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Results and details of the Thursday June 11, 2015 PDL game between Toronto FC Academy and Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23s played at the KIA Training Centre in Downsview at 2:30pm.
Toronto FC Academy (all red, white numbers)
..................30 Phil DiBennardo
2 Gaby Boakye...13 Matteo Restrepo...3 Kevon Black (cpt)...16 Tarik Robertson
......19 Liam Fraser...14 Nicholas Osorio...24 Anthony Osorio
......17 Mark Gonsalez...9 Malik Johnson...25 Stefan Vukvic
Subs:...1 Darrin McLeod (gk)...5 Alain Sargeant (def)...8 Dapo Afolayan(mid)...10 Martin Davis (mid)...7 Raheem Thorpe (mid)
...15 Azaih Reid (fwd)...21 Nigel Patterson (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Stuart Neely
Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 (all black, white numbers, one white stripe down left side of uniform)
..................32 Mac Wheeler
50 Andrew Herr...38 Stephane Pierre...43 Arthur Duchesne...33 Kevin Fielden
49 Steven Munn...56 Nigel Seidu...60 Duncan Corbett...39 Lewis Osborne
............46 Patrick Dixon...58 Jeffrey Kyei
Subs:...31 Daniel Lynd (gk)...55 Matt Essig (def)...35 Romeo Charron (mid)...47 Cody West (def)...45 Leighton Richards (def)
...48 Zach MacNabb (fwd)...41 Bryce Cregan (def)
team officials:...head coach Josh Rife
Game officials:...referee Fabrizio Stasolla...referee's assistants Michael Stenbring and Alexander Cho-Kee...fourth official Cyrus Eshafi
...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)
1st Half:...game starts 2:30pm...TFCA defends north end...all times are converted from my wristwatch.
1 min...TFCA Anthony Osorio 35 yard freekick from right has ball tipped wide left from 5 yards by defender.
2 min...TFCA Anthony Osorio cornerkick from left has ball knocked down by TFCA player but defender clears.
6 min...PRH Kyei eludes charging goalie at 30 yards on far left but pushes ball too far forward for goalkick.
9 min...TFCA Mark Gonsalez GOAL...Gonsalez receives short pass at 20 yards
on right and steps between two defenders and shoots low 15 yarder into left corner of net
under sliding goalie Mac Wheeler at 5 yards.
10 min...TFCA Vukovic low 25 yard shot from right saved by sliding goalie.
11 min...TFCA Robertson pinpoint pass from 55 yards on right finds TFCA Gonsalez who lobs 25 yard shot from right is caught by goalie.
12 min...TFCA Anthony Osorio cornerkck from right has TFCA Restepo leap and twist header from 12 yards down middle over net.
17 min...TFCA Anthony Osorio freekick from 35 yards in middle has TFCA Fraser leap in crowd of players at 18 yards in middle and pop
header well wide right.
19 min...PRH Osborne blasts rolling shot from 30 yards on left well wide left of net.
21 min...PRH player makes bad backpass from 25 yards on left that's intercepted by TFCA Gonsalez at 15 yards on left and rolls pass
to TFCA Vukovic charging and 12 yard shot down mniddle has diving goalie smother on right post.
23 min...PRH Herr rolls pass forward from 25 yards but no player runs for it so defender clears.
25 min...PRH goalie beats TFCA Gonsalez to clear through ball at 20 yards on right.
27 min...PRH Kyei receives short pass 22 yards turns around defender to shoot low 20 yarder that diving goalie pushes wide left of post.
28 min...PRH Osborne cornekrick from left has defender head ball away at 12 yards.
29 min...PRH goalie dives at 12 yards on left to beat TFCA Anthony Osorio to ball.
31 min...TFCA defenders break up about five attempts near edge of box.
33 min...PRH Osborne 35 yard freekick from left is tipped by player on edge of box and goalie crawls to left to smother ball.
35 min...PRH Munn ends sequence with cross from 15 yards that TFCA Anthony Osorio stops and clears.
36 min...PRH Osborne rolls 22 yarder from left that goalie picks up on short side.
38 min...PRH Osborne cornerkick from left is just over head of leaping PRH Pierre at 15 yards in middle and bounces out right side of box.
39 min...PRH Jeffrey Kyei GOAL...PRH Andrew Herr cross from 35 yards over to left and Kyei
takes low 20 yard shot that sliding goalie Phil DiBennardo gets piece of but the ball
spins into the middle of net.
42 min...TFCA Vukovic dribbles down middle and survives bump by PRH Pierre to roll 8 yard shot that goalie saves on left post.
43 min...TFCA Robertson cross from 25 yards on left has two defenders head away on right.
45 min...TFCA Robertson cross from 25 yards on left has defender head ball out right side of box.
46 min...PRH goalie to edge of box to smother ball before TFCA Vukovic can get to it.
46 min...half ends 3:16pm.
2nd Half:...starts 3:36pm.
halftime subs:...TFCA Davis replaces Nicholas Osorio.
.............PRH MacNabb replaces Munn.
.............PRH Charron replaces Osborne.
49 min...PRH Dixon cornerkick from left has goalie catch in crowd of players on right side of box.
51 min...TFCA Anthony Osorio 30 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie unchallenged.
51 min...PRH Fielden cross from 25 yards on far right has PRH Corbett has defender block shot from 15 yards on left.
54 min...PRH Fielden dribble through three defenders and wins cornerkick on left.
55 min...PRH Kyei cornerkick from left has goalie catch.
60 min...TFCA sub...Afolayan replaces Anthony Osorio.
.........PRH sub...Essig replaces Corbett.
61 min...TFCA Gonsalez can't turn and get away shot from 15 yards.
63 min...TFCA Fraser tapped back pass and 28 yard blast from left is well over net.
64 min...TFCA Martin Davis GOAL...TFCA Dapo Afolayan gives short pass over to Davis who then
gets behind PRH defender Kevin Fielden on run down right and flicks 12 yard shot into right
side of net behind goalie standing at 6 yards.
65 min...TFCA sub...Reid replaces Johnson.
........TFCA sub...Thorpe replaces Gonsalez.
66 min...TFCA Robertson low cross from near left cornerflag has goalie catch on bounce.
68 min...PRH YELLOW card...Corbett earns it for swearing after getting crunched over in tackle.
69 min...PRH sub...West replaces Kyei.
69 min...PRH Dixon 35 yard freekick bends to leaping goalie.
70 min...TFCA Reid dekes defender at 20 yards but pushes ball too far forward and goalie smothers.
71 min...PRH Charron ends elaborate passing on left with cross that's too far forward for charging PRH player on right.
73 min...TFCA Azaih Reid GOAL...TFCA Tariq Robertson at 30 yards on left passes forward and
Reid shoots one-touch 10 yarder on left into bottom of net under diving goalie.
75 min...TFCA sub...Sargeant replaces Restepo.
76 min...TFCA Boakye rolls centering pass from 20 yards on right behind TFCA player but TFCA Afolayan blasts
low 12 yarder off sliding defender and ball deflects over net from 8 yards.
77 min...TFCA Vukovic on left has defenders on short side heads ball away from 10 yards.
78 min...PRH Dixon cornerkick from right has defenders head away on left.
79 min...PRH Macnabb cross in from 28 yards on far left is caught by goalie.
81 min...TFCA Boakye cross in from 30 yards on right has defender in middle head ball away.
82 min...TFCA Fraser chips in long cross from 35 yards. TFCA Afolayan blasts partial clearance from 22 yards is well over net.
82 min...PRH West shot is tipped over net for cornerkick.
83 min...PRH player's cornerkick from right is headed away.
84 min...PRH Charron receives high chip from 50 yards and one-touch overhead kick at 20 yards is over net.
85 min...PRH MacNabb 25 yard shot is over net.
87 min...TFCA Afolayan cornerkick from right drifts out of box and is cleared.
91 min...TFCA YELLOW card...Boakye earns it for tackle on PRH MacNabb at TFCA 35 yard line.
92 min...PRH Dixon bends 35 yard freekick down middle is high and wide left of net.
92 min...PRH player's freekick is whistled down in box.
93 min...game ends 4:24pm.
Final Score:.....Toronto FC Academy.......3........Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23....1....
Attendance was about 25 on this mild sunny afternoon. The wind wasn't a factor for the first time this season.
Referee Fabrizio Stasolla gave out only one Yellow card to each team with a few tough tackles by both teams being called for just freekicks or ignored. Lots of swearing my the PRH players and I was thinking with their accents they were an all-UK team but they are all Americans except one player each from Scotland, England, Australia, Germany, France, and Jamaica.
Starting midfielders in the TFCA lineup included 21 year old Anthony Osorio and 17 year old Nicholas Osorio. Their older brother Jonathan Osorio (who turns 22 tomorrow) has been on their MLS team for a few years now and is also a midfielder. Anthony took most of the corners and freekicks in the 60 minutes he played. Nicholas played just the first half. I've seen Nicholas play for the Academy team in League 1 Ontario this season. Head coach Stuart Neely coaches both these teams so would know all about him.
Both teams had a lot of runs from box to box but surprisingly few shots on target as there was usually that one last man back to block a shot or break up a pass. Both goalies helped their own cause by diving on possible through balls.
Best non-scoring chances were at 21 minutes when a defender made a bad backpass from 25 yards on the left that was intercepted by TFCA Mark Gonsalez at 15 yards on the left and he rolled a pass to the charging Stefan Vukovic and his 12 yard shot down the middle was saved by the diving goalie who smothered the ball on the right post. 27 minutes had PRH Jeffrey Kyei receive a short pass at 22 yards, then turned around a defender to shoot a low 20 yarder that the diving goalie pushed wide left of the post. 76 minutes had TFCA Gaby Boakye roll a centering pass from 20 yards on the right that was behind a TFCA player but TFCA Dapo Afolayan ran forward and blasted a low 12 yarder up the middle that deflected off a sliding goalie and fly over the net. PRH had a final spell between 82 and 85 minutes that with so many chances I couldn't write them all down.
Toronto FC (MLS) general manager Tim Bezbatchenko watched the first half of the game in the stands. He said he was from Columbus but did play for Pittsburgh Riverhounds at the USL Pro Level in 2004 and 2005 but never played against the Toronto Lynx. When I suggested that splitting the roster into Toronto FC II, the League 1 Academy going so young, and this PDL team for college students has weakened them overall, (that's two more than last year) he said that winning isn't the important thing but putting them out there to make mistakes is part of the learning process. The Ontario Soccer Association has approved the PDL team for one year and they will have to get extensions year by year to continue operating.
This must be at least the third stint at TFC for forward Stefan Vukovic. I watched him play for the Academy in the CSL (he won the scoring title one year), then again in their MLS Reserves team (I also saw him play on the Montreal Impact equivalent), now back with this new PDL team. Between that he was on a first division team in Poland.
TFCA picks up their first victory of the year and improve to 1 win, 4 losses, 0 ties. Riverhounds had won their first game of the season 2-1 on Tuesday in a home game against Dayton Dutch Lions. Their record falls to 1 win, 3 losses, 1 tie. TFCA next game is Saturday afternoon at KIA Training Centre at 4:00pm against Dayton who hold a record of 0 wins, 3 losses, 1 tie. Add Derby City (Louisville KY) who also haven't won and there's a huge gap between the best teams, Michigan—Forest City London—K-W United and these bottom four.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
official stats from uslpdl.com Summary: Goals TFC: Mark Gonsalez (Unassisted) 9' PIT: Jeffrey Kyei (Unassisted) 40' TFC: Martin Davis (Dapo Afolayan) 64' TFC: Aziah Reid (Tarik Robertson) 74' Cautions PIT: Duncan Corbett 70' TFC: Gabriel Boakye 90' Ejections None Referees: Fabrizio Stasolla, Cyrus Eshafi, Michael Steinbring, Alex Cho-Kee Team Statistics Goals Half1 Half2 Final Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 1 0 1 TFC Academy 1 2 3 Shots Half1 Half2 Final Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 6 4 10 TFC Academy 4 5 9 Saves Half1 Half2 Final Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 2 1 3 TFC Academy 4 1 5 Fouls Half1 Half2 Final Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 4 10 14 TFC Academy 1 5 6 Offsides Half1 Half2 Final Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 3 1 4 TFC Academy 3 0 3 Corners Half1 Half2 Final Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 2 5 7 TFC Academy 2 2 4
Toronto FC Academy starters
Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 starters
PRH 46 and 58 take opening kickoff.
TFCA Tarik Robertson (16) on run.
TFCA Anthony Osorio (24) takes 35 yard freekick.
PRH Dunca Corbett (60) looks to pass off.
TFCA Mark Gonsalez (17) and Stefan Vukovic (25) take second half kickoff.
PRH cornerkick is into box and has TFCA goalie Phil DiBennardo catch.
TFCA Anthony Osorio (24) sends freekick into box.
TFCA Gaby Boakye (2) is keeping ball away from two players.