August 31, 2014 League 1 Ontario--Toronto FC Academy vs Windsor Stars (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday August 31, 2014 League 1 Ontario game between Toronto FC Academy and Windsor Stars played at The KIA Training Ground in Downsview at 1:00pm.

Toronto FC Academy (all black, silver numbers, red trim)

..................22 Filippo Di Bennardo
2 Marcus Godinho...4 Mateo Restrepo...15 Paris Bateman...25 Quante Abbott Hill Smith
8 Marco Rodriguez...24 Marcos Andrew Nunes...6 Christopher Mannella (cpt)...16 Tarik Robertson
..............9 Molham Babouli...14 Anthony Osorio

Subs:...1 Karmen Saini (gk)...11 Stefan Vukovic...7 Derrick Sequeira...17 Matt Stowell...21 Oladapo Afolayan
team officials:...team head coach Micahel Stefano...assistant coach Nikita Komarov...managers Frank Russo and Ryan Young

Windsor Stars (all white, black numbers)

..................1 Anthony Santilli (cpt)
5 Christopher Suta...15 Joshua Rogers...8 Ciprian Codea...3 Jamar Kelly
19 Brett Holmberg...4 Patrick Lepera...12 Brydon Caesar...10 Celso Carapau
...........7 Erik Cirovski...16 Gino Berardi

Subs:...1 Kyle Vizirakis (gk)...2 Noah Pio...14 Derrick Amankwa...17 Jean-Francois Brule...18 Chris Hakim
team officials:...assistant coach Fabio Marras...manager Vancho Cirovski

suspended players Stephen Ademolu

Subs:...referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin...referee's assistants Arthur Kobriel and Scott Decker...fourth official Hassane Rifai
...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 1:01pm...TFCA defends west end on this hot, humid, and overcast afternoon with a wind from the north. Since I was behind the table top scoreboard, all times are converted from my wristwatch.
3 min...TFCA Godinho pushes pass forward for TFCA Bateman to shoot 15 yarder from right just over net.
4 min...TFCA Rodriguez rolls cross that has defender kick sky ball and goalie catches.
5 min...TFCA Nunes rolls pass that TFCA Bateman one-touches wide right from 12 yards on right.
7 min...TFCA Godinho 30 yard chip has defender at 15 yards ignore own goalie's shout out to clear ball.
10 min...TFCA Rodriguez 20 yard freekick down middle has flying goalie push ball off left goalpost. A TFCA player then hits the bar but the offside flag was up.
13 min...Stars Rogers 20 yard freekick from left has goalie punch ball away in crowd of players.
13 min...Stars Berardi gets cross from right and one-touch 18 yard kick down middle low and bounces to goalie.
14 min...Stars goalie catches cross from left over fallen TFCA Babouli.
15 min...TFCA Godinho low cross from 18 yards near right endline has goalie catch on post.
16 min...TFCA Babouli has 15 yard shot blocked on right.
17 min...Stars goalie steps out of box to head ball over TFCA Babouli.
18 min...TFCA Babouli give and go with TFCA Nunes and his 18 yard shot has flying goalie swat ball over bar.
19 min...TFCA Rodriguez cornerkick from left has TFCA Nunes heads over net from 10 yards.
21 min...TFCA Babouli injures Stars Rogers sliding for ball in Stars box.
22 min...TFCA Nunes cross from 22 yards on right has defender jump and kick ball in midair away at 8 yards.
23 min...TFCA Godinho pass to TFCA Babouli who cuts right from right then left and takes hard low shot from 18 yards down middle has goalie dive right to make save.
24 min...Stars Berardi rolls pass forward too far for Stars Cirovski and goalie picks up ball.
25 min...TFCA Mannella 30 yard shot is through crowd of players rolls wide left.
28 min...TFCA Nunes hits right post on 15 yard shot and TFCA Babouli rebound from 12 yards on far right has goalie block on right post.
30 min...TFCA Osorio rush on left and cross to TFCA Bateman has goalie save.
30 min...TFCA Rodriguez pass to TFCA Bateman who passes to TFCA Babouli who shoots just over net.
31 min...Stars Rogers gets back to make overhead kick and clear ball off line after TFCA Babouli chips goalie from 15 yards.
32 min...TFCA Nunes on rush shoots wide right from 20 yards.
34 min...TFCA Nunes taps pass for TFCA Bateman who runs to right end line from 10 yards and low shot is saved by diving goalie.
34 min...TFCA Manella low 35 yard shot down middle is saved by goalie.
36 min...TFCA Babouli 18 yard shot is blocked and TFCA Nunes has 15 yard shot down end line hit the bar of goal behind the end line.
38 min...TFCA Godinho pass into box from reight has TFCA Nunes checked off ball at 4 yards near right post.
41 min...TFCA Rodriguez ends pressure with rolling 20 yard shot up middle that goalie picks up.
44 min...TFCA YELLOW card...Godinho earns it for tripping Stars Codea on long run to just outside TFCA box.
45 min...Stars Codea 22 yard freekick from left has Stars Caesar not quite able to turn header on jump at 7 yards in middle.
46 min...game ends 1:46pm.

Halftime Entertainment: Another crossbar challenge with two fans from the crowd chosen to take shots from the penalty spot to be the first to hit the crossbar. A boy scored on his fifth shot. A barefoot man took four shots but wasn't allowed to take a fifth as the players were coming back onto the field and they wanted to end it. An official assured me that both contestants won TFC tickets for participating.

2nd Half:...starts 2:05pm.
halftime subs:...Stars Amankwa replaces Caesar.
...............Stars Hakim replaces Cirovski.
47 min...TFCA Osorio is injured on ankle clip at Stars 20 yard line.
48 min...TFCA Babouli bends freekick from 20 yards that hits right webbing wide of net.
49 min...Stars Carapau 35 yard freekick from left has goalie leap in crowd of players to catch.
52 min...Stars Carapau rolls cross from 22 yards on left is through box and defender clears.
53 min...TFCA Babouli puts foot back to wrestle defender for ball and wins then rolls 15 yard shot that diving goalie saves on right post. TFCA Rodriguez is called offside playing 6 yard rebound.
55 min...TFCA Nunes long run down left and 12 yard shot from left is stopped by goalie.
57 min...TFCA goalie catches cross from left in front of Stars Holmberg charging in to 12 yards.
58 min...Stars Codea 55 yard freekick from left is cleared from box.
59 min...TFCA sub...Vukovic replaces Babouli.
60 min...TFCA Bateman rolls ball up middle a step too far for charging TFCA Vukovic and goalie picks up.
63 min...Stars Kelly rolls centering cross to Stars Lepera but goalie picks up at 8 yards.
63 min...TFCA Nunes cross from 25 yards on left has defender clear.
64 min...TFCA Marco Rodriguez GOAL...TFCA Stefan Vukovic and Tarik Robertson work short pass play on right and TFCA Anthony Osorio on right end line kicks ball into center of box for Rodriguez to shoot 12 yard low shot up middle that goalie Anthony Santilli dives and gets a piece of but ball trickles into net.
65 min...TFCA sub...Sequeira replaces Rodriguez. (good thing Rodriguez scored when he did!)
66 min...TFCA Vukovic on rush on left runs ball over end line.
67 min...TFCA Vukovic 8 yard shot from left is blocked by defender and goalie picks up ball.
68 min...TFCA Nunes 10 yard shot from left is into side webbing of net.
69 min...TFCA Stefan Vukovic GOAL...TFCA Christopher Mannella sends short pass forward and Vukovic on left runs even with 15 yard line and cuts low 17 yard shot from right into left corner of net past goalie diving at 6 yards.
73 min...Stars Kelly rolls pass forward from 60 yards to charging Stars Holmberg up right and his low 22 yard shot has sliding goalie block and defender clears big rebound.
73 min...TFCA Robertson cross from left bounces out right side of box.
74 min...TFCA Manella 35 yard blast is wide left.
76 min...TFCA Robertson cross from 15 yards on left is whistled down with goalie still trying to pick up ball.
77 min...Stars goalie beats TFCA Sequeira to dive on ball on right edge of box along end line.
78 min...Stars sub...Pio replaces Holmberg who'd left game two minutes earlier.
80 min...TFCA sub...Stowell replaces Nunes.
Stars have been called offside quite often in the last few minutes.
82 min...TFCA Bateman bursts through but can't win a Penalty kick when he's bumped over in box.
83 min...Stars Kelly wins freekick on bump with TFCA Hill Smith injurying him in jaw.
86 min...Stars Codea blasts 20 yard freekick down middle that goalie leaps to palm ball over net.
87 min...Stars Carapau cornerkick from right is over box and header popped up on left but defenders clear.
88 min...Stars player's long throw-in from left has TFCA Restrepo kick ball that deflects off Stars player for goal kick.
89 min...TFCA Stowell low cross from 25 yards has ball unplayed out left side of box.
90 min...TFCA Vukovic 22 yard freekick from right has defender clear eventually on left.
91 min...TFCA Stowell survives bump by defender and 12 yard shot is saved by goalie.
92 min...TFCA Robertson heads ball back to goalie to beat Stars Amankwa to ball.
93 min...TFCA Stowell chips ball as he's falling from 15 yards that goalie catches.
93 min...game ends 2:53pm.

Final Score:......Toronto FC Academy......2......Windsor Stars......0....

Attendance was about 50 by the time this game ended. News crews were rolling up after the game because one hour after this game there was a quickly called press conference to announce formally announce the Toronto FC MLS team had fired head coach Ryan Nelson and would replace him with Greg Vanney who is head of their Academy system.

Referee Marie-Soleil Beadoin gave out only one Yellow card that I noticed and that was to a TFCA player in a game that never got rough.

This was the stiffest test I've seen the still undefeated TFCA play in the last few months. Most of the game did take place in the Windsor end but the Stars did have a few times they broke out and threatened to score. They were called offside quite often.

Filippo Di Bennardo earned the shutout for TFCA by making a few key saves.

Stefan Vukovic played for TFCA for the first time this season. He said he'd been working out with the team for about three weeks but had to wait for the paperwork to clear. This makes a nice full circle for him as I remember him starting for the TFC Academy in their first years when they played in the CSL (top scorer in the league in 2011) then being released when there was no where to go after turning 19 and he couldn't make the MLS team. (I saw him play a few MLS Reserve League games with TFC while still with the Academy). He moved on to Montreal Impact Reserves then to club teams in Poland and Greece he said. This last summer he played in PDL with K-W United (the game he scored twice against Toronto Lynx I was at the MLS game against Vancouver). He certainly was effective today as he was only subbed in ten minutes earlier before he scored. He was the sub for the league's leading scorer Molham Babouli who had a few good shots on net but stays on 17 goals.

Each team made three subs (five maximum in this league). Stars had to leave Windsor at 7 AM for the four hour drive to Toronto. Goalie Anthony Santilli had to be fantastic to keep them in the game but I've watched him from the team's CSL days and he was always one of the best. A team official said they were doing without three of their best players. He said Cristian 'Danny' Dragoi had been injured playing for his school team (he was the League 1 Ontario Player of the week just three weeks ago) and I noticed from the game roster sheet that forward Stephen Ademolu is suspended.

One player missing for TFCA was Mark-Anthony Kaye who had a goal and an assist in Toronto FC's USL Pro affiliate Wilmington Hammerheads in their 3-1 win over the first place Orlando City (one of MLS's 2015 expansion teams) on Thurday night. The rest of the regulars are still here.

TFCA vaults over Vaughan Azzurri into first place with a record of 8 wins, 3 ties, 0 losses and one game in hand over Vaughan. Windsor's record falls to 5 wins, 1 tie, 5 losses for fifth place leading the second tier of teams with no real chance of winning the title (remember--no playoffs). Stars host TFCA on September 20 and they have a very good record at home.

TFCA's next game is against Cataraqui Clippers from Kingston on Sunday at 1:00pm. Clippers haven't WON a league game this year in 13 tries—oh oh—against undefeated TFCA? This could be our first double digit game.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Toronto FC Academy starters