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Result of the Saturday March 31st, 2012 MLS game between Toronto FC and Columbus Crew played at BMO Field in Toronto at 2:00pm.

Toronto FC (all red, white names and numbers, black shoulders and sleeves)

........................30 Milos Kocic
27 Richard Eckersley...2 Logan Emory...20 Ty Harden...5 Ashtone Morgan
.........18 Nick Soolsma...6 Julian de Guzman (cpt)...23 Terry Dunfield
........9 Ryan Johnson...14 Danny Koevermans...7 Joao Plata

Subs:...41 Brian Rowe (gk)...8 Eric Avila (mid)...11 Luis Silva (mid)...12 Adrian Cann (def)...21 Aaron Maund (def)...33 Junior Borgos (mid)
team officials:...head coach Aron Winter

Columbus Crew (all yellow, black names and numbers)

.......................30 Andy Gruenbaum
21 Sebastian Miranda...16 Eric Gehrig...14 Chad Marshall (cpt)...29 Shaun Francis
15 Kirk Urso...12 Eddie Gaven...10 Milovan Mirosevic...7 Bernardo Anor
............17 Olman Vargas...20 Emilio Renteria

Subs:...1 William Hesmer (gk)...3 Josh Williams (def)...6 Tony Tchani (mid)...13 Ethan Finlay (fwd)...22 Cole Grossman (mid) ...32 Nemonja Vukovic (def)...34 Aaron Schoenfeld (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Robert Warzycha

Game officials:...referee Geoff Gamble...referee's assistants Eric Proctor and Kevin Duliba...fourth official Silviu Petrescu... (all black uniforms).

1st Half:...game starts 2:09pm...TFC defend north end on this cold and afternoon with a bright sun in the southwest.
2 min...TFC Soolsma cross from 30 yards near right sideline flies well behind net.
3 min...CC Mirosevic run to left and cuts 25 yard roller from center that's smothered by goalie at 8 yards.
6 min...CC Anor 40 yard cross from left sideline is caught by goalie drifting out to 10 yards even with right post.
7 min...TFC Eckersley rolls freekick across from right at 50 yards that has TFC de Guzman chip ball down middle from 45 yards that TFC Emory in crowd of players in box head 10 yarder that goalie easily catches.
8 min...TFC Eckersley tripped at CC 40 yard line on right sideline by CC Anor. TFC Soolsma freekick has defender on edge of box head away.
10 min...TFC Johnson low cross from 20 yards left side of box has CC Gehrig partially clear up middle at 6 yards and TFC Koevermans 15 yard low shot up middle that's saved by diving goalie on right post.
11 min...TFC Soolsma heads down long pass up middle and 12 yard shot from right is into outside mesh of net.
12 min...CC Renteria flips over side boards at 35 yards in TFC end with bump with TFC Morgan as they were both chasing ball. He needs the trainer but returned to the game with an injured arm.
14 min...TFC Eckersley cross from 35 yards on right has CC Gehrig duck to head ball behind net in front of TFC Koevermans at 10 yards.
15 min...TFC Soolsma cornerkick from right has defender in middle head ball away.
16 min...CC goalie rushes to right side of box to beat TFC Soolsma and pick up long cross from 50 yards on left sent in by TFC Emory.
16 min...TFC goalie charges to 15 yards to grab CC Francis 70 yard through ball from left ahead of charging CC Renteria.
19 min...TFC Morgan 35 yard cross shot from left sideline is ahead of charging TFC players and bounces to goalie.
20 min...CC Urso cornerkick from left has defender in 6 yard box head ball wide left.
21 min...CC Urso cornerkick from left is over players in box and CC Marshall header from 8 yards near right end line is wide right of net.
23 min...TFC Morgan cross from 30 yards on left has leaping defender head ball away from 8 yards behind TFC Koevermans.
24 min...TFC de Guzman cross from 30 yards has TFC Koevermans called offside as he crashes into goalie at 7 yards.
25 min...CC Urso cornerkick from right has defenders clear from box.
26 min...CC Vargas header offside at 12 yards after chip pass from right sent in by CC player from 25 yards.
30 min...TFC Eckersley cross from 45 yards on right has TFC Johnson crash into goalie at 15 yards as both jump for ball and goalie tries to catch.
33 min...CC Gavin 45 yard shot down middle bounces to goalie on right side.
35 min...TFC Soolsma cornerkick from right drifts behind net before it lands on right side of box.
35 min...CC Renteria crosses from near right end line and TFC Emory heads ball away on bounce before CC Vargas can get to it at 12 yards.
36 min...TFC Emory hurt clutching head on ground at TFC 45 yards although he looked like he hurt his knee in check of CC Renteria.
38 min...TFC Soolsma cross from 22 yards on right has leaping TFC Koevermans in center head ball wide left from 8 yards.
39 min...CC Urso freekick from 28 yards on left has TFC Emory head away ball at 6 yards and CC Anor head from edge of box down middle to CC Vargas wide right to right end line and TFC Harden slides in and trips up Vargas. Referee Geoff Gamble calls a Penalty kick.
41 min...CC Milovan Mirosevic Penalty kick is shot low to left post and diving goalie pushes ball wide left of post with right hand at 3 yards.
41 min...CC Urso cornerkick from left has play whistled down in box after TFC Johnson heads ball away.
43 min...TFC Soolsma crosses over from 20 yards near right sideline and CC player outjumps TFC Koevermans to head ball across box and TFC Plata charges left to save ball and his cross deflects off CC Marshall to win cornerkick.
43 min...TFC Plata cornerkick from left has defender on left side of box head ball away.
44 min...CC YELLOW card...Gaven earns it for grabbing TFC Plata at CC 45 yards on left as he cuts in.
45 min...TFC Dunfield 50 yard freekick from left has goalie knocked over again by leaping TFC Koevermans as he pushes defender into him at 8 yards but ball flies wide right. Play was whistled down for the collision.
46 min...CC Francis charges to pass and blasts 20 yard shot from left over goalie and just over net.
46 min...half ends 2:55pm.

Halftime entertainment:...there was no halftime entertainment.

2nd Half:...starts 3:11pm...the weather is the same with the bright sun now in the south west.
Halftime sub:...TFC Silva replaces Soolsma. TFC de Guzman now plays as a central defender.
45 min...CC Renteria cross from 22 yards on right has TFC de Guzman head clearance ball through box to left.
47 min...TFC Eckersley plays four cross attempts into CC box and TFC win freekick when TFC de Guzman upended outside box.
48 min...TFC Dunfield 25 yard freekick from right is chipped and has CC Marshall leap and head ball forward down middle from 6 yards.
49 min...TFC Johnson cross from 22 yards near left end line is headed out for throw-in by defender.
50 min...TFC Silva pushes pass forward up middle from 45 yards and TFC Koevermans one-touch low 25 yard shot up middle is blocked by sprawling goalie who then smothers at 8 yards.
50 min...TFC Plata cross from 25 yards on rush down right wins cornerkick when CC Miranda heads ball behind net from 7 yards.
51 min...TFC Plata cornerkick from right has defender clear.
54 min...TFC Plata cross from 45 yards on right has CC Gehrig head away ball from 15 yards in box.
55 min...CC Bernardo Anor GOAL...TFC Julian de Guzman with ball in middle at CC 40 yards has sliding CC Mirosevic poke ball away and Anor take possession. Anor races up middle and taps pass from 28 yards to left for CC Olman Vargas at 20 yards who taps ball back to Anor at 20 yards who pushes ball too far forward and TFC Logan Emory make clearance attempt at 15 yards and ball deflect off Anor's leg and he now finds himself alone at 12 yards and blasts 10 yard shot over sprawling goalie at 6 yards and into top center of net just under bar.
56 min...CC Renteria chips pass from 30 yards on right that flying TFC Emory heads away at 15 yards in front of CC forwards.
60 min...TFC Johnson rolls pass from 25 yards on left over to TFC Silva who blasts low 25 yard roller through middle that's wide left of net.
60 min...TFC sub...Avila replaces Dunfield.
61 min...CC Francis cross from 28 yards on left has CC Mirosevic leap and heads ball over net from 8 yards.
64 min...CC Gehrig steps over to clear ball at 12 yards just in front of charging TFC Plata up middle rushing for short centering pass from TFC Silva from 20 yards.
65 min...TFC Johnson gets short header from TFC Koevermans and tries to get around CC Marshall in left side of box but Marshall clears ball behind net.
66 min...TFC Plata cornerkick from left has goalie step forward to catch ball overhead in crowd in box .
66 min...CC Gaven takes possession at CC 40 yards and makes long run up middle and passes from 30 yards over to right for CC Renteria and his low 20 yard roller from right is just wide left of post.
70 min...TFC de Guzman rolls ball from 30 yards forward on right and charging TFC Avila rushes past defenders on edge of box to take possession in all alone on right and kick low 8 yarder on sharp angle that deflects off sliding goalie at 6 yards and ball pops up and defender clears from box.
71 min...TFC Eckersley cross from 13 yards on right deflects off defender for cornerkick.
71 min...TFC Plata cornerkick from right is through box as TFC Koevermans at 7 yards misses turning back for it and defender clears.
72 min...TFC Plata cross from right has TFC Silva not able to turn leaping header at 9 yards on right.
72 min...TFC Plata rolls ball forward from 22 yards on right and TFC Silva crosses from 10 yards on right that pops off sliding defender. TFC Johnson gets ball at 10 yards on left and one-touch mid air kick back across box has CC Anor duck and head ball out of box.
72 min...TFC YELLOW card...de Guzman earns it for pulling down CC Urso at CC 35 yards up middle as he was breaking out.
74 min...CC Vargas bicycle kick at 18 yards deflects off TFC Emory standing right behind him. TFC Mirosevic loops 28 yard shot down middle that TFC goalie catches.
75 min...TFC Johnson rush on left and cross from 25 yards has CC Francis at 6 yards on right head away in front of waiting TFC Kouvermans. TFC Johnson recovers ball at 30 yards on left and cross has defender head away on edge of box. TFC Eckersley blasts 40 yarder up middle over players and over net.
77 min...TFC Johnson eludes CC Gaven and CC Miranda on left sideline at 35 yards and rushes in to cross 25 yarder from left that TFC Koevermans heads from 5 yards along right end line out to TFC Silva who heads 6 yarder onto top of the net.
77 min...TFC Avila cornerkick from right has CC Marshall on right side head ball out of box. TFC Avila recovers ball at 35 yards on right sideline and sends in low boucing cross that TFC Koevermans deflect off his knee at 18 yards and too far ahead of him before it crosses end line for goalkick.
78 min...CC sub...Williams replaces Miranda.
78 min...CC goalie retreats to beat TFC Plata to bouncer into box.
79 min...TFC Eckersley dekes upfield and rolls ball that TFC Silva gets at his feet at 22 yards but defender taps ball back for goalie to clear.
79 min...CC sub...Schoenfeld replaces Renteria.
80 min...TFC Morgan cross from 25 yards on left has TFC Koevermans not able to turn header at 7 yards and ball bounce to right end line where TFC Plata cross high from 12 yards and CC defender heads ball away from 7 yards.
81 min...TFC Silva in middle rolls ball up middle from 25 yards and CC goalie charges to smother ball at 8 yards on right and TFC Avila trips over him.
83 min...CC Anor pushed over on CC rush at TFC 35 yard by TFC Eckersley when he doesn't have the ball.
83 min...TFC sub...Burgos replaces de Guzman.
85 min...CC sub...Finlay replaces injured Anor.
85 min...CC YELLOW card...Schoenfeld earns it for hip check on TFC Morgan as he jumped for header at TFC 45 yards.
86 min...TFC Burgos takes low 30 yard shot up middle has TFC Silva deflect ball wide left from 15 yards.
88 min...CC Vargas long rush up right wing and low cross from 15 yards has TFC Emory get foot in to stop at 6 yards to prevent CC player from getting tap-in.
89 min...CC Mirosevic 30 yard chip shot from right is wide left but not out and TFC Eckersley clears.
90 min...TFC Koevermans heads ball down from 25 yards on left and goalie picks up wide right of net.
90 min...TFC Plata chips 30 yarder down middle into box for crowd of CC players to clear at 15 yards but defender trips and charging TFC Avila takes ball and takes low cross from 8 yards on left that deflects off defender's foot and rolls for cornerkick on left.
91 min...TFC Burgos short cornerkick from left is over to TFC Plata who runs towards end line but rolls ball back to Burgos and CC Milosevic checks him off ball at 15 yards and clears.
93 min...TFC Burgos long high cross from 60 yards on right has goalie take off head of TFC Koevermans at 10 yards.
94 min...game ends 4:00pm.

Final Score:.....Toronto FC......0..........Columbus Crew...........1........

Attendance was announced as 18944. The weather was forecast to be cold, windy, and rainy much like last week. It had snowed earlier today but the sun came out and it had warmed up just before game time and there was no rain during the game.

Man of the Match (which is always a TFC player) was announced as defender Richard Eckersley. He had some important checks to stop rushes and some good rushes and crosses from the wing.

Julian de Guzman dropped back to central defender for TFC in the second half like another designated player Torsten Frings who's currently injured. Both those players are normally holding midfielders but Toronto has had problems defending this season. He was quite effective in limiting Crew chances.

Logan Emory was a starter and played as a central defender today replacing the injured Miguel Aceval who was injured in Wednesday's game. He played well with clearing headers and slides to clear the ball but was blamed for the Crew goal because commentators said he should have put up stronger challenge to clear the ball.

The TFC defence was stronger today then last week and were rarely caught up on any Crew rush. This now puts a spotlight on their offence which has scored only once in three MLS league games.

TFC fall to 0-3 in MLS Regular season play and after this weekend are the only league team that has 0 points. Maybe the glory of advancing in the CONCACAF Champions League is distracting their concentration. If they had have been knocked out of that competition earlier they would have missed the home game against Mexican team Club Santos Laguna and would have had a full week's rest. Next Wednesday they have the return leg of that series so may be tired again for their next MLS game next Saturday on the road against Montreal Impact.

Both today's game and last Wednesday's, TFC only listed six substitutions. Half hour after this game ended they were playing an MLS Reserves game on the same field with a team of 12. They weren't all Academy players or subs from this game. I would have thought they would have listed someone just to use on the bench as a bluff. The team is missing defender Doneil Henry and midfielder Matt Stinson who are away with the Canadian U23 team attempting to qualify for the Summer Olympics.

Before the game dozens of children walked to the center of the field to lay out a huge banner for the BMO Bank in the center circle. All was going well until the south end sprinkler came on and soaked half the kids.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

stats from torontofc.ca, MLSsoccer.com and espn.go.com

Major Events

Goals and Assists
Club  Time  Player  (Assisted by)
CLB    56   Bernardo Anor

Match Info
Referee: Geoff Gamble
Attendance: 18944

Disciplinary
Club  Player               Reason  Action  Time
CLB   Eddie Gaven          Foul    Yellow  45
TOR   Julian de Guzman     Foul    Yellow  74
CLB   Aaron Schoenfeld     Foul    Yellow  86

Lineups
 
Toronto FC
G  30  Milos Kocic;
D   2  Logan Emory;   D  20  Ty Harden;   D  5  Ashtone Morgan;   D  27  Richard Eckersley;
M  23  Terry Dunfield  (61 min...M  8  Eric Avila);   M  6  Julián De Guzman  (84 min...M  33  Junior Burgos;  M  7  Joao Plata Cotera;  
F  18  Nick Soolsma  (45 min...F 11  Luis Silva);  F  14  Danny Koevermans  F   9  Ryan Johnson

Substitutes
G  41  Brian Rowe;  D  12  Adrian Cann;   M  8  Eric Avila;   D  21  Aaron Maund;  M  33  Junior Burgos;  M  11  Luis Silva

Columbus
G  30  Andy Gruenebaum;
D  14  Chad Marshall;   D  16  Eric Gehrig;   D  29  Shaun Francis;  D  21  Sebastián Miranda (79 min...Joshua Williams);
M  15  Kirk Urso;  M  10  Milovan Mirosevic;  M  7  Bernardo Anor (85 min...13  Ethan Finlay);  M  12  Eddie Gaven;
F  20  Emilio Renteria (80 min...34  Aaron Schoenfeld);  F  17  Olman Vargas

Substitutes
G  1  Will Hesmer;  M  6  Tony Tchani;  D  3  Joshua Williams;  M  22  Cole Grossman;  F  13  Ethan Finlay;  F  34  Aaron Schoenfeld;  
D  32  Nemanja Vukovic;

General Game Stats

Match Stats
Toronto FC              Columbus Crew
 14   Attempts on Goal        10
  3   Shots on Target          4
  7   Shots off Target         5
  4   Blocked Shots            1
  8   Corner Kicks             4
 14   Fouls                   12
 27   Open Play Crosses       11
  1   Offsides                 4
  1   Yellow Cards             2
  0   Red Cards                0
 41   Duels Won               32
 56%  Duels Won %             43%
439   Total Pass             365
 74%  Passing Accuracy %      70%
54.9% Possession              45.1%


TFC starters


Crew starters


TFC Danny Koevermans (14), Ryan Johnson (9), and Terry Dunfield (23) line up for kick off.


TFC Julian de Guzman and Logan Emory slide to take ball from Crew Emilio Renteria.


TFC Joao Plata takes a shot.


TFC Ashtone Morgan gets ball.


Crew player pop up the ball for the TFC goalie Milos Kocic to catch.


Crew Milovan Mirosevic takes Penalty kick that diving goalie Milos Kocic blocks.


TFC Richard Eckersley (27) takes throw-in.

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