October 4, 2014 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan Azzurri vs Windsor Stars (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday October 4, 2014 League 1 Ontario game between Vaughan Azzurri and Windsor Stars played at The Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 7:00pm. This was considered a Cup game in Group B.

Vaughan Azzurri (all navy, white numbers)

..................1 Liam McQueenie
19 Zebulun Thompson...4 Branko Majstorovic...2 Kamal Miller...11 Donte Henry
16 Joseph Di Chiara...8 Carlos Nogueira...15 Ilya Orlov...3 Joseph Amato
...........13 Darren Gertiesingh...10 Andrew Ornoch (cpt)

Subs:...5 Owen Pearce...6 Tre Upshaw-Mills...7 Kai Olguin...9 Daniel Maxwell...18 Dominic Gullo...17 Lucas Puntillo...14 Nathaniel Tambakis
team officials:...team head coach Carmine Isacco...assistant coaches Kosta Poulos and Patrice Gheisar...manager Tony De Palma...therapist Andy Choi

Windsor Stars (all white, black numbers)

...................1 Michel Catani
17 Dredon Kelly...18 Chris Hakim...14 Derric Amankwa...5 Christopher Suta
4 Cipkar Edwin...9 Stephen Ademolu (cpt)...11 Noah Pio...6 Stefan Zastavnikovic
...............13 Geino Berardi...7 Erik Cirovski

Subs:...2 Matei Colgiu...8 Jean-Francois Brule...10 Toby Taiwo...19 Jimmy Hounsiagama...12 Dante Ussoletti
team officials:...managers Gino Berardi and Vancho Cirovski

Game officials:...referee Sean Hornsby...referee's assistants Tim Wong and Vladimir Makarov...fourth official Pierre Acouri
...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 6:59pm...VA defends south end. The weather is cold and windy with the wind from the west.
2 min...Stars player's long throw-in from left cornerflag is cleared from box.
4 min...VA Darren Gertisingh GOAL...VA Andrew Ornoch pass from 28 yards in middle is sent to right and Gertisingh at 18 yards shoots into left side of net.
5 min...Stars Suta 22 yard roller from left is wide right of net.
8 min...VA goalie runs out to beat Stars Cirovski to through ball at 25 yards.
9 min...VA Carlos Nogueira GOAL...VA Joseph Amato short pass from left has Nogueira chip goalie Michele Catani at 12 yards on left and retreating Stars Christopher Suta attempts midair clearance kick on right post but his kick spins it back into net.
14 min...VA Gertiesingh cornerkick from right has first VA player let ball go by and VA Nogueira blasts low 22 yarder up middle through players and wide right.
16 min...VA Amato long run up left and 20 yard cross near end line has goalie catch unchallenged.
18 min...VA Di Chiara rush up right wing and is bumped over and ball rolls behind end line for a goal kick.
20 min...Stars goalie swats away cross from right before VA Nogueira can head ball at 5 yards on left post.
22 min...VA Ornoch at 30 yards rolls ball forward where charging VA Amato gets to it and slides and shoots 18 yard roller down middle wide right of net.
27 min...VA Gertiesingh cornerkick from left has defender head ball away in crowd of players.
28 min...VA YELLOW card...Di Chiara earns it for trying to take freekick too soon.
28 min...VA Di Chiara blasts 30 yard freekick down middle is just wide right of top corner of net.
32 min...VA Gertiesingh receives pass on edge of box and 12 yard shot from left is deflected just wide left for cornerkick.
33 min...VA Amato gets around Stars Berardi at 30 yards to stop stars break out and cause goalie to have to jump to swat away shot down middle.
35 min...Stars Ademolu 40 yard freekick from left has defender at 6 yards head ball wide right for cornerkick.
35 min...Stars Cirovski cornerkick from right has Stars Suta head 10 yarder off underside of bar. Stars Hakim follows up with 8 yard shot over bar.
37 min...Stars Pio 25 yard low shot from left is picked up by goalie.
42 min...Stars YELLOW card...Zastavnikovic earns it for holding back VA Ornoch at Stars 30 yard line.
42 min...VA Darren Gertiesingh GOAL...VA Andrew Ornoch freekick from 30 yards down middle has ball blocked in wall. Gertiesingh from beside wall kicks 10 yarder into net.
44 min...VA Andrew Ornoch GOAL...VA Zebulun Thompson crosses from 22 yards on right and Ornoch blasts midair shot from 15 yards into rop left side of net.
47 min...half ends 7:46pm.

2nd Half:...starts 8:03pm.
halftime subs:...Stars Brule replaces Edwin.
.................Stars Hounsiagama replaces Pio.
.................Stars Colgiu replaces Zastavnikovic.
.................VA Gullo replaces Thompson.
48 min...Stars Ademolu chips 15 yard cross that goalie picks up under no threat.
51 min...Stars Amankwa is checked off ball at 20 yards. Stars work ball into VA box and Amankwa's shot from 10 yard is deflected wide for goalkick.
53 min...VA Gertiesingh rush on right and rolls cross from 22 yards that defender taps back to goalie to pickup.
54 min...VA Henry cross from 25 yards on right has defender head 6 yarder back to goalie to prevent tap-in.
55 min...Stars player rolls pass foreward up middle for Stars Brule to shoot soft 15 yarder that bounces to goalie.
56 min...Stars Amankwa 15 yard shot from left is high and wide left of net.
57 min...VA Ilya Orlov GOAL...VA Andrew Ornoch cornerkick from right is low and Orlov at 25 yards on right has his low shot catch the left corner of the net just inside the post.
58 min...Stars YELLOW card...Cirovski earns it for tackle at Stars 25 yard line on left.
59 min...VA Gertiesingh 30 yard freekick from left bounces to goalie as VA player is just a step behind in header attempt.
61 min...Stars sub...Ussoletti replaces Kelly.
62 min...VA Thompson is checked on Stars end line for a goalkick call.
63 min...VA Nogueira 22 yard shot deflects for cornerkick on left.
64 min...VA Nogueira rolls cross from right and VA Gullo is checked off ball before he can get a shot away at 8 yards.
65 min...VA sub...Upshaw-Mills replaces Miller.
.........VA sub...Olguin replaces Ornoch.
65 min...Stars Ademolu 50 yard freekick from left has defenders head away on right edge of box.
66 min...Stars Ademolu 30 yard freekick up middle is over bar.
67 min...Stars Cirovski cornerkick from right has two Stars players whiff on shots as ball goes out left side of box.
69 min...Stars Cirovski rolls pass to Stars Ussoletti on right and he eludes sliding goalie but when he cuts back from end line goalie grabs ball off his feet.
70 min...Stars Ademolu pushes through ball pass forward from 25 yards and goalie picks up ball before Stars player can get to it.
70 min...VA sub...Maxwell replaces Gertiesingh.
73 min...VA goalie runs to edge of box to outleap defender and catch cross from 30 yards on right and prevent 2 on 1 rush.
74 min...VA Orlov cornerkick from left is short and defender heads away cross on left edge of box.
74 min...VA sub...Tambakis replaces Nogueira.
77 min...VA Amato rolls pass forward and right for VA Gullo but goalie dives to smother ball but rolls over and loses it. VA Gullo shoots 7 yarder into side webbing from right.
80 min...VA Di Chiara rolls centering cross to VA Amato but he's checked off ball at 15 yards up middle.
82 min...VA Gullo gets into right side of box and is bumped over by defender.
83 min...VA Gullo rush on left and survives bump and rolls to VA Maxwell whose low 20 yard shot up middle is smothered by diving goalie.
85 min...Stars Suta is injured at center line.
86 min...Stars low 20 yard shot is between defenders up middle and wide right of net.
88 min...VA Maxwell long run on left but shot is blocked on edge of box.
90 min...VA Thompson and Stars goalie and defender bump together at 25 yards. Thompson rolls 22 yarder into open net from right but play is called back. Stars goalie is treated for injury.
92 min...game ends 8:50pm.

Final Score:......Vaughan Azzurri......5.....Windsor Stars.....0.....

Attendance was about 25 on this cold and windy night. The wind was from the west so didn't effect one side in particular as the field aligned north-south.

Goalie Liam McQueenie earned the shut out for Vaughan. He had to make some key saves plus coming out to the edge of the box to make some catches and smothering of the ball and coming out of the box to break up some through ball passes. His best save was at 69 minutes when Stars Erik Cirovski rolled a pass to Dante Ussoletti and he eluded the sliding goalie at 10 yards on the right and regained possession on the end line. Ussoletti turned back on the line to run towards goal and the McQueenie simply ran back and grabbed it off his feet.

There could have been a turning point/what if moment in this game. That was at 35 minutes when Stars Erik Cirovski took a cornerkick from the right and Christopher Suta headed a 10 yarder off the underside of the bar. Stars Chris Hakim followed up with kicking the 8 yard rebound over the bar. Vaughan then scored two more goals in the next ten minutes before halftime and led 4-0.

I got home in time to see Toronto FC vs Los Angeles Galaxy on television and Robbie Keane's second goal for Galaxy was very comparable to Andrew Ornoch's strike.

I've seen the Azzurri in eight games this year and this was the fewest players I recognized. Head coach Carmine Isacco answered me that a lot of the missing played earlier in the day for York University in a 4-1 home victory over U of Guelph. Tomorrow they have a game in Hamilton against McMaster U. There are more than half a dozen players I recognize as TFC Academy grads from the first years of that Academy. Isacco is also the head coach of the York U soccer team. Today's roster was a mix of York U players not playing today, and younger players from their affiliated clubs of the Vaughan Azzurri organization.

Windsor, who had no way of reaching the semi-finals, used a lot of younger players in today's game.

The win moves Vaughan into a tie for first place in the five team group with one game to play. Their record is now two wins, one tie, and no losses for 7 points. Sigma FC also has 7 points but they have completed their four games. Woodbridge Strikers were eliminated today because they had finished their run last month with two wins and two losses for 6 points. Windsor finish in last with no wins, one tie, three losses. But it's not over! Fourth place team Masters FA Saints have a record of one win, one tie, one loss for 4 points with one game left so it's possible if they beat Vaughan whenever that game is rescheduled, there could be a three way tie for first and goal difference will determine the two spots that play Group A teams in the semi-finals in about ten days.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Vaughan Azzurri starters