May 3, 2015 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan Azzurri vs Toronto FC Academy (by Rocket Robin)

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

Results and details of the Sunday May 3, 2015 League 1 Ontario game between Vaughan Azzurri and Toronto FC Academy played at McNaughton Turf in Vaughan at 2:00pm

Vaughan Azzurri (all navy, white numbers, red and white trim)

...................1 Dayne St Clair
25 Henry Moody...4 Arthur Casupanan...24 Mathieu Laurent...3 Joseph Amato
2 Casey D'Mello...9 Dena Iezady...6 Tyrone Downes...15 Matthew Stinson
............11 Joey Cicchillo...10 Mario Kovacevic

Subs:...12 Liam McQueenie (gk)...7 Edward Lay...13 Daniel Gogarty...14 Dayonne Harris...16 Malcolm Loukides
...20 Lucas Puntillo...23 Kyle Crichton
team officials:...team head coach Carmine Isacco...assistant coaches Luca Forno and Patrice Gheisar...manager Tony De Palma
...equipment manager Kosta Poulos

Toronto FC Academy (all red, white numbers)

...................30 Brogan Engbers
7 Steven Furlano...4 Nikola Stakic...14 Robert Boskovic...3 Leonard Sohn
19 Liam Fraser...10 Tristan Borges...13 Aidan Daniels...11 Richie Ennin
............15 Cyrus Rollocks...24 Rehon Phillip

Subs:...40 Nikita Degtyar (gk)...2 Gabriel Boakye...6 Thomas Mickoski...8 Nicholas Osorio...16 Klaidi Cela
...17 Andrew Dias...20 Marc Gallo
team officials:...team head coach Stuart Neely...manager Mairin Scannell

Game officials:...referee Armando Pereira...referee's assistants Sean Hornsby and Jason Olinsky...fourth official Vladimir Makarov
...(teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 2:13pm...VA defend south end on this warm afternoon.
45 sec...VA player's low 22 yard shot is through crowd of players and wide left of net.
2 min...VA Stinson freekick from 25 yards on left has TFCA Fraser chest ball away from box. VA Stinson gets ball back and recross drifts offside.
4 min...VA Stinson cross from 28 yards on left has VA Kovacevic shoot 20 yarder that's stopped.
4 min...VA Mario Kovacevic GOAL...Kovacevic rushes on right and takes low 20 yard shot that's stopped by sprawling goalie Brogan Engbers. The TFCA defenders for some unknown reason step aside and Kovacevic charges forward and shoots 10 yard rebound over fallen goalie and into net.
6 min...TFCA Borges 30 yard freekick from right is cleared in box ignoring offside flag being helf up.
6 min...TFCA goalie charges out to 25 yard to make clearance.
7 min...TFCA goalie catches bouncer on edge of box to beat VA Cicchillo to VA Stinson's pass from 50 yard line.
8 min...VA Cicchillo 35 yard freekick from right is wide left of net.
12 min...VA Casupanan 40 yard freekick from right is over heads of players on left post.
13 min...VA Casupanan on give and go with VA Kovacevic has VA Casupanan kick low 12 yarder wide right of net.
14 min...TFCA YELLOW card...Boskovic earns it for knocking over player.
15 min...VA Casupanan chips 30 yard freekick from right has defenders clear at 10 yards.
17 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from right has goalie palm ball through box wide left for cornerkick.
18 min...VA Cicchillo low cornerkick from left has defender clear for fast break out.
19 min...TFCA Furlano cross from 30 yards on right has TFCA Phillip shot blocked and cleared by defender.
20 min...TFCA goalie beats VA player to edge of box to grab through ball pass.
21 min...VA Cicchillo rush on left and rolls ball along end line and sliding defender on left post concedes cornerkick.
22 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left has leaping VA Kovacevic head 8 yarder over bar.
23 min...VA Downes rolls ball from right edge of box and TFCA Stakic clears.
24 min...VA Joey Cicchillo GOAL...VA defender Henry Moody charges forward to stop a TFCA rush at the center line and dribbles up the middle through the defence and taps ball over to Cicchillo who shoots low 8 yard shot into net.
26 min...TFCA Rollocks rush on right and his 18 yard shot is wide left of net.
28 min...VA Kovacevic recovers VA Downes's blocked shot at 20 yards to tap ball foward and goalie smothers ball to beat VA Downes from getting to ball at 8 yards.
30 min...TFCA Furlano low cross from right end line is caught by goalie.
30 min...TFCA Furlano can't draw Penalty kick on VA Amato bumping him off ball but TFCA players had knocked over a VA defender to set up play.
33 min...VA Cicchillo fakes out TFCA Stakic on rush on left and takes low 20 yard shot that diving goalie pushes wide left of post.
33 min...VA Downes cornerkick from left has VA Moody in crowd of players heads 10 yarder well over net.
35 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from right has VA Iezady head 10 yarder on left wide left of net.
38 min...TFCA Daniels 35 yard freekick from left bounces through players and TFCA Boskovic in alone shoots 12 yarder wide right of net.
40 min...TFCA Phllip receives long cross pass on right all alone but hurries low cross that's through box unplayed.
41 min...TFCA goalie kicks away through ball before VA Cicchillo can get to it.
42 min...TFCA Daniels blasts 40 yarder down middle over defenders well over net.
43 min...TFCA Furlano makes sliding tackle to poke ball away in box preventing shot.
44 min...TFCA Ennin blasts 30 yard shot from left is high and wide right of net.
46 min...VA Stinson blasts 30 yard freekick is well over net and back fence.
46 min...half ends 2:59pm.

2nd Half:...starts 3:12pm...they can't get the clock on the scoreboard to work in the second half so all times are converted from my wristwatch.
halftime subs:...TFCA Cela replaces Boskovic.
...............TFCA Dias replaces Sohn.
...............VA Crichton replaces Iezady.
46 min...VA Downes rolls shot from right near endline through box and VA Kovacevic slides on left post just misses connecting and ball rolls for goalkick.
49 min...VA Stinson pokes 25 yard shot through defenders and goalie catches on bounce.
50 min...TFCA Cyrus Rollocks GOAL...TFCA Tristan Borges crosses from 25 yards on the left and Rollocks heads 8 yarder on right into center of net past goalie Dayne St Clair.
52 min...TFCA Borges cornerkick from right has goalie catch in crowd of players in box.
54 min...TFCA Rollocks gets to bouncing ball and 25 yard shot is caught by goalie.
56 min...TFCA YELLOW card...Cela earns it for sliding tackle on VA D'Mello.
.........VA YELLOW card...Stinson earns it for argueing with ref that Cela should be given a card.
57 min...VA Moody 60 yard freekick has VA Kovacevic have TFCA goalie catch his short shot.
58 min...VA Joey Cicchillo GOAL...Cicchillo gets pass from VA Henry Moody at 40 yards on left and takes low shot from 20 yards into the right corner of the net.
62 min...TFCA sub...Osorio replaces Fraser.
.........VA sub...Harris replaces Downes.
65 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left has charging VA Moody head 10 yarder over net.
66 min...VA sub...Lay replaces Casupanan.
68 min...VA Stinson 35 yard freekick from right has ball popped up on header at 8 yards on left and goalie charges forward to catch.
68 min...VA YELLOW card...Moody earns it for clipping TFCA player in TFCA end.
69 min...TFCA sub...Boakye replaces Rollocks.
73 min...VA Stinson low freekick from near left corner flag has first defender clear.
74 min...VA Harris cross from near right end line has defender flick header through box.
75 min...VA Stinson pushes over TFCA Borges and blasts 30 yard shot from right just over bar. TFCA Daniels was hurt in the TFCA box with a leg injury and needed to be helped off the field.
77 min...TFCA sub...Mickoski replaces injured Daniels.
80 min...VA Stinson steals ball from TFCA Mickoski and rushes forward and takes low 20 yard shot that has goalie on post push wide right for cornerkick.
82 min...VA Matt Stinson RED card...Stinson earns a second Yellow card for his sliding tackle on TFCA Thomas Mickoski at the center line.
86 min...VA sub...Loukides replaces Kovacevic.
87 min...TFCA Boakye long run on right with stops and starts but pushes ball over end line.
90 min...VA sub...Gogarty replaces Cicchillo.
91 min...TFCA Boakye cross from 25 yards on right has goalie catch near right post.
92 min...TFCA Borges cross from left has VA Laurent head ball away from 8 yards. TFCA Borges gets ball back and low 20 yard shot is caught by goalie.
94 min...VA Harris rush up right and cuts towards net and point blank shot is blocked by goalie at 12 yards.
94 min...game ends 4:01pm.

Final Score:...Vaughan Azzurri.........3........Toronto FC Academy.......1.......

Attendance was about 90 on this warm afternoon with a mix of sun and clouds. This was the first game of the season for both teams on this opening weekend at the start of the second year of operations for League 1 Ontario.

Best non-scoring chances were at 33 minutes when VA Joey Cicchillo, after a long rush, took a 20 yard shot that the diving goalie pushed wide left of the post. 38 minutes had TFCA Aidan Daniels took a 35 yard freekick from the left that bounced through players to TFCA Robert Boskovic all alone who turned and shot a 12 yarder wide right of the post. 46 minutes had VA Tyrone Downes rolled a shot from the right near the end line through the box and VA Mario Kovacevic slides on the left post and just misses connecting on what would be a 1 yard tap-in.

Turning point in the game was Cicchillo's second goal to put Vaughan up 3-1. TFCA were outplayed in the first half but had clawed back into the game from the start of the second half with some key substitutions. That goal closed the door to a comeback.

Referee Armando Pereira gave out five Yellow cards that I counted (three to Vaughan including two to Matt Stinson) in a game that wasn't too rough. Only casualty appeared to be TFCA midfielder Aidan Daniels who had to be helped off the field at 75 minutes with a leg injury.

This is the first league game that TFCA has lost since the league began last year. The league preview said they'd be going with a U-17 team this year and it showed with the older Vaughan taking advantage of mistakes. This is probably more of a learning experience than last year having 11-0 and 6-1 results mingled in with closer games. Last year's roster has ended up in their new USL Pro and PDL franchises. Academy coach Stuart Neely said he's also the head coach of their PDL team.

Vaughan includes many in their lineup from York University who won the University Championship last year as the best school in Canada. I don't have the time to follow college soccer but always watched Vaughan's players that were originally in the first years of TFC Academy starting in 2008 in the Canadian Soccer League. They now seem to be down to midfielder Matt Stinson who actually made the MLS team for part of two seasons and defender/winger Casey D'Mello. Another Vaughan player from last year who played on those early TFCA teams, Daniel Fabrizi, was signed to Toronto FC II. TFC II also signed Jay Chapman who played for TFCA in the early years and last year for K-W United (Kitchener-Waterloo) whose coach was Stuart Neely!

The 'McNaughton Turf ' is a field that borders St Joan of Arc Catholic High School. St Joan has a working scoreboard with use of the school dressing rooms and washrooms. McNaughton doesn't even have their one port-a-potty from last year. Players have to cross the busy McNaughton Road to get to the Maple Community Centre. The scoreboard had the visitor's score not light up during the game and then the timer not work for the second half so second half times are converted from my wristwatch. St Joan will host the season openers of every team in the CSL next weekend—much the same as League 1 Ontario did last year at the Ontario Soccer Centre. I was shocked to find on Friday when I drove to the OSC to pick up my press pass that their field isn't anywhere near ready for their expected 1st of July scheduled opening. That stadium is the new home of Toronto FC II and all I saw was broken up concrete but no structure at all from the obstructed view I had outside the wire fencing. League 1 teams ANB Futbol and Vaughan Azzurri played many of their 2014 home games at the old bleacher lined field.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Vaughan Azzurri starters