on right pushes ball forward for Lynx Gilvani who crosses low from 15 yards along from end line which has goalie block and smother.
37 min...Lynx Wilde cornerkick from left is over players and leaping Lynx Doran can't turn header from 20 yards on right.
42 min...Lynx McKenna whiffs on 18 yard shot when given pass down middle from Lynx Deyrayeh that's chipped over defenders at 25 yards.
43 min...Rage Miroslav cross from 20 yards on left has Lynx Home block with header at 15 yards.
46 min...Lynx Home 55 yard freekick from left has Lynx Gilvani on right heads 15 yarder wide right on colliding with defender.
46 min...half ends 4:44pm.

2nd Half:...starts 4:58pm.
halftime sub...Rage Braun replaces Barcelona.
46 min...Rage Ferguson has sliding defender concede cornerkick at 10 yards on left.
47 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from left is over players in box.
48 min...Rage Grocott tries for short side on 10 yard shot from left but goalie blocks.
51 min...Rage Camillo crosses from left end line but ball drifts behind net.
52 min...Rage Ferguson 25 yard freekick from right has defender head ball down and clear from 7 yards.
53 min...Lynx Doran (?) cross from 25 yards on right is behind net.
55 min...Lynx Galvani pushes pass on left over end line getting to it at 12 yards.
57 min...Rage Braun pushes pass forward for Rage Bennett who doesn't gain control but wins cornerkick.
57 min...Rage Ferguson cornerkick from right has goalie punch ball away in crowd of players. Rage Bennett gets to ball to blast 15 yard shot at same time as defender and ball is saved by diving goalie wide right of net.
59 min...Lynx sub...Portillo replaces Wilde. Wilde gives his captain's armband to Gilvani.
61 min...Lynx Home slides to poke ball from Rage Bennett who tumbles over him.
62 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from left has Rage McConville at 8 yards on right is headed over net.
63 min...Rage McCaleray takes a 6 yard shot into the net that was called back for offside. The referee tells off the Lynx coach who was complaining.
65 min...Rage sub...Reilly replaces Miroslav.
66 min...Rage Bennett rolls pass back to Rage Braun on right who chips 25 yard cross high and wide left of net.
67 min...Rage Reilly pushes back against defender and turns and takes 10 yard shot that's caught by goalie.
68 min...Rage Reilly cuts 10 yard roller from left that diving goalie pushes wide right for cornerkick.
68 min...Rage Ferguson cornerkick from right has defender head ball away.
70 min...Lynx sub...Gordon replaces Doran.
72 min...Rage Ferguson rushes on the left after receiving a pass and takes a 12 yard shot that the goalie makes a point blank save on him. Ferguson runs in for the rebound on the extreme left but shoots a 5 yarder into the outside webbing of the net.
73 min...Lynx goalie dives to get through ball before Rage Ferguson can get to it at 10 yards.
74 min...Rage Grocott 50 yard freekick from right has goalie catch 8 yard foot to ball from left.
76 min...Rage Powell is injured at Rage 32 yards.
79 min...Lynx sub...Bingham replaces Gilvani.
81 min...Rage Camillo 35 yard cross from left sideline has Rage Braun leap but he's not able to get header but wins cornerkick.
82 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from right has Lynx defender head ball across box from right and Rage Braun head 8 yarder over box.
83 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from left has Rage forward and goalie Lynx goalie collide on the right. The goalie is injured and Lynx are awarded a goalkick.
85 min...Rage Grocett takes a 30 yard freekick that has a Rage forward heads down in the box and Rage Keely kicks a 6 yard shot down the middle and over the net.
87 min...Rage Keely is centered pass and blasts 30 yarder down middle wide left of goal.
89 min...Lynx Portillo gets to take ball out of goalie's hands before he gets to it but pokes shot wide left.
90 min...Rage Ferguson cross on left end line has sliding Lynx 20 concedes cornerkick.
91 min...Rage player's cornerkick from left has Rage Braun boot 6 yarder forward wide left of net.
92 min...Rush Ferguson rush on left rolls cross from 25 yards and Rage Braun misses sidefoot rolling through his legs.
93:25 min...game ends 5:46pm.

Final Score:...Toronto Lynx.....2.........Hamilton FC Rage....0...

Attendance was about 50 on this hot and humid afternoon. The afternoon had seen a hard pregame rain that chased the teams back to the dressing rooms twice because of lightning. The game was started in the rain without introductions but had stopped by the 12 minute mark and cleared up until the game just ended before it started to rain again.

The Lynx scored early but were hanging on for the entire second half as any break outs they could mount were being called back offside. Rage comeback frustration was summed up at 92 minutes when Andrew Ferguson rushing on the left wing and rolling a cross from 25 yards near the end line and Chris Braun missing a sidefoot tap-in from 4 yards with the ball rolling through his legs.

Ben Ur earned the shutout for the Lynx. He had to be sharp the entire game to earn the win.

Referee Manuel Orellano didn't give out any cards this game and the game never lost its form. Lots of whistles for challenges but nothing vicious. Rage players shouting "hand ball" on every Lynx block in the first 20 minutes made later calls harder to convince the referee.

Best non-scoring chances were at 26 minutes when Leigh Veidman received a pass on the left and shanked a 15 yard shot high and wide left of net after the restart from his second goal. 28 minutes had Rage Matt Barcelona receive a pass from the left that rolled through everyone in the Lynx box and standing at 2 yards on the right post shot wide left back across the 6 yard box. 63 minutes had Rage Scott McCaleray take a 6 yard shot into the net that was called back for offside. 72 minutes had Rage Andrew Ferguson rush on the left after receiving a pass and take a 12 yard shot that the goalie made a point blank save on. Ferguson ran in for the rebound on the extreme left but shot the 5 yarder into the outside webbing of the net. 85 minutes had Rage Will Grocett take a 30 yard freekick that had a Rage forward head down in the box and Rage Shane Keely kicked a 6 yard shot down the middle and over the net. 92 minutes as described earlier had Braun miss and the game was over.

This was the final game of the season for the Lynx who finish on a four game win streak and five games undefeated. Their record is 6 wins, 8 losses, 2 ties, with 22 goals for and 25 against. They position 6th out of the 8 teams in the Great Lakes Division. (Top three teams in the division make the playoffs). They were only three points 'out' of making the playoffs and five points out of second place as 2nd to 6th were only separated by five points. Only 1st place Michigan Bucks at 13-1-2 had an outstanding record. That team beat the MLS Chicago Fire in US Open Cup competition. Lynx started the season by losing their first five games.

Rage finished the season with a 4-9-3, identical to Chicago Inferno but were placed last (8th) because of a worse goals for/against record.

The honour roll of Lynx players was supposed to have been announced before the game but the rain postponed that until the start of the second half.
Defender of the Year--Callum Home
Midfielder of the Year--Aaron McKenna
Forward of the Year and Leading Goalscorer--James Galvani
Team MVP--Leigh Veidman (yes this choice was decided BEFORE today's game started).
Jon Parolini was introduced as a Canadian Olympic roster player and Macca Wilde as Canadian Under 20 roster player. All these players were starters in today's game. Six of the starters were introduced as grads of Toronto Lynx Juniors. --defenders Terence Smith, Eric Crawford, and Jon Parolini, and midfielders Andrew Deyrayeh, Anthony Doran, and Macca Wilde.

I asked Lynx head coach Duncan Wilde for the reasons why the team turned their season around in the second half. He said they started scoring goals! (right as only 5 goals in their first 6 games). So many of their losses were by one goal. (five games they lost by one goal). He added they started playing with a 3-5-2 system so they would always have two forwards and an extra midfielder except for the last two games against London and Hamilton because those teams played a 4-4-2 and they needed to stop their wingers. He agreed that one more week of preseason would have helped the team gel sooner but that is always a problem of the PDL with players just finishing up their college years.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Lynx pose for team picture before their warm-up.