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Results and details of the Saturday May 23, 2015 USL Pro game between Toronto FC II and Rochester Rhinos played at BMO Field in Toronto at 8:00pm.
Toronto FC II (all red, white names and numbers)
.................40 Quillan Roberts
32 Wesley Charpie...33 Skylar Thomas...37 Adam Bouchard...44 Mark Anthony Kaye
45 Luca Uccello...20 Chris Bonnella (cpt)...41 Mo Babouli...48 Raheem Edwards
...........35 Edwin Rivas...42 Massimo Mirabelli
Subs:...25 Alex Bono...22 Jordan Hamilton (fwd)...34 Manuel Aparicio (mid)...46 Daniel Fabrizi (def)...58 Anthony Osorio (def)
...59 Emeka Ononye (def)
team officials:...head coach Jason Bent
Rochester Rhinos (green socks and shorts, green & yellow striped shirts, yellos names and numbers)
..................33 Brandon Miller
15 Pat McMahon...18 Grant Van De Casteele...5 Vassilios Apostoloupoulos...4 Sean Totsch
11 Jonny Mendoza...2 Marcos Ugarte (cpt)...13 Mike Garzi...20 Tony Walls
.........8 Christian Volesky...9 Colin Rolfe
Subs:...10 Stevan 'Duba' Humberto Fortes Dos Santos (fwd)...21 Kenardo Forbes (mid)...22 Justian Ringhof (def)...a few others
I couldn't identify as they kept their warm up jackets on.
team officials:...head coach Bob Lilley
Game officials:...referee Alexis Vaughan...referee's assistants Joe Fletcher and Fabrizio Stasola...fourth official David Barrie
...(all black uniforms)
1st Half:...game starts 8:09pm...TFC defends south end. The sun is now in the north west and the temperature is cooling from the
mild afternoon.
1 min...RR Volesky rush up right and dekes goalie but cross is already over end line.
4 min...TFC Uccello rolls 25 yard shot from right that goalie picks up.
6 min...RR Volesky lands on TFC Babouli at RR 35 yard line while on rush hurting Babouli legs. RR goalie picks up his pass into box.
9 min...TFC Babouli rush on right from 45 yards dekes defender and cross from 20 yards and goalie steps forward in center of box to make catch.
12 min...RR Volesky rolls ball forward to RR Rolfe who's checked off ball on edge of box.
15 min...RR Totsch cross from 20 yards along left end line is a step too far forward for RR Rolfe on left post and is caught by goalie.
16 min...RR Ugarte rushes to pass forward on left and cross from 22 yards is behind net.
18 min...RR goalie catches 45 yard chip from left on edge of box.
The sun has sank below the horizon at last.
20 min...TFC Uccello blocks RR pass at 45 yards and runs up middle and 30 yard low blast caught by sliding goalie.
21 min...RR Rolfe is injured on tackle by TFC Thomas at TFC 35 yards holding his shoulder.
24 min...TFC Babouli 45 yard freekick from left has TFC Bouchard leap for ball at 15 yards and is injured.
25 min...TFC Babouli 40 yard freekick from right has defender at 12 yards in crowd of players head ball wide right of net.
26 min...TFC Babouli cornerkick from right has defender clear with header. TFC Edwards blasts 22 yarder from left that defender
heads away at 12 yards.
28 min...TFC Uccello cross from 28 yards on right has defender at 15 yards head away.
29 min...TFC Edwards heads ball across RR box but it's is headed away.
30 min...TFC Uccello cross from 25 yards from right is over box.
31 min...TFC Charpie makes key headed clearance at 7 yards on cross into TFC box.
32 min...RR cross from 28 yards on left has RR Rolfe injured on run into box to try and play as TFC Thomas pushes him.
40 min...TFC goalie beats RR Rolfe to through ball on edge of box.
41 min...TFC Edwards rush up left wing cutting to middle and rolls 22 yarder well wide right of goal.
43 min...RR Ugarte rush up left and cross from 25 yards has RR Rolfe get header at 8 yards that gets deflected over net.
43 min...RR Ugarte cornerkick from right has RR player pop up header near left post and defenders clear.
44 min...TFC goalie catches cross from 30 yards on right.
47 min...half ends 8:56pm.
2nd Half:...game starts 9:13pm.
halftime sub:...RR Forbes replaces Rolfe.
46 min...TFC Babouli rolls ball forward from 15 yards directly to goalie as no TFC players make run.
47 min...TFC Mirabelli is held back with RR McMahon heading ball back to goalie on long chip from right.
48 min...RR Ugarte can't cut around TFC Charpie on left and ball is pushed over end line.
50 min...RR Mendoza gives forward pass to RR Volesky who rounds goalie well left of net and cuts cross into box but defenders eventually clear.
53 min...TFC Babouli dribbles through defenders regaining posession but low 10 yard cross is rolled along end line has goalie smother.
55 min...RR Forbes low 28 yard shot up middle has goalie dive to left post but fumble ball wide left for cornerkick.
55 min...TFC sub...Hamilton replaces Rivas.
57 min...RR Ugarte cornerkick from right has goalie catch in crowd of players. An RR player is hurt in the box.
58 min...TFC Edwards blasts 28 yard shot down middle is well over net instead of passing.
59 min...RR sub...Duba replaces Ugarte.
60 min...TFC Babouli cornerkick from right is partially cleared and TFC Edwards blasts 22 yarder that deflects over net.
61 min...TFC players work out short cornerkick from left has TFC Babouli cross over to right and TFC Edwards has shot blocked at 15 yards.
63 min...TFC Uccello is nudged off making cross after run down right wing.
65 min...RR Duba holds off defender to chip low cross from 15 yards through box unplayed.
68 min...RR YELLOW card...Garzi earns it for pushing over TFC Hamilton at center line.
70 min...TFC Kaye cross from 30 yards on left is over players in box.
71 min...RR Totsch cross has TFC Thomas head ball behind end line from 12 yards.
72 min...RR Mendoza cornerkick from left eventually cleared and RR Garzi blasts partial clearance from 12 yards wide right of net.
75 min...TFC sub...Aparicio replaces Mirabelli.
75 min...RR Totsch cross from 20 yards on left has goalie punch ball away in crowd of players.
76 min...RR sub...Duba run up left and 25 yard shot is over net.
78 min...RR Forbes rolls pass to RR Garzi who has 15 yard shot is caught by sprawling goalie.
79 min...RR Apostolopoulos defender heads ball back to goalie to beat TFC Babouli to getting to it.
80 min...RR Forbes in middle pass forward and left to RR Mendoza who shoots 18 yarder well high and right of net.
82 min...RR Mendoza cross to RR Volesky who turns and fires 10 yarder that goalie pushes wide left of net.
83 min...RR sub...Ringhof replaces Garzi.
83 min...RR player's cornerkick is whistled down in box.
84 min...RR Volesky rush on left but can't get away shot.
85 min...TFC sub...Fabrizi replaces Charpie.
86 min...TFC Edwards gets to pass on left and defender clears ball off TFC Edwards for goalkick.
87 min...RR Duba spins and rolls 22 yard shot wide left of net.
89 min...RR Forbes cross from 20 yards on right has defender clear in middle of box.
90 min...RR Volesky rolls through ball at 20 yards but RR Duba hasn't turned around to see it.
91 min...TFC Babouli gets to long chip between defenders but heads 12 yarder to goalie.
92 min...RR Mendoza 45 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie although offside flag was up.
93 min...RR Mendoza cornerkick from left has defender head ball away.
93 min...game ends 10:01pm.
Final Score:......Toronto FC II........0......Rochester Rhinos.......0.......
Attendance started out at about 1200 people that had stayed behind after the Toronto FC vs Portland Timbers MLS match that had finished one hour before. Fans were herded into the East side stands except the Supporters groups who could stay in the South end and light off flares and smoke bombs. The temperature was falling fast after the sun set at the 20 minute mark and more than 2/3s left at halftime. Many people hadn't brought coats. By the end of the game there were about 300 left.
The game held a slightly different ending than the one in Rochester exactly two weeks ago. The Rhinos did not score an injury time goal to win by a 1-0 score after a long storm delay.
The Rhinos remain the only undefeated team in the USL PRO league. Their record improves to 6 wins, 4 ties, 0 losses. TFC II's record improves to 2 wins, 2 ties, 5 losses although this was their first home game this season.
Overall a tie was a fair result. Rhinos looked good in the first 20 minutes then TFC II looked better the rest of the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second half. Rhinos looked like the team that would score in the last 15 minutes to squeeze out a win.
Referee Alexis Vaughan gave out only one Yellow card the whole game and that wasn't until 68 minutes to a Rhino player. The game was rather rough with lots of grabbing and bumping and injuries to both teams. Yes there were a lot of freekicks given out and a lot of flags for offside and trainers being summoned off the bench but it was the same for both teams.
Quillan Roberts earned the shutout for TFC II. Brandon Miller did likewise for the Rhinos. Both goalies had to make some key saves and had some rebounds cleared by alert defenders. Best non-scoring chances were at 43 minutes when RR Marcos Ugarte rushed up the left and crossed from 25 yards and had RR Colin Rolfe get away a header from 8 yards up the middle that was deflected over the net. 72 minutes had RR Jonny Mendoza send in a cornerkick from the left that was eventually partially cleared and Mike Garzi blasted a shot from 12 yards that was just wide right of the net. 82 minutes had RR Mendoza cross to RR Christian Volesky who turned and fired a 10 yarder that the goalie pushed just wide left of the post. TFC II best chances often were well worked up but finished with shots being blocked or being off target.
The only overlap of TFC from the first game was Jordan Hamilton was part of the 18 for the MLS game but didn't play. He came on in the TFC II game at 55 minutes but didn't have a major impact. Also Quillan Roberts was the unused back up goalie for TFC but played the entire match for TFCII. Manny Aparicio wasn't on the 18 for TFC but came on at 75 minutes for the nightcap.
Outstanding player was Mo Babouli who played in an attacking midfield role tonight and took a lot of cornerkicks like Michael Bradley did in the today's earlier game. Last year with TFC Academy as League 1 Ontario's leading scorer he was an outright striker.
Action started while the warm ups were still going on with a replay of TFC II head coach being inducted into the Brampton Hall of Fame shown on the video board. It was strange to watch comments from his father on the screen when his relatives including his father was only two rows behind me. While assistant coach with TFC he used to lie out the pylons just as the warmup. Today as head coach of TFC II he still does the same thing rather than have an underling space them out.
We were handed a two page game sheet before action started by an usherette. This came in handy because I have not been able to put together a full roster from the Internet. The game was run more professionally too with the scoreboard working and announcements being made for starters and subs and the national anthems played before the game—all of these I can't remember happening when the team played in the MLS Reserve League over the years.
TFC head coach Greg Vanney and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko were watching the game from the West stands.
Rochester Rhinos have on their crest that this is their 20th anniversary. I remember their days playing Toronto Lynx starting in 1997 in the A-League at Varsity Stadium then at Centennial. I hadn't seen this team since 2006 which was the last year the Lynx played before dropping to the PDL level. They used to bring a lot of travelling supporters that would outshout the Lynx fans. The Raging Rhinos were one of the main teams in the A-League starting out when that league was considered an 'equal' to the just starting out MLS back in 1996. They used to draw 11-15000 per game. I see recent years their attendance is about 1/3 of that. Their website says they're the most successful non-MLS team in the US and Canada (I suppose now that Seattle and Montreal have moved up to MLS that would be true).
It's a long wait for the next home game which will also be held at BMO Field while a new stadium at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan is being built. It's Saturday June 27th at 8:00pm against Wilmington Hammerheads FC.
Watching the game just put off the long detour home—two hours. No trouble getting on a streetcar tonight after 95% of the crowd had left after the MLS game but my line of the subway wasn't running and I had a few transfer detours.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
stats from uslsoccer.com Shots by period 1 2 Total Rochester Rhinos 1 8 9 Toronto FC II 5 2 7 Corner kicks 1 2 Total Rochester Rhinos 1 5 6 Toronto FC II 1 2 3 Saves by period 1 2 Total Rochester Rhinos 2 0 2 Toronto FC II 0 3 3 Fouls 1 2 Total Rochester Rhinos 1 5 6 Toronto FC II 4 5 9
Toronto FC II starters
Rochester Rhinos starters
Rhinos Christian Volesky (8) and Colin Rolfe (9) take opening kickoff.
midfield action
Rhinos Marcos Ugarte (2) cuts towards goal.
Rhinos Marcos Ugarte (2) takes cornerkick from right.
TFC II Massimo Mirabelli (42) and Edwin Rivas (35) take second half kickoff.
TFC II Mo Babouli (41) leads rush.
TFC II Mo Babouli (41) cornerkick into box.
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