August 15, 2015 USL Pro--Toronto FC II vs Richmond Kickers (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday August 15, 2015 USL Pro game between Toronto FC II and Richmond Kickers played at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 3:00pm.

Toronto FC II (all red, white names and numbers)

.....................40 Quillan Roberts
32 Wesley Charpie...33 Skylar Thomas...59 Emeka Onanye...44 Mark Anthony Kaye
61 Bubacarr Jobe...14 Jay Chapman...20 Chris Mannella (cpt)...58 Anthony Osorio
..............22 Jordan Hamilton...31 Sal Bernal

Subs:...60 Brogen Engbers (gk)...34 Manuel Aparicio (mid)...41 Molham Babouli (fwd)...42 Massimo Mirabelli (mid)...48 Raheem Edwards (mid)
...51 Robert Baskovic (def)...54 Gabriel Boakye (def)
team officials:...head coach Jason Bent

Richmond Kickers (all black, white names and numbers, red trim)

.......................48 Travis Worra
31 Braedon Troyer...8 Hugh Roberts...2 William Yomby...30 Uriah Bentick
4 Fred Owusu Sekyere...23 Sascha Goerres...5 Michael Callahan (cpt)...14 Yudai Imura
..............7 Matthew Delicate...17 Jason Yeisley

Subs:...1 Ryan Taylor (gk)...15 Eli Garner (fwd)...16 Ricky Burke (mid)...21 Nathan Shiffman (mid)...28 Samuel Asante (mid)
team officials:...head coach Leigh Cowlishaw

Game officials:...referee Yusri Rudolf...referee's assistants Ben Jacobs and Braeden Krampert...fourth official David Barrie
(teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 3:12pm...TFC defends south end on this very hot and humid sunny afternoon. The bright sun is in the west.
3 min...RK Bentick cross from 25 yards on right has defenders clear in box.
4 min...TFC Thomas heads away long RK throw-in from right sideline into box.
5 min...RK Goerres chips 28 yard freekick from right that defender clears at 10 yards in crowd of players. RK Yeisley blasts partial clearance from 25 yards on left is well over net.
7 min...TFC Bernal rolls 12 yard shot from right that goalie smothers.
10 min...RK Goerres cornerkick from right has RK Roberts heads 12 yarder off underside of bar and players clear.
11 min...TFC Hamilton rolls pass forward from 30 yards for TFC Chapman and he rolls ball forward at 20 yards and defender dribbles it away.
12 min...RK Yeisley is bumped over by TFC Thomas on edge of TFC box but no call is made.
15 min...RK Yeisley gets away 18 yarder after running along edge of box is low and goalie smothers.
20 min...RK Goerres 50 yard pass from right has RK Yeisley on left pop header from 12 yards wide left.
22 min...TFC Kaye cross from 22 yards on left has TFC Chapman head 8 yarder down middle that goalie flies to bat down in middle of box and players clear.
23 min...TFC Chapman 35 yard freekick from right has ball cleared in middle of box.
23 min...RK Yeisley is injured at TFC 30 yard line near sideline. A water break is called.
26 min...TFC Bernal rolls pass from 25 yards into box has TFC Hamilton flick 12 yard shot that goalie gets hand on. Hamilton passes back from left end line and TFC Chapman pivots around defenders and low 10 yard shot is blocked by sliding defender.
26 min...TFC Chapman shot from 28 yards on right is high and wide right of net.
28 min...RK Sekyere 25 yard freekick from left has TFC Kaye pop up header as he falls and defenders eventually clear. RK Callahan 35 yard shot down middle is well over net.
30 min...referee calls official water break.
33 min...RK Goerres chips 28 yarder from left and TFC Ononye steps in front of goalie to head away.
33 min...RK Troyer cross from 25 yards on far right has goalie catch.
34 min...RK Sekyere cross from 30 yards on right has goalie catch on bounce on edge of box is over head of RK player.
35 min...TFC Chapman cornerkick from left is punched forward and away by goalie.
36 min...RK goalie runs unchallenged to pick up ball rolled into RK box on the left.
38 min...RK Sekyere cornerkick from left has RK Imura near right edge of box takes shot that bounces and lands on top of the net.
40 min...RK Delicate taps pass right to RK Imura at 35 yards and Imura chip has Delicate flick header forward from 20 yards on right wide right of net.
41 min...RK Sekyere is injured in center circle.
45 min...RK Sekyere blasts 40 yarder up middle wide left of net.
46 min...RK Bentick cross from 30 yards on left and RK Yeiisley can't win Penalty kick on bump over in box.
48 min...RK Sekyere freekick from 35 yards is quick and RK Imura up right crosses from 18 yards and RK Yeisley leaps but can't turn header at 8 yards. TFC goalie is injured in net on fall.
49 min...half ends 4:01pm.

Halftime Entertainment:...there was a 7 v 7 mini game with players from the U-11 Stoney Creek Soccer Club. The game lasted at least twice as long as the mini games at BMO which usually only last three minutes.

2nd Half:...starts 4:19pm.
45 min...RK Yeisley pops up header at 20 yards that bounces to TFC goalie.
46 min...TFC Bernal finishes TFC pressure with 22 yard roller up middle that goalie smothers. TFC players couldn't get away a clear shot between TFC Hamilton and Bernal.
50 min...RK Sekyere cross from 30 yards on right is into box and defender slides to clear preventing an 8 yard shot.
51 min...TFC Kaye cross from 35 yards on left has TFC Jobe chest down on right at 15 yards and shot has goalie save at 8 yards on right.
53 min...TFC Bernal rush to left end line and low cross from 15 yards has defender clear ball.
54 min...Kickers Yudai Imura GOAL...RK Fred Owusu Sekyere crosses from 25 yards on the far right and Imura leaps and heads 15 yarder down middle that flies into top right corner of net beyond goalie Quillan Roberts.
56 min...TFC sub...Mirabelli replaces Jobe.
56 min...TFC Hamilton 35 yard shot down middle is wide left of net.
58 min...RK Sekyere pushes pass forward from 25 yards on right. RK Callahan rescues ball near right end line and cross drifts behind net.
59 min...TFC Kaye cross from 25 yards on left has defender miss ball on right. A TFC player taps ball back and TFC Bernal rolls 15 yarder on right that goalie smothers.
60 min...TFC Osorio cross from 30 yards on left is over end line on right.
60 min...TFC sub...Edwards replaces Osorio.
62 min...RK Imura blast from 12 yards on left blocked by TFC Ononye at 8 yards. RK Sekyere rolls ball forward from 15 yards but goalie picks up.
65 min...RK Yeisley low 20 yard shot from left is caught by goalie on left post.
65 min...TFC Mannella and RK Callahan crash on center line. Mannella is more injured that Callahan and needs trainer.
.........TFC YELLOW card...Mannella earns it for his part in play.
68 min...TFC Mannella is injured again.
70 min...TFC sub...Babouli replaces Bernal.
.........TFC sub...Aparicio replaces Mannella.
71 min...TFC Babouli rolls ball forward from 35 yards up middle and TFC Edwards redirects it wide from 18 yards.
71 min...TFC Edwards rolls cross from 15 yards on far left and goalie dives forward to smother ball.
73 min...TFC Babouli low 20 yard shot has goalie dive to stop and has time to crawl and pick up at 7 yards.
74 min...TFC Molham Babouli GOAL...TFC Wesley Charpie cross from 25 yards on right has charging Babouli at 10 yards on left head ball into top left corner of net past flying goalie Travis Worra.
74 min...a water break is called.
77 min...RK sub...Garner replaces Callahan. Yomby takes over as captain.
.........RK sub...Asante replaces Delicate.
.........RK sub...Shiffman replaces Imura.
78 min...TFC Babouli rolls pass forward and TFC Hamilton shoots 10 yarder from left that flying goalie pushes away for cornerkick.
79 min...TFC Chapman cornerkick from left has TFC Ononye head 10 yarder from left wide right of post.
80 min...TFC goalie catches 30 yard shot from left.
80 min...TFC Edwards runs diagonal to center and shoots 25 yard roller wide left of net.
82 min...RK player's rush up middle wins cornerkick.
82 min...RK Sekyere cornerkick from right has defender clear in 6 yard box.
84 min...TFC Charpie cross from 30 yards has defender head ball away.
85 min...RK Shiffman has two chances from just outside box. The second one is headed away.
86 min...TFC Aparicio chips pass dodwn middle at 20 yards too far and bounces for goalkick.
87 min...RK Shiffman cross from 22 yards on far right has TFC Charpie head away on left.
89 min...TFC sub...Baskovic replaces Kaye.
.........RK sub...Burke replaces Sekyere.
90 min...RK Shiffman cornerkick from right has RK Yomby on right twist header pop up at 7 yards wide right of net.
91 min...TFC Massimo Mirabelli GOAL...TFC Manuel Aparicio chips cross from 25 yards on left that charging Mirabelli chests from 8 yards from middle to left side of net.
92 min...TFC YELLOW card...Babouli earns it for tripping RK Asante at TFC 30 yard line.
94 min...RK Goerres 30 yard freekick is just over leaping RK goalie (who's come up to be part of play) at 8 yards on right. RK Burke shoots 18 yard partial clearance and sliding RK Yeisley ends with backwards tip from 8 yards on left that goalie catches on bounce.
94 min...game ends 5:08pm.

Final Score:.......Toronto FC II.........2........Richmond Kickers.........1.......

Attendance looked to me like only about 225 on this very hot and humid afternoon with a bright sun in the west which favoured neither team as this stadium runs north-south. Each half had minutes added time to account for injuries but also a water break at 30 minutes and right after the TFC first goal. [official attendance reported on the USL website lists a crowd of 426].

Referee Yusri Rudolf gave out only two Yellow cards that I noticed (both to TFC players). One was to Chris Mannella at 65 minutes who crashed into Michael Callahan at the center line and Mannella was the more hurt of the players and needed the trainer. Just three minutes later Mannella was injured again and was subbed off. He was still limping after the game.

TFC MLS roster players playing today were midfielders Mannella, Manuel Aparicio, Jay Chapman, forward Jordan Hamilton, and goalie Quillan Roberts. With the MLS team acquiring more players and the roster being filled in with players returning from injury and international duty it will be more likely that we'll see these players again in USL games.

TFC II new acquisition 20 year old Bubacarr Jobe made his debut today wide on the wing. His passing was a little off and he was subbed at 56 minutes for Massimo Mirabelli. Maybe coming in as a sub helped Mirabelli have more energy at the end. Molham Babouli replaced Sal Bernal at 70 minutes and scored within 5 minutes. Two Canadians replacing Americans right there. 70 minutes also had Aparicio replace the injured Mannella.

TFC II have scored injury time goals in their last three games although before today, those strikes against Pittsburgh and Montreal were consolation goals.

Kickers looked the better team in the first half but couldn't score. They still looked like they could score the winner in the last ten minutes. Even in the last minute RK Sascha Goerres took a freekick from 30 yards and it was just over the head of the RK goalie who was in the box at 8 yards and the ball was headed back off the right end line by an RK player and RK Ricky Burke shot an 18 yarder that RK Jason Yeisley with his back to goal at 8 yards jabbed at and TFC goalie Quillan Roberts caught on the bounce to save the victory.

I remember Richmond Kickers from the A-League and their playoff game against Toronto Lynx in 2000 where their star player (Kickers that is) was Dwayne De Rosario! The Lynx won that series. The only holdout from that team was their head coach Leigh Cowlishaw who is in his sixteenth year coaching the Kickers.

Kickers have an affiliation with the MLS DC United team. Their roster from the USL site lists six players from DCU but only goalie Travis Worra was in today's lineup.

TFC II's record improves to 5 wins, 12 losses, 3 ties for 18 points, good for eleventh of the twelve teams in the Eastern Conference. Richmond's record slips to 8 wins, 6 losses, 9 ties for 33 points and a tie for fourth place staying above the six team playoff limit for now.

The free two page match day program happened to have their player feature on Massimo Mirabelli so it made it easier for kids to ask for his autograph after his game winning goal. I'm used to the MLS programs having their cover boy away on international duty or injured or suspended. Last weekend's MLS game against Kansas City==Damien Perquis—suspended!

Mirabelli chested the ball as hard as some players can head it. He must have abs of steel.

The Inebriatti fan group were in the southernmost section of the stands and kept their chants at a mild PG level. They can't be accused of the same old chants because they've added the chorus of The Weeknd's song "Can't Find My Face" into their songbook (current #1 pop song in the USA). Very appropriate as he's from Toronto. This is a good counter to the PA system whose playlist is about 30% Drake songs (he's also from Toronto).

So now the game is over and I had two hours until I could watch a TFC team again. No not a race to get home to watch the MLS team on television but I was already halfway to Brampton to see TFC Academy play in League 1 Ontario.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Toronto FC Academy starters