May 21, 2017 League 1 Ontario--North Toronto Nitros vs Vaughan Azzurri game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday May 21, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between
North Toronto Nitros and Vaughan Azzurri played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto at 4:30pm.

North Toronto Nitros (green socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)

.....................1 Mark Rogal (cpt)
5 Thomas Mickoski...15 Christian Westlaken...37 Jason Akoa...2 Devon Bowyer
3 Koosha Nazemi...6 Jayen Doyle...31 Akibul Hoque...13 Nikolay Saveliev
.............35 Kembo Kibato...18 Kyle Laborde

Subs:...22 Quinn Stahner (gk)...17 Joseph Maggisano...11 Russell Rodrigues...16 Carl De Abreu
...43 Matthew Rosolen...39 Mirza Custovic...42 Lael Daniel
team officials:...head coach Hermann Kingue...other team officials Ilya Orlov, Gary Fleming, John Bianchi,
Shawn Sawyers, and Jools Murray

Vaughan Azzurri (white socks and shirts, red shorts, black numbers)

......................1 Daniel Gosciniak
...........16 Devante Walker...24 Shiquan Lowe...6 Adrian Butters
11 Brandon Mills...4 Christopher Mannella...23 Joseph Di Chiara...7 Jahsua Mills
...........10 Jason Mills...25 Mario Kovacevic...9 Jarek Whiteman

Subs:...12 Andrew D'Souza (gk)...3 Brendan McGhee...8 Alexander Zis...14 Dena Iezady
...15 Jorga Nika...18 Tomasz Sklublak...8 Dante Pavan
team officials:...head coach Carmen Isacco...other team officials Patrice Gheisar, Wayne Mills, Esteban Clavijo,
and Tony De Palma

Game officials:...referee Lukasz Kowalewski...referee's assistants Joseph D'Onofrio and John Leuser
...fourth official Twayne Anderson...(pink shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 4:30pm...NTN defend south end. A hard rain had been falling since before game time.
4 min...VA Di Chiara low 22 yard freekick along left endline has defender clear on near post.
9 min...NTN Kibato cross from 18 yards near left end line has defender chest down and clear.
It has stopped raining!
10 min...NTN Nazemi cross from 30 yards on right is over players in box and wide left for goalkick.
10 min...VA Di Chiara is fed through ball at 35 yards and he takes low 20 yard shot that's stopped by sliding
goalie and cleared.
12 min...VA Di Chiara is tapped pass and 10 yard shot is stopped by sliding goalie.
13 min...NTN Mickoski chips 30 yard cross from right that's caught by goalie.
14 min...VA Whiteman rolls pass forward from 20 yards on left but ball rolls over end line when no VA player
runs for it.
15 min...NTN Hoque 35 yard freekick from left is bobbled by goalie over head on right post and fumbles over end line.
16 min...NTN Doyle cornerkick from right has NTN player head 10 yarder wide left on his charge in.
16 min...VA Whiteman rolls 30 yard shot up middle that goalie smothers.
19 min...VA Jahsua Mills retreats to make slide and prevent NTN breakaway on right side.
21 min...NTN Doyle 35 yard freekick from right has defender pop up header at 12 yards in crowd of players and
goalie catches and bobbles wide left of net under NTN pressure.
26 min...VA Walker cross from 25 yards on right is sent over net.
28 min...VA Jahsua Mills gets back to hook away ball at 20 yards to prevent NTN player from getting away shot.
NTN Nazemi recovers to get 25 yard shot between players that's caught by goalie on bounce.
33 min...NTN Hoque 25 yard freekick from left is high and wide right of net.
35 min...VA Manella 40 yard freekick from left has defender pop up header at 10 yard line on right but whistle
is blown.
35 min...VA YELLOW card...Jason Mills earns it while awaiting for the NTN freekick.
38 min...NTN Doyle cornerkick from right has VA Jahsua Mills head away on left side of box.
40 min...VA Mannella freekick from 25 yards on far right bends wide left and bounces out of box for NTN fast break.
42 min...VA Mannella 30 yard freekick from right has VA Jason Mills make flying header from 10 yards in middle
that flies wide right of net.
45 min...VA Di Chiara shoots over the net 10 yard rebound with goalie down. NTN goalie had made point blank
save sprawling at 5 yards on 10 yard shot up middle. The play was set up by a VA player stealing the ball off
a defender on the top left corner of the box and quickly rolls a pass over to that player.
47 min...half ends 5:17pm.

2nd Half:...starts 5:34pm. It's raining again!
Halftime sub:...NTN Custovic replaces Kibato.
47 min...VA Di Chiara 30 yard freekicik on far left has VA Jahsua Mills in crowd of players at 12 yards on right
heads ball wide lefft of net.
48 min...VA Jason Mills beats three guys on left but fourth defender blocks shot on left.
50 min...NTN Laborde pushes pass down left but goalie runs forward to pick up.
51 min...NTN Custovic rolls centering pass forward to NTN Laborde at 22 yards but can't control and rolls
ball to goalie.
52 min...VA Brandon Mills rush down left to end line and cross into box is headed away. VA Mannella shoots 22 yarder
down middle over net.
55 min...NTN Laborde low cross from 20 yards near end line has NTN player get away 5 yard shot in crowd of players
that's stopped by goalie.
57 min...NTN Mirza Custovic GOAL...NTN Jayden Doyle run on left and crosses from 22 yards has
Custovic tip ball at 8 yards in middle into top right corner of net beyond goalie Daniel Gosciniak.
59 min...VA Di Chiara 30 yard freekick from left sideline has ball cleared in box.
60 min...NTN Custovic rush up left and cuts towards goal and 12 yard shot is stopped by sprawling goalie.
61 min...NTN Hoque in open at 15 yards on left but shoots low wide left.
62 min...NTN goalie rushes to edge of box to punch away 60 yard freekick from left in crowd of players.
64 min...VA sub...Sklublak replaces Kovacevic.
.........VA sub...Zis replaces Brandon Mills.
65 min...NTN Saveliev 30 yard freekick from right is caught by sprawling goalie unthreatened.
65 min...VA Tomasz Sklublak GOAL...VA Jason Mills gets through two defenders to 10 yard line on left
and sends low pass along that 10 yard line through crowd of players for Sklublak who maneuvers around
defender and rolls 10 yarder down middle into right corner of net beyond goalie Mark Rogal.
67 min...VA Sklublak is given through ball on left and rolls ball wide right from 18 yards.
68 min...VA Zis intercepts NTN goalie's clearance when threatened by two defender and his quick
shot from 30 yards is bounced wide left.
69 min...NTN Doyle 40 yard freekick from left is into crowd of players in box that's headed away
and NTN player bicycle kick attempt is whistled down at 10 yards.
70 min...NTN sub...Rosolen replaces Hoque.
73 min...VA Whiteman pushes pass up right sideline and VA Walker runs to near conerflag and sends in low
creoss that goalie picks up on bounce in front of VA players waiting for tap-in.
73 min...NTN play is called offside when after first shot on run the NTN player falls and a follow
up player blasts low shot that hits him on the ground at 15 yards.
74 min...VA Whiteman rush on right then dribbles to middle and cuts 25 yard roller that goalie picks up.
75 min...NTN Rodrigues rush on right but holds up on defender and his 22 yard shot is saved by goalie.
76 min...VA RED card...Jason Mills earns his second Yellow card of the game for what looked like arguing
with referee Lukasz Kowalewski about him whistling down a VA rush and giving NTN a freekick at the
NTN 40 yard line.
78 min...NTN sub...Maggisano replaces Laborde.
79 min...VA Walker sends high cross from 40 yards on right has goalie swat over box.
79 min...NTN Saveliev run down left and cross has goalie dive foward and swat ball behind end line.
80 min...NTN Saveliev cornerkick from right has nearest defender clear at 8 yards on right.
81 min...NTN Doyle 28 yard freekick from right right is low and goalie smothers.
82 min...VA YELLOW card...Sklublak earns it for arguing freekick against VA at NTN 40 yard line.
83 min...NTN Nikolay Saveliev GOAL...NTN Thomas Mickoski at 15 yards on right along end line sends low cross and
Saveliev receives it between players and shoots 7 yarder into left side of net.
84 min...VA head coach Carmine Isacco is sent off for arguing after the goal.
85 min...VA sub...Iezady replaces Butters.
86 min...VA YELLOW card...Lowe earns it for pull down of NTN player on edge of VA box.
87 min...NTN Doyle 22 yard freekick from right has defender head away at 10 yards in box.
88 min...NTN Westlaken cornekick from right is cleared on left side of box.
90 min...NTN YELLOW card...Maggisano earns it for plowing into goalie after goalie picked up ball.
90 min...VA Mannella 30 yard freekick from left is cleared in crowd of players in box. A recross of the ball is whistled
down in box.
92 min...VA Zis cornerkick from left is short and Zis is given ball back but an NTN player kicks ball away before
he could cross.
94 min...VA goalie sends long chip from 60 yards that VA players get to ball just inside NTN box but their shots
are blocked by defenders.
95 min...NTN Custovic receives deflected ball at 65 yards and runs up middle on breakaway and rolls 22 yard shot wide
right with goalie sliding at 15 yards.
95 min...game ends 6:24pm.

Final Score:..North Toronto Nitros....2...Vaughan Azzurri....1...

Attendance was about 50 on this rainy afternoon. We'd been warned 
as it had been raining for hours before the game, then it looked like 
it stopped at the ten minute mark then was raining again during the 
entire second half harder than anytime during the day. This had an effect 
on both teams with through ball passes rolling right over the end line 
before they could be played and crosses bounding out of bounds off 
the turf.

Referee Lukasz Kowalewski gave out three Yellow cards (two to Vaughan)
plus the Red card and he also ejected Azzurri coach Carmen Isacco after 
the NTN second goal for complaining from the bench. Actually Jason Mills 
picked up his first Yellow card at 35 minutes for what looked like 
complaining about NTN being awarded a freekick at the VA 35 yard line.

The game had a bunch of 'what if' moments for a different story-line 
for both teams. Just before halftime a Vaughan player stole the ball 
off a defender at the top of the NTN box and he quickly rolled a pass 
over to a teammate who took a quick shot up the middle from 10 yards 
and NTN goalie Mark Rogal made a point blank sprawling save at 5 yards 
but a rebound rolled back out and VA Joseph Di Chiara skied a 10 yard 
shot over the net with the goalie down. 73 minutes had an NTN player 
make a run up the middle and fell when he took a shot which goalie 
Andrew D'Souza stopped but a big rebound had another NTN player 
following up blasted a low shot with the goalie out of position but 
he hit his fallen teammate at 7 yards and play was immediately 
called offside.

Nitros have an affiliation with the University of Toronto besides 
using their stadium when the school isn't using it. (that will mean 
starting in August, they will play home games at Downsview Park). 
They had four players today on the U or T 2016 soccer roster. 
Vaughan is known for its links to York University. Today they had 
only one player of their eighteen who was on York U's 2016 men's 
soccer roster. Each goalie in today's game played on their 
university roster in 2016. The schools also supply players 
to other teams. Yesterday afternoon I saw U of T's defender 
Matt Stakic play for L1O Toronto FC III. Now York U can top that 
by saying Ryan Telfer recently signed for USL Toronto FC II. 
So nyah nyah!

Nitro's Lael Daniel was an unused sub today. The last two years 
he played for Sanjaxx Lions.

I hadn't been to the 'New' Varsity Stadium for a few years. It has 
field turf with football lines and a wide (eight lane) track around 
the field. It's listed as having 5000 seats, all on one big stand 
on the east side. There were about ten fans watching from the end 
zone under a concrete awning and ten more on the sunken corridor 
the length of the stadium although the view is more like from 
a bunker.

I certainly chose the right game of four all being held around 
the same time in the GTA area. The plans for me were to see another 
of the sixteen teams in the Men's L1O (Nitros make it fourteen teams 
so far) after only the fourth week of the season. I got admission 
into the press box which ran almost the entire length of the stands 
and could have been separated into suites. So much easier in the 
dry then juggling a pen, notebook, umbrella, camera and binoculars.

Both teams in this game are from the Eastern Conference. The results 
leave both teams in a three way tie for third place with identical 
2 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie for 7 points. Durham United are the other 
team with that record after their win on Friday night against 
Ottawa South United. Second place is the OSU team with 9 points 
at 3 wins, 1 loss. First place are Woodbridge who had a half hour 
head start on this game and beat Toronto Skillz to go a perfect 
4 wins in four games for 12 points.

Rocket Robin     
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

North Toronto Nitros starters