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Results and details of the Wednesday June 5, 2013 W-League between Toronto Lady Lynx and London Gryphons played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 3:00pm.

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

....................1 Kailen Sheridan
24 Kayla Agonso...6 Noelle Leon-Palmer...4 Rachel Melhado (cpt)...19 Jade Kovacevic
13 Jordyn Listro...18 Rebecca Pongetti...5 Ashley Campbell...14 Nicole Waters
.............17 Kim Pimitroff...7 Oni Bernard (cpt)

Subs:...8 Rebecca Quinn (mid)...9 Olivia Lukasewich (def)...11 Furtuna Velaj (fwd)...12 Taylor MacIver (fwd)...20 Kadeisha Buchanan (mid) ...21 Natalie Bukovec (def)...22 Amy Lougran (fwd)
team official:...head coach Danny Stewart

London Gryphons (navy socks, shorts, and shirts, yellow numbers, white sleeves)

....................1 Miranda Horn
19 Krista Lee...20 Melanie Pickert...7 Mackenzie Guindon...5 Juave Odendaal
3 Alex Charabois...12 Breana Charabois...23 Chantel Campbell...4 Lauren Winquist (cpt)
............2 Jessie Boujevies...15 Nicole Lyon

Subs:...00 Redeal Badek (gk)...10 Jennifer Rowe (mid)...13 Jen Bently (def)...14 Laura Twinem (def)...16 Marissa Oliveiria (fwd)
team official:...head coach Abe Hadzic

Game officials:...referee Niquita Amirkhanian...referee's assistants Allison Enright and Miryam Jabali...(all black uniforms, neon yellow trim)

1st Half:...game starts 3:05pm...TLL defend south end on this mild afternoon with a strong breeze from the east.
3 min...LG goalie catches 25 yarder down middle.
4 min...LG Winquest 8 yard shot near far left is wide left of net.
9 min...LG goalie catches low shot along right end line.
14 min...TLL goalie beats LG Lyon to through ball pass to pick up ball.
22 min...TLL Afonso receives long pass over to her on right wing as she charges forward. Her first touch at 15 yards pushes ball over end line.
25 min...TLL Afonso 30 yard shot from right is over players in box and goalie catches.
28 min...TLL Pongetti 35 yard freekick from right has LG Boujevies head ball away at 8 yards in crowd of players.
31 min...TLL Campbell heads 15 yarder over net on pop up on 25 yard shot down middle.
34 min...TLL Pimitroff hurt as she and LG Bernard kick ball at the same time at LG 18 yard line.
36 min...TLL sub...Quinn replaces Pimitroff who's still injured.
43 min...TFC Afonso 30 yard chip from right is caught by goalie on left post.
45 min...TLL Pongetti 25 yard freekick from right is cleared.
46 min...TLL Jordyn Listro cross from 15 yards on left just inside LG box hits hand of LG Melanie Pickert standing 2 yards away and referee Niquita Amirkhanian signals for a Penalty kick.
47 min...TLL Rebecca Pongetti shoots Penalty kick low to left and diving goalie Miranda Horn blocks shot and smothers ball.
48 min...LG Lyon gets to cross on left but pushes ball forward for goalie to smother.
48 min...half ends 3:52pm.

2nd Half:...starts 4:09pm.
46 min...LG Campbell cornekrick from left drifts behind net.
47 min...LG Boujevies 30 yard shot down middle is caught by goalie.
48 min...TLL Listro 25 yard cross from far right is caught by goalie.
51 min...TLL Listro cross from right has TLL Quinn at 6 yards boot at ball but it hits her hand so TLL Palmer follow up shot into net is whistled down.
52 min...LG sub...Bently replaces Lyon.
55 min...TLL sub...MacIver replaces Bernard.
.........TLL sub...Lukasewich replaces Listro.
56 min...LG Breanna Charabois is checked by TLL Melhado on right just inside TLL box.
63 min...LG Pickert 38 yard freekick from left is caught but dropped by goalie but play is whistled down for pushing in box.
65 min...TLL sub...Buchanan replaces Pongetti.
68 min...TLL Kovacevic charges on right to forward pass and shoots 12 yarder into right webbing of net.
69 min...TLL Campbell is touched back pass at 28 yards and blasts shot over crowd of players well over net.
71 min...LG Pickert pops header back to goalie at 25 yards to break up 2 on 1 rush down middle.
74 min...TLL sub...Loughran replaces Kovacevic.
75 min...LG Campbell 45 yard low shot through players up middle and rolls to goalie.
76 min...TLL Buchanan turns and fires as she's held for 20 yard shot that goalie smothers at 5 yards.
76 min...TLL Buchanan shanks 22 yard shot from right well wide right of net.
78 min...LG Campbell cornerkick from right has LG Alex Charabois at left edge of box heads ball and defender guarding riht post heads ball away.
79 min...TLL Palmer catches LG Alex Charabois who'd beat her at 30 yards for breakaway on edge of box.
81 min...TLL Kadeisha Buchanan GOAL...TLL Rachel Melhado passes ball forward from 40 yards on left and Buchanan who was covered by defender pokes at ball when falling at 18 yards and ball has enough strength after getting by sliding goalie at 15 yards to roll over goal line into right side of net.
82 min...LG Pickert 55 yard freekick down middle is allowed to bounce wide left by goalie.
86 min...LG sub...Oliveria replaces Breanna Charabois.
87 min...LG Boujevies pushes ball ahead while getting through check at 22 yards and ball rolls for goalie to pick up.
93:02 min...game ends 4:57pm.

Final Score:......Toronto Lady Lynx.......1.......London Gryphons.......0............

Attendance was about 50 on this mild day with a hazy sun in the west.

I had seen the first half of the PDL Toronto Lynx vs Michigan Bucks at Crescent School on the east side of the city and knowing the traffic in this city I was going to miss the last half or first half of one of the games unless I could teleport. There were about 250 kids at that game which was expected as the game was played right on the school grounds. I was expecting the Lady Lynx game to be a similar school day promotion but it was just parents of both teams watching.

There were no cards given out by referee Niquita Amirkhanian but none were deserved because the game wasn't rough. TLL Kim Pimitroff had to replaced when she was injured at 34 minutes when she and LG Mackenzie Guindon kicked at the ball at the same time.

Both teams had problems with keeping the ball in play because it would roll fast on the field turf and be out of the bounds before the players could get to it.

The Lady Lynx defence was sharp with Kayla Afonso, Noell-Leon Palmer, Rachel Melhado and Jade Kovacevic covering for each other if one of them was beaten on a play. Goalie Kailen Sheridan earned the shutout without having to be spectacular.

Best non-scoring chances were at 31 minutes when TLL Ashley Campbell got to a 25 yard shot down the middle and headed the ball over the net from 15 yards. 51 minutes had TLL Jordyn Listro cross from right and TLL Rebecca Quinn at 6 yards booted at the ball but it hit her hand so when Noel-Leon Palmer followed up with an 8 yard shot into the net the play was correctly called back. 78 minutes had the Gryphons best chance with Chantel Campbell taking a cornerkick from the right which LG Alex Charabois on right edge of box got to the partial clearance and headed the ball on net but a defender guarding the right post headed the ball away from danger.

Goal scorer was Kadeisha Buchanan who came on at 65 minutes and played as a forward. I had watched her and got a post game interview on Sunday after the Women's International friendly between Canada and the USA. In that game she earned her first senior cap and she played all 90 minutes but played as a defender and her speed kept the Americans at bay for most of the game.

I had no idea that Buchanan was a player for the Lady Lynx until I saw the lineup for today. After the game I saw her and goalkeeping coach Joe Nucifora who's been around since Toronto Inferno days back in 1998 walking with the team back to the dressing room. I told them at the game on Sunday organizers had given me a copy of the 2013 Canada Soccer Yearbook and it had individual pictures of the current player pool. That was 33 pictures, From old notes of mine I counted 16 of those players who had played for the Lady Lynx or Inferno team. Now today Kadeisha (who was not listed in the guide) would bring the count to 17 out of 34 so 50% of the current Canadian national team has played for those Toronto teams!

Since their first home game back on May 26th when they tied Laval 1-1 the Lady Lynx went on a three game road trip. Wednesday the 29th they tied K-W United 0-0 then Saturday beat Quebec City 3-0 and Sunday beat Laval 1-0. Today's win moves them to 3 wins, 2 ties, 0 losses for a great start.

Next game is at home this Saturday at 5:00pm against Ottawa Fury--a team who usually has their number and is currently the defending W-League champions in all North America.

Playoffs spots are harder to earn this year in the Central Conference. Since Ottawa is not hosting this year's Final Four tournament there is no direct host spot so will they have to compete in a three team playoff to be the Conference champs and earn a spot. With no Rochester Ravens team this year there are only six teams in the Central Conference.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Lady Lynx starters