October 14, 2014 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan Azzurri vs Masters FA (by Rocket Robin)

........................... ......

Result and details of the Tuesday October 14, 2014 League 1 Ontario game between Vaughan Azzurri and Masters FA played at McNaughton Turf Field in Vaughan at 9:00pm. This was considered a Cup game.

Vaughan Azzurri (all navy, white numbers)

.....................1 Dayne St. Clair
2 Casey D'Mello...9 Kai Olguin...4 Daniel Gogarty...17 Malcolm Loukides
7 Jonathan Lao...15 Matthew Stinson...14 Dena Iezady...8 Sergio De Luca
.............13 Darren Gertiesingh...10 Domenico Gullo

Subs:...12 Liam McQueenie (gk)...3 Tre Upshaw-Mills...5 Zebulun Thompson...6 Branko Majstorovic...11 Luca Forno...16 Lucas Puntillo...18 Jamal Smith
team officials:...team head coach Carmine Isacco...assistant coach Kosta Poulos...manager Tony De Palma...therapist Andy Choi
* one of the subs must have actually worn #26.

Masters FA (all red, white numbers and shoulders)

....................00 Shane Lopez (cpt)
14 Jude Alanwoko...6 Kenny Lioutas...15 Michael Bershov...2 D'eo-Daniel Nash
3 Tyrell Rayne...10 Josue Jarmillio...5 Kamden Holder...4 Mikie Themelis
............8 Thomas Winski...30 Alex Dimitriu

Subs:...99 Mark Kamstra (gk)...10 Adrian Applewaithe...7 Leshaw Woods-Henry...20 Alexander Flores...8 Devonte Brown
...12 Marcus Malcom...17 Twazma Anderson
team officials:...head coach Andrew Savelev...assistant coach Junior Groves...team officials Jim Kamstra, Stephen Blackburn, and Matthew Groves

Game officials:...referee Ramee Arbaji...referee's assistants Peter Pendli and Zac Taylor...fourth official Justin Tasev
...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 9:02pm...VA defend north end...The weather is cool with a wind from the west.
5 min...MFA Winski 30 yard freekick from right is over net.
9 min...MFA goalie slides to right edge of box to smother ball ahead of VA Gertiesingh and goalie is injured on play as Gertiesingh falls over him.
14 min...MFA goalie comes out for at least the third time already to 25 yards to clear ball.
15 min...MFA Winski run up right wing and rolls cross from 25 yards near 6 yard box that goalie picks up after sliding forward misses by just 1 yard.
16 min...MFA Jarmillio pass through frrom 30 yards for MFA Nash but defender clears at 12 yards.
17 min...MFA YELLOW card...Themelis earns it for roughing at MFA 35 yard line.
.........VA YELLOW card...Gullo earns it for roughing at MFA 35 yard line.
18 min...MFA Holder threads pass through to MFA Dimitriu at 18 yards but he rolls ball for goalie to pick up.
19 min...VA Stinson low 45 yarder up middle between players is wide left of net.
21 min...VA Gertiesingh low 22 yard shot from right is saved by sliding defender at 8 yards. VA player is called offside on rebound at 12 yards.
22 min...VA Gertiesingh low cross from 30 yards on far right is cleared on edge of box.
24 min...VA Lao 45 yard freekick from right is over to three VA players on left post but ball is headed over to left corner flag and recrossed.
.........VA YELLOW card...De Luca earns it for injurying player on edge of MFA box.
27 min...MFA defender clears away from 6 yard box when ball gets behind goalie after VA player's rush up left.
29 min...VA Iezady gets to long pass from 50 yards at MFA 22 yard line and chests ball down and fires low shot wide right.
33 min...VA Lao 30 yard freekick from right has ball land in box and VA Olguin whiffs on midair shot attempt at 12 yards.
35 min...VA D'Mello 25 yard shot up middle spins off defender and back to goalie.
36 min...MFA Holder 12 yard shot is blocked by defender on right as MFA players had worked ball into box.
37 min...MFA goalie picks up ball sent up middle.
38 min...MFA Themelis 35 yard chip cross has defender head ball away at 15 yards.
38 min...VA D'Mello rolls centering pass from right and VA Gertiesingh is checked off ball on right.
39 min...MFA sub...Malcom replaces Holder.
40 min...MFA Winski pass from 28 yards on right to MFA Themelis is all alone in middle and he takes a 12 yard shot over net.
41 min...VA Lao cornerkick from right has defenders clear from box.
41 min...VA Gertiesingh 55 yard chip is caught by goalie.
46 min...VA Lao rolls ball forward for VA D'Mello to shoot low 12 yarder into net but he's called offside.
47 min...half ends 9:49pm.

2nd Half:...starts 10:02pm...it's started to rain.
halftime subs:...MFA Woods-Henry replaces Winski.
.............VA Smith replaces Gullo.
46 min...VA De Luca skies shot from 20 yards that spins and goalie catches at 4 yards wide left of net.
47 min...VA Loukides touches pass to VA Smith who falls on bump with defender and ball is cleared from box.
48 min...VA Stinson 28 yard shot from right is wide left of net.
50 min...VA Gertiesingh run to right end line to keep ball in play and low cross is picked up by ogalie on right post.
52 min...VA D'Mello low 55 yard shot from right is between players and goalie picks up ball.
54 min...MFA sub...Flores replaces Jarmillio.
54 min...MFA Themelis 50 yard freekick down middle is over MFA player on left and out for goalkick.
56 min...MFA Alanwoko 55 yard freekick from left is over MFA players and out for goalkick.
57 min...VA Iezady at 22 yards tap over to VA De Luca who benhds low 20 yarder down middle just wide right of post.
58 min...VA Lao 30 yard freekick spins off defender for goalie to pick up ahead of VA De Luca.
59 min...VA Iezady intercepts weak backpass but his 20 yard shot is blocked by another defender.
60 min...MFA Rayne low 50 yard blast down middle is smothered by goalie.
61 min...VA Iezady head ball across face of MFA box from left but defender clears.
62 min...VA Iezady receives cross from right from 30 yards and holds off defender at 15 yards on left to get away shot wide left of net.
63 min...VA De Luca blasts 30 yard shot from right is wide left of net.
63 min...VA Smith low 25 yard shot is through players is picked up by goalie.
64 min...VA YELLOW card...Stinson earns it for tackle at VA 40 yard line.
65 min...MFA Themelis 45 yard freekick from left is well high over back fence and wide right hitting windshield of one of the cars in the parking lot.
66 min...VA YELLOW card...D'Mello earns it for argueing a call.
67 min...VA Lao cornerkick from right has VA Gogarty head pop up and ball is cleared.
68 min...VA Lao cornerkick from right has VA Iezady blast shot wide.
68 min...VA Dena Iezady GOAL...VA Jonathan Lao on right passes to VA Casey D'Mello and he shoots low 15 yarder from right across face of 6 yard box past MFA goalie Shane Lopez and Iezady standing at 3 yards shoots ball into open net.
71 min...VA Gertiesingh rolls pass to VA Iezady after break in on right and goalie makes slide to save at 3 yards on 10 yard shot.
72 min...VA Dena Iezady is pulled down in MFA box. Referee Ramee Arbaji awards a Penalty kick.
73 min...VA Matt Stinson shoots low Penalty kick that hits the outside of the left post and deflects for goal kick.
75 min...VA sub...Puntillo replaces De Luca.
76 min...MFA sub...Applewaithe replaces Themelis.
77 min...VA D'Mello rush on right and low cross has VA Puntillo at 6 yards shoot wide left but offside flag was up anyway.
78 min...MFA Dimitriu 30 yard freekick from right bends inward but just wide right of net.
80 min...VA player wearing #26 (!) replaces Gertiesingh.
81 min...VA Puntillo has shot stopped when in clear.
83 min...MFA Lioutas 50 yard freekick from right has defender head ball wide right for throw-in.
84 min...VA sub...Upshaw-Mills replaces Stinson.
85 min...VA YELLOW card...Iezady earns it for tackle.
86 min...MFA player's 50 yard freekick from left has goalie catch on right post.
86 min...VA Puntillo rush on left and cuts around defrender to get away 15 yard shot that goalie makes foot save to push ball wide right.
86 min...VA Jonathan Lao cornerkick from right has VA player win Penalty kick as he was pushed over in crowd of players at 8 yards inside box.
87 min...VA Dena Iezady GOAL...Iezady blasts Penalty kick into left side of net about 5 feet high.
88 min...MFA sub...Anderson replaces Dimitriu.
89 min...MFA Malcom has goalie make point blank save at 12 yards to knock ball wide left of net.
90 min...VA Puntillo 15 yard shot is stopped by goalie.
92 min...VA Jamal Smith GOAL...VA Lucas Puntillo eludes defenders to pass on left forward to VA Smith who continues short run up left and shoots 15 yarder into right side of net.
93 min...game ends 10:50pm.

Final Score:.....Vaughan Azzurri.......3......Masters FA.......0.....

Attendance was about 40 on this rather mild evening with a light rain that started and stopped during the game at various points but never lasted more than 5 minutes at a time. This game had been rescheduled from Wednesday September 10th at this venue because of rains and flooding of this field that night.

This game was quite even on the scoreboard until the last five minutes although Vaughan had the majority of the chances. There was almost always a defender behind the play in case an MFA forward broke through the Vaughan line. Vaughan offensive players were called offside very often.

There were a lot of whistles blowing play down in this tough checking game. Referee Ramee Arbaji gave out six Yellow cards that I counted—five to Vaughan who were the rougher team. Masters finished 7th in league play but had improved greatly from their rough start by the latter parts of the season.

Masters best chance was at 40 minutes when Thomas Winski passed from 28 yards on the right to Mike Themelis who was in all alone and shot a 12 yarder down the middle over the net.

Vaughan goalie Dayne St Clair earned the shutout tonight making a few key saves but had little else to do as his defenders kept most Masters play outside the box.

Vaughan had many of their 'better' players on the field tonight. Those are the ex-TFC Academy grads who now play on the York University team. That could cause a problem the rest of this week as Vaughan play the Cup semi-final on Thursday and the Cup final on Sunday if they win. York U is ranked as the #2 Canadian University team and has clinched the OUA West Division with a win last Sunday against University of Waterloo. This weekend they have two home games—Saturday afternoon against U of Windsor and Sunday afternoon against U of Western. It's quite possible Vaughan head coach Carmine Isacco will be at the university games as he's also head coach of York U.

Tonight was the final League 1 Ontario cup game in Group B. Vaughan won the five team group with a record of 3 wins and 1 draw. A Masters win would have resulted in a three way tie with Vaughan, Sigma FC, and Masters all having a 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss record and then the league would have to go to some tiebreakers to calculate who would advance. Tonight's result made it easy.

Vaughan with the win will now play the Group A runner up which is Durham United FC who clinched months ago but are currently on a six game league-play losing streak. Sigma FC advance as the runner up in Group B and play Group A winner Toronto FC Academy who have not lost a league nor cup game all season. Big difference in the Group A team momentum!

Thursday night both games will take place at the same time—8:00pm. Toronto FC Academy hosts at Downsview Park (the City of Toronto facility) NOT the KIA Training Centre whose turf field does not have lights. Vaughan Azzurri hosts at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Vaughan Azzurri starters