April 29, 2017 League 1 Ontario--Match Preview: Sanjaxx Lions v Pro Stars FC (from League 1 Ontario website)
Match Preview: Sanjaxx Lions v Pro Stars FC 04/29/2017, 9:15am EDT By League1 Ontario staff With only three days before the League1 Ontario 2017 season kicks off, anticipation is at an all-time high for what the season ahead will hold - the fourth season in the lifetime of this standards-based, pro-am, Ontario senior league. The off-season has brought a number of changes, with two new clubs coming into the league from Ottawa, a venerable name added to the women's division in Toronto Blizzard, and an exciting young women's team out of Unionville that looks stacked with junior national team players. These are only a few of the storylines in the league, and there are so many more... The weekend of April 28 - 30 is all about the men's division, with the women starting up on the weekend of May 5 - 7 (and a special women's kickoff event on May 13 in London, ON), so stick with us as we sequentially preview the match-ups and the teams that will do battle over our opening two weekends! Matchday Three continues the action for L1O Kickoff 2017 with a meeting between two of the league's academy sides - Brampton-based Pro Stars FC will start out their campaign at the home of the Sanjaxx Lions. Monarch Park in Toronto will be the site of this one on Sunday April 30 (2 p.m.), and both teams will undoubtedly be looking to improve on their 2016 standing. Sanjaxx finished the higher of the two sides in the west division, but just barely. A record of five wins, fifteen losses and one draw put the Lions on 16 points and seventh in the west division. Pro Stars were not far off with a record of four wins, 15 losses and three draws resulting a final tally of 15 points and an eighth place finish in the west. In this fixture at Monarch Park last season, the Lions emerged the better of the two sides following a 2-0 win, and again in the return fixture at Pro Stars' home ground of Terry Fox Stadium where the Lions were rampant in a 5-0 win over the Stars. Both sides will be looking to get their seasons off to a better start, and will view the opposition as a good fixture with which to begin. Will the Pro Stars be able to reverse the 2016 trend against their cross-town rivals in 2017? Or can the Lions again get their first win at the expense of Stars? On the coaching side, both teams will start off with the stability of having the same managerial staff in place. Laza Lowe will guide the Lions yet again in 2017, while Josef Komlodi will be in charge of the Pro Stars. Both coaches have decades of experience in the game, going back to their native countries of Jamaica (in the case of Lowe) and Hungary (in the case of Komlodi) and have developed many players that have gone on to perform at professional levels. Lowe and Komlodi each rallied their teams to secure two wins from their final five matches in 2016 league play, so will be interesting to see if the managers can harness that late season momentum to secure an opening day victory. In terms of personnel, Sanjaxx have built their squad intelligently over recent seasons and can now benefit from young players that also have League1 experience. Head coach Laza Lowe selected a few players to highlight. "Hilliard Serrao is a 2016 League1 All Star, winner of Goal of the Year in 2016, and a great leader in our program," said Lowe. "He's an excellent midfielder and attacker who gives his all every time, and has experience internationally." "Stefan Nikolic is a technically gifted midfielder that was invited to trials with Italian professional club Pescara Calcio, played for Team Ontario, and it's his third year in League1," he added. "His maturity should come to the forefront this year." "Nathaniel Rodney Scarlett has been consistent and steady, one of the leaders of our program, and an excellent central defender." "Nicholas Charles is a talented right back with an attacking mentality, shows great vision going forward," he continued. "He's excellent in defending, and speed and determination are his strengths. We look forward to a great season for Nicholas." "Finally we have Timothy Cordova, a very good, young striker (18 years old) who scored goals at the League1 and U21 Provincial level of play, who as grown in maturity and we are hoping for an even better season this year," concluded Lowe. "And Demetre Solomus, a very good, young left back (18 years old) who had a very good U21 season. He possesses skill, speed and determination, and we are looking for him to graduate now to the L1 level." Pro Stars' Josef Komlodi is also feeling positive about the season ahead, not least after the hard work the club has put in over recent seasons. "This year we are building our program on the success of our past player development concept and promoting young players to demonstrate their talents in the League 1 competitions," said Komlodi. "After a long and hard winter training program we are confident that several of our talents will break through as major players in the League1 competition during the 2017 outdoor season." "Here are some of the young talents who will make a major impacts," he added. Goalkeeper Justin Barrett is a 2000 born player who showed well even during last year's League1 season, putting in some very high level performances." "We have our alumni player Jacke Crawford, a new center back signing who was identified as a top talent by the world famous Dinamo Zagreb academy at age 16 and was able to train with them for an extended period," he added. "Jacke has matured and at age 21 he is ready to make a great impact in the game." "In the midfield we can point out our two international players from Ghana, 25 year old Silas Obereg and 20 year old George Owosu," said Komlodi. "They will make a major impact. Both of these players can greatly influence a game." "In the forward line we will rely on two resigned players that are returning to us from abroad," he revealed. "Kibwe Dwyer and Zachary Gowlet are back after a season at our partner club in Hungary." "We also have 20 year old Udey Arora transferring back from Europe to prepare himself to play again at higher-level competition," he said. "Behind this players we have a great line of talented young players that are ready to make a great impact in the game at the senior levels, including: 17 year-old David Bain, who recently returned from an extended training camp at a top Italian Serie A club; 17 year old Marco Polancec-Marin, who just returned from an extended training camp with Hajduk Split in Croatia and 17 year old Santiago Echevery, 16 year old Ethan Millington, 16 year old Dario Giatti DaSilva and 16 year old Liron Elmazovski - all of whom are currently in Valencia, Spain for an extended ID camp." "We are pleased to see that great talents are coming out from the Pro Stars FC and Canadian soccer environment," concluded Komlodi.
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