June 21, 2015 League 1 Ontario--Sanjaxx Lions vs Pro Stars FC (by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the Sunday June 21, 2015 League 1 Ontario game between Sanjaxx Lions and Pro Stars FC played at Esther Shiner Stadium North York at 9:00pm.

Sanjaxx Lions (navy socks and shorts, yellow shirts, white numbers)

........................01 Matthew Zaikos (cpt)
3 Robert Baxter Dennis...6 Zeb Thompson...5 Mohammed Diaby...13 Joshua Bowyer
14 Aidan Cooper Zuccatti...17 Joel Anderson...10 Tyler Moretti...8 Frantz Bill
..............18 Antoine Chretien...21 Zef Kraja

Subs:...0 Tayjon Campbell (gk)...19 Rizwan Thawer...2 Dawit Teki...9 Nicholas deGrave...16 Joseph Ikhuiwu
...12 Stefan Nikolic...7 Billy Darren
team officials:...head coach Laza Lowe...team officials Nicoletta Bonafede, Ramon McIntosh, Gavin Harvey, Maureen Van Wart, Devon Porter

Pro Stars FC (all white, navy numbers)

..........................1 Zachary Borzovoy
8 Rachaun Palmer...3 Michael Borowski...2 Jammar Allison (cpt)...6 Jeffrey Valcius
5 Pawandeep Ssandhu...4 Thomas Winski...10 David Alva...11 Mujtaba Ameen
.................9 Leaford Allen...7 Jordan Piccinin

Subs:...21 Philip Borowski (gk)...12 Rickey Sayers...13 Kunie Fayehun...14 Alexander Ryan...15 Nicholas Theobald
...16 Xavier Wright...17 Darragh Roe
team officials:...team head coach Josef Komlodi...assistant coaches Gabriel Pop, Peter Mellon, and Wayne Wright...managers Jean-Pierre Boue and Sherry Youssef

Game officials:...referee Michael Stenbring...referee's assistants Benjamin Jacobs and Cyrus Eshafi...fourth official Ramee Arbaji
...(all black uniforms)

1st Half:...game starts 9:01pm...Lions defend east end. It's still light but the sun is setting and the temperature is dropping.
2 min...Lions player's 30 yard freekick from left is headed away. Lions Baxter Dennis blasts rebound from 30 yards on right wide right of net.
4 min...Pro Piccinin cross from 20 yards on left after run down wing is well over box.
5 min...Pro Winski 35 yard freekick from right has Pro Allison head 8 yarder in crowd of players just over net.
8 min...Pro Winski 35 yard freekick from right has goalie bat ball down ball wide right of post and defender's clear.
9 min...Pro Winski 35 yard freekick from left is just over bar.
10 min...Lions goalie beats Pro Winski to pick up ball at 15 yards.
11 min...Lions Baxter Dennis 40 yard freekick from right is through crowd of players on left post and out for goalkick.
13 min...Pro Alva threads through ball to Pro Allen but goalie beats him to smother ball at 12 yards and be kicked.
14 min...Pro Winski low 25 yard shot up middle is wide left.
15 min...A high pop up into the Pro box deflects off knee of Lions Kraja and wide right of net.
16 min...Pro Ameen flicks 6 yarder getting to low cross from right and tips ball wide left of post.
16 min...Pro Ameen gets past defender at 30 yards on left but pushes first touch too far forward and goalie picks up ball.
18 min...Pro Ameen bends 35 yarder from left that goalie catches.
21 min...Pro Alva is injured with a hand to face at center line but play continues.
25 min...Lions have now been called offside for at least the fourth time!
26 min...Pro Winski cornerkick from right has defenders partially clear and play is whistled down.
27 min...Pro Ameen is knocked over by Lions goalie charging to catch chip and is injured at 15 yard line.
31 min...Pro Piccinin low blast from 30 yards up middle is smothered by goalie.
31 min...Pro Winski low blast from 30 yards up middle is between defenders and smothered by goalie.
33 min...Pro Allison 40 yard freekick from left has ball bounce to Pro Winski on far right but he shoots wide right from 20 yards.
34 min...Pro Piccinin tries to cut around defender but 22 yard shot deflects wide right for cornerkick.
35 min...Pro Winski cornerkick from right is headed away by nearest defender. Pro Alva 30 yard kick from left is low and caught by goalie.
38 min...Lions YELLOW card...Kraja earns it for bashing into Pro Allison on Pro 45 yard line.
39 min...Pro Ameen low cross from near left corner flag has Pro Piccinin shoot low 8 yarder up middle that diving goalie saves on right post.
42 min...Pro Winski cross from 40 yard near left sideline has charging Pro Allen head 8 yarder into ground and ball bounces over net.
42 min...Pro goalie picks up ball at 8 yards wide right after Lions player rolls it past defender.
43 min...Pro Allen rolls 10 yarder from right end line into 6 yard box but defender clears.
45 min...Pro Allison is injured at Pro 35 yards on two foot sliding tackle by Lions Anderson.
....Lions YELLOW card...Anderson earns it after referee consults with other officials about last play.
46 min...half ends 9:47pm.

Halftime: I go out to the parking lot to get my mosquito spray.

2nd Half:...starts 10:05pm.
halftime sub:...Lions Nikolic replaces Bill.
45 min...Pro Winski cross from 40 yards on right is caught by leaping goalie over head of Lions player at 10 yards.
47 min...Pro Stars Jordan Piccinin GOAL...Pro Stars David Alva gives pass to Piccinin at 50 yards after Piccinin's quick throw-in at 50 yards and he races down right wing. He fakes a move that he is going to cross at the 15 yard line and runs to 7 yard line and takes 15 yard shot that catches far left corner beyond goalie Matthew Zaikos who was guarding the right post.
51 min...Lions Nikolic cornerkick from left has Lions Thompson pop 8 yard header from right post over net.
53 min...Lions sub...DeGrave replaces Baxter Dennis.
55 min...Lions player runs down right wing but weak roller from 20 yards is directly to goalie on right side.
56 min...Lions Anderson is injured in collision at Lions 50 yard line and needs trainer.
58 min...Pro Winski 30 yard freekick from far right bends over box and bounces wide left for a throw-in.
60 min...Pro sub...Ryan replaces Sandhu.
61 min...Pro YELLOW card...Valcius earns it for not giving 10 yards on a Lions quick freekick.
64 min...Lions sub...Teki replaces Moretti.
65 min...Lions Teki is injured in collision at Lions 45 yard line.
66 min...Lions YELLOW card...Thompson earns it at Lions 50 yard line for walking away from referee after a whistle and ignoring his request.
68 min...Lions Moretti rolls pass from 20 yards on left is just steps too far ahead of Lions player.
69 min...Lions YELLOW card...Bowyer earns it for injurying Pro Winski at Lions 50 yard line with bump to his head.
70 min...Pro sub...Sayers replaces Palmer.
72 min...Lions player heads ball out of bounds and hits assistant referee in the groin!
73 min...Pro Winski cornerkick from right is bounced through box unplayed.
73 min...Lions sub...Ikhuiwu replaces Anderson.
74 min...Pro goalie rushes forward to beat Lions player from getting to high through ball.
75 min...Pro sub...Wright replaces Allen.
75 min...Lions Bowyer 35 yard freekick from left is over heads of players in box.
76 min...Lions YELLOW card...Teki earns it near sideline near center line.
77 min...Lions sub...Darren replaces Kraja.
78 min...Lions 2nd Yellow (RED) card...Dawit Teki earns his second Yellow card in two minutes for a check on a Pro Stars player at Lions 40 yard line.
79 min...Pro Ameen rolls 20 yarder between defenders and ball is picked up by goalie.
82 min...Pro sub...Roe replaces Winski.
83 min...Lions Nikolic 35 yard shot from middle is over bar.
83 min...Pro Roe is threaded pass through defenders and 12 yard shot is smothered by diving goalie.
88 min...Pro Piccinin is sent a through ball up middle by Pro Alva and he takes a 15 yard low shot that sprawling goalie stops with face at 8 yards.
89 min...Pro Stars 2nd Yellow (RED card...Jeffrey Valcius earns his second Yellow card for a collision with a Lions player at Pro Stars 50 yard line.
90 min...Lions Cooper Zuccatti 50 yard freekick from right bounces between players and wide left of net.
91 min...Pro Roe 30 yard shot from right is stopped.
93 min...Lions Chretien 25 yard shot from left bounces to goalie.
94 min...Lions Nikolic 30 yard shot down middle is over net.
94 min...game ends 10:54pm.

Final Score:.....Sanjaxx Lions........0.........Pro Stars FC.......1........

Attendance was about 40 on this warm night with the sun just setting at the beginning of the game with the temperature cooling once this happened.

Referee Michael Stenbring gave out at least eight Yellow cards that I counted and this eventually added up that two players drew a second card.

This game was rough with many injuries but not vicious as many of the challenges were just clumsy and mistimed. A few players crashed together with their eyes on the ball to get to passes and crosses. A referee's assistant even took a ball to the groin when a desparate Lions defender near the sideline headed the ball out of bounds. Plenty of rushes to send in forwards were called offside on mistimed runs. Offside calls may have been in double figures for both teams.

Zachary Borzovoy earned the shutout for Pro Stars by making a few key saves. Both goalies were aggressive by coming to the edge of or even out of the box to clear or smother through ball chances.

Best non-scoring chances were at 5 minutes when Pro Stars Thomas Winski took a 35 yard freekick from the right that has PS Jammar Allison head an 8 yarder in crowd of players just over the net. 39 minutes had PS Mujtaba Ameen send in a low cross from near the left cornerflag and PS Jordan Piccinin shot a low 8 yarder up the middle that the diving goalie saved on the right post. Three minutes later had PS Winski cross from 40 yards near the left sideline that had the charging PS Leaford Allen head the ball downward from 8 yards and the ball hit the ground and bounce over the bar. 88 minutes had PS Piccinin sent a through ball up the middle by PS Alva and he took a 15 yard low shot that the sprawling goalie stopped with his face at 8 yards.

Both teams improve their 'goals against' statistics with both teams still over three given up per game while less than one scored. The Woodbridge Strikers vs Vaughan Azzurri game I'd expect would have been of a higher quality but this stadium is only a ten minute drive and I had time to write up the TFCA vs Durham United game of this afternoon.

Lions record falls to 1 win, 0 ties, 8 losses for 3 points for 11th out of 12 teams. Pro Stars win their first game in league play and jump from a tie for last place up to 10th with a record now of 1 win, 2 ties, 5 losses for 5 points.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Sanjaxx Lions starters