July 27, 2013 MLS Reserves League--Toronto FC Reserves vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday July 27, 2013 MLS Reserve League/USL Pro game between Toronto FC Reserves and Pittsburgh Riverhounds played at BMO Field in Toronto at 4:45pm.

Toronto FC Reserves (all red, white names and numbers) although some of the players didn't have names on their uniforms.

............24 Stefan Frei (cpt)
28 Mark Bloom...6 Gale Agbossounde...55 Eli Roubos...33 Ryan Richter
23 Alvaro Rey...8 Kyle Bekker...18 Michael Thomas...16 Darel Russell
..........9 Emery Welshman...34 Manny Aparicio

Subs:...40 Quillan Roberts (gk)...26 Dylan Sacramento (fwd)...35 Chris Mannella (mid)...39 Daniel Jodah (mid)
team officials:...head coach Ryan Nelson

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (all amber, black names and numbers)

.....................1 Richard Hunter Gilstrap
6 Richard Costanzo...5 Sterling Flunder...15 Andrew Marshall...8 Michael Green
20 Matthew Dallman...14 Seth C'deBaca...10 Kevin Kerr...2 Robert Vincent
.............12 Mike R Seth...18 Jose Angulo

Subs:...0 Gregory Thomas Blum (gk)...3 Anthony Vazquez (def)...9 Stefan Lundberg (mid)...11 Felix Motagalvan (mid)
...16 Ryan Kinne (mid)...17 Jhonny Arteaga (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Justin Evans

Game officials:...Referee David Barrie...referee's asssistants Gianni Facchini and Peter Manastyrsky...fourth official Yusri Rudolph
...(all black uniforms, neon yellow trim)

1st Half:...game starts 4:52pm...TFCR defend north end on this warm, overcast day, with rain starting during this half.
1 min...PR Seth 10 yard shot is wide right.
2 min...PR goalie catches 25 yard bouncer from right.
5 min...PR Flunder cornerkick from right is headed through box.
5 min...TFCR Bloom 20 yard shot from right is just over the bar.
10 min...TFCR Bekker cornerkick from right is over players in box.
11 min...TFCR Rey blasts 35 yard shot from right well high and wide left of net.
12 min...PR Green cross from 35 yards on left is high and through box.
15 min...TFCR Welshman cuts around defender on right for low 22 yard shot caught by diving goalie.
19 min...TFCR Welshman tries to pass over to TFCR Aparicio on run to edge of box but defender clears.
22 min...PR Costanzo 15 yard shot from right bends wide right through box.
22 min...PR Angulo low 28 yard shot from left is caught by goalie.
23 min...TFCR Russell blasts 25 yarder from left that's just bent wide right of the post.
25 min...PR goalie runs out to right side of box to smother through ball.
26 min...TFCR Bloom low cross from right has defender clear.
27 min...PR Dallman leaves field for treatment of a cut forehead.
28 min...TFC Richter cross from 25 yards on left is caught by goalie charging forward.
29 min...PR Dallman 30 yard freekick from left is just over bar.
30 min...TFCR goalie slides left to smother ball and injures sliding PR Dallman trying for through ball.
32 min...TFCR Bekker chips 50 yard freekick up middle that's headed away.
33 min...PR Kerr cross from left has PR Dallman side kick bouncer from 20 yards to goalie.
34 min...TFCR Aparicio from 15 yards on right chips but is wide left of the net.
35 min...PR Dallman cornerkick from right is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
37 min...TFCR Russell chips 20 yarder from right that defender heads for cornerkick.
38 min...TFCR Bekker cornerkick from right has ball headed away.
39 min...PR Jose Angulo GOAL...PR Mike Seth taps ball to left rather than shoot past defender and Angulo shot from 15 yards has flying goalie Stefan Frei get a partial block on but ball bounces under him and into right corner of net.
41 min...TFC Rey 28 yard cross from left bounces to goalie.
42 min...PR Vincent cornerkick from left has defenders head ball away.
45 min...half ends 5:37pm.

2nd Half:...starts 5:48pm...it has stopped raining and won't rain for the rest of the game.
halftime subs:...TFC Mannella replaces Bekker.
................TFC Jodah replaces Rey.
45 min...PR Angulo heads to ball with back to net from 6 yards when he received cross from right and TFCR goalie catches near right post.
48 min...TFCR Mannella pushes pass too far forward for TFCR Aparicio on right and ball rolls over end line.
49 min...TFCR Aparicio checked off ball in box before getting away shot.
52 min...PR Dallman 40 yard freekick down middle after ball touched back to him and his 35 yard blast is off TFCR Richter in midsection injurying him.
55 min...PR Dallman 30 yard cross from right is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
56 min...PR Flunder rides out TFCR Welshman but concedes cornerkick.
56 min...TFCR Agbossoumonde makes good defensive stop on low cross pass from right.
57 min...TFCR Aparicio from right has TFCR Thomas low 25 yard shot blocked by defender. TFCR player's 15 yard follow up shot is just over the bar.
58 min...PR Costanzo cross from right is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
63 min...PR Dallman low cross from right is caught by goalie.
64 min...TFCR Aparicio 35 yard freekick from left is bounced through box in front of players wide right for goalkick.
66 min...TFCR Aparicio blasts 40 yard shot after cutting to middle is well over net.
67 min...PR Costanzo cross from 25 yards on far right is caught by goalie.
68 min...TFCR Thomas 28 yard freekick from right has defender head ball out of bounds for throw-in.
69 min...PR sub...Lundberg replaces Vincent.
71 min...PR Lundberg long run on left then cuts towards goal but checked off ball in box.
74 min...PR Angulo cross from left end line is through box and PR Seth tips 3 yarder wide right as he squeezes throug defenders.
75 min...TFCR RED card...Manny Aparicio earns a direct ejection from referee David Barrie for a high kick on the edge of the TFCR box. [Barrie answered my questions the next day while being 4th official in a CSL league game that he gave it for a dangerous follow through which involved stepping on the player's ankle after the ball was already out of the area].
76 min...TFCR goalie catches 35 yard shot from right.
77 min...PR Seth has shot deflected off him and back to TFCR goalie.
78 min...PR sub...Kinne replaces Dallman.
.........PR sub...Arteaga replaces Seth.
79 min...TFCR Jodah bounces 35 yard shot up middle that goalie catches.
80 min...PR Costanzo cross from 28 yards on right has PR Lundberg put leg back to flick 5 yarder from left that goalie catches.
83 min...TFCR Thomas cornerkick from right has defender head away and starts a PR fast break. PR Arteaga lines up and shoots 8 yarder down middle off left post and ball is cleared.
85 min...TFCR Thomas cornerkick from left is over player in box.
85 min...PR Marshall rush down left and rolls pass that PR Arteaga shoots low from 12 yards that goalie makes great foot save to deflect ball wide right for cornerkick.
86 min...PR Kerr blasts partially cleared cornerkick from right and shoots wide left from 18 yards.
88 min...TFCR Richter 40 yard cross from left has defender head ball away.
89 min...TFC YELLOW card...Russell earns it for something at TFCR 40 yard line.
92 min...PR Kinne rush on 2 on 2 on right and crosses low pass that's cleared by defender between them.
93 min...TFCR goalie 75 yard freekick has PR goalie punch ball away in front of crowd of players charging into box.
94 min...TFCR Agbossoumonde chips 40 yard and defender heads ball away.
94 min...game ends 6:37pm.

Final Score:..........Toronto FC Reserves........0..........Pittsburgh Riverhounds........1.........

Attendance was about 120 for the first half and down to 80 for the second half. Many of the fans who were at the MLS game before this one had fled to the exits when the rain got really heavy in the last 20 minutes of the second half and missed Toronto FC's come-from-behind 2-1 win.

Some of the fans were from the Pittsburgh area who had driven up here to watch this game. They were similar to the Toronto fans who sit in the south end and have some similar chants. For the Reserves games all fans are squeezed into sections 107 and 108. They were able to get Manny Aparicio to turn around by chanting his number and the referee to turn around later in the game to see what the commotion was. Toronto fans were making fun of Riverhounds Matthew Dallman's headband and he didn't wear it for the second half.

The TFC staff had a running scoreboard and announced the starting lineup for both teams for the first time at any previous Reserves game I've ever attended. They also had a fast write-up of the game--it was there even before I got home. The ushers were saying we had to get wristbands to stay but the gate they wanted us to go through didn't know anything about this. I just went back up through another staircase and avoided confronting the same usher. So there's still room for improvement.

Best non-scoring chances were at 33 minutes when PR Kevin Kerr crossed from the left that had Matthew Dallman connect on a scissor kick that bounced from 20 yards to the goalie. One minute later TFCR Manny Aparicio from 15 yards on right chipped the goalie but his shot was just wide left of the net. At the start of the second half PR Jose Angulo received a cross from the right and with his back to goal heads the ball that the TFCR goalie catches near the right post. 74 minutes had PR Angulo cross from the left end line through the box and PR Mike Seth tips a 3 yarder wide right of the post as he squeezes through defenders. 80 minutes had PR Richard Costanzo cross from 28 yards on right had PR Stefan Lundberg who had overrun where ball was coming put his leg back to flick a 5 yarder from the left that the goalie caught. 83 minutes had TFCR Michael Thomas take a cornerkick from right that had a defender head away and started a PR fast break. PR Angulo lined up and shot an 8 yarder down the middle off the left post. 85 minutes had PR Andrew Marshall rush down the left and roll a pass that a PR player took a low shot that the goalie made a great foot save to knock the ball wide right of the post.

This game counts in the standings in each team's league. MLS teams play a 10 game uneven schedule among themselves plus two games against a USL Pro team. The Riverhounds count another win in the USL Pro league to close in on the final playoff spot. This was the first loss for TFC Reserves team this year. Their other games are against other MLS Reserves teams except for one they had in a game in Pittsburgh earlier this year when they could only manage a 1-1 tie.

It's been almost 10 years to the week from when Pittsburgh Riverhounds were last in Toronto for a game. Riverhounds beat Toronto Lynx 3-0 at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke in the 2003 season. None of the Riverhounds fans I asked followed the team that long ago. Current head coach Justin Evans was a star midfielder and team captain back then. Only other player on either team still known today was young Lynx defender Adrian Serioux who is on the broadcast crew of GOL-TV. Links to my game report of that game are at: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports03/03lynx85.htm I didn't take pictures back then.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Game stats from torontofc.com site

Scoring Summary
 PIT – Jose Angulo 41’
                            
Misconduct Summary
 TFC – Manuel Aparicio 74’ (ejection)
 TFC – Darel Russell 90’ (caution)

Lineups
 Toronto FC – Stefan Frei ©; 
Ryan Richter, Gale Agbossoumonde, *Eli Roubos, Mark Bloom; 
Alvaro Rey (*Daniel Jodah 45’), Michael Thomas, Kyle Bekker (*Chris Mannella 45’), Darel Russell; 
*Manuel Aparicio, Emery Welshman

 Substitutes not used: Quillan Roberts, *Dylan Sacramento
 
*Academy Player

 Pittsburgh Riverhounds – Hunter Gilstrap; 
Sterling Flunder, Rich Costanzo ©, Mike Green, Andrew Marshall; 
Rob Vincent (Stefan Lundberg 70’), Kevin Kerr, Seth C’Debacia, Matt Dallman (Jhonny Arteaga 79’); 
Mike Seth (Ryan Kinne 79’), Jose Angulo

Substitutes Not Used: Greg Blum, Anthony Vazquez, Alfonso Motagalvan

starters for both teams