March 9, 2018 League 1 Ontario--League 1 Ontario All Stars vs Ottawa Fury FC (USL) exhibition game (by Rocket Robin)

Result and details of the Friday March 9, 2018 exhibition game between the League 1 Ontario All-Stars and Ottawa Fury FC (USL)
played at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 12:45pm.

.............

League 1 Ontario All Stars (all white uniforms, black numbers)

.................22 Triston Henry
3 Jarred Phillips...5 Aaron Schneedbell...4 Kyle Watson...17 Michael Krzaminski
16 Khody Ellis...14 Joshua Paredes Proctor...8 Giuliano Frano...15 Jarek Whiteman
...........13 Matt Santos...7 Jose De Sousa

Subs:...1 Matt George (gk)...2 Konner McNamara...6 Eddie Lay...11 Brandon Mills
...18 Mansoor Afzaly...19 Cyrus Rollocks...20 Kadell Thomas...Joey Melo..24 Bruce Cullen
team officials:...head coach Peter Pinizzotto...other team officials Ilya Orlov, Paolo Paccione,
Johnny Stancati, Cristian Cavalli, and Randy Ribiero

Ottawa Fury FC (all black uniforms, white numbers)

..................1 Callum Irving
90 Kyle Porter...32 Colin Falvey...6 Sergio Manesio...7 Onua Thomas Obasi
.........99 Antonio Taylor...22 Jamar Dixon...(blank) Montther Mohsen
..........9 Ccarl Haworth...11 Sito Seoane...8 Steevan Dos Santos

Subs:...12 David Monsalve (gk)...16 Maxine Crepeau (gk)...3 Eddie Edward (def)...10 Gerardo Bruna (--)
...14 Gabriel Balbinotgti (fwd)...15 Maxim Tissot (--)...17 Azake Luboyera (mid)...24 Jimmy-Shammar Sanon (def)
...26 Thomas Meilleur-Giguere (def)...37 Michael Salazar (fwd)...80 Cristian Portilla...88 Kevin Oliveira
listed but did not play: 4 Nana Attakora (def)
team officials:...head coach Nikola Popovic...other team officcials Victor Opping, Youssef Daha,
Richard Bucciarelli, Cortlin Tonn, and Francois Martel

Game officials:...referee Yusri Rudolf, assistant referee Filip Dujic and Jessica Patton
fourth official Fabrizio Stasolla...(neon orange shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st half:...starts at 12:50pm...AS defend north end.
2 min...OF Taylor cuts into box from left but 8 yard shot near endline blocked by defender.
2 min...AS Santos chips pass forward from 30 yards in middle and AS Ellis wins cornerkick on low cross from 10 yards near endline.
2 min...L1O Kyle Watson GOAL...L1O Matt Santos cornerkick from right is over players in center of box and Watson at 10 yards
on left heads ball over goalie Callum Irving guarding center of net and ball drops into right corner.
4 min...OF Dos Santos from 20 yards shoots up middle between players that has AS goalie catch in middle of goal.
6 min...AS Frano slides on right end line to concede cornerkick but stops dangerous scoring chance by OF Haworth.
7 min...OF Seoane cornerkick from right has goalie swat ball down in crowd of players and AS Santos clear for throw-in.
9 min...OF Carl Haworth GOAL...OF Steevan Dos Santos receives short tap over pass by Haworth at 25 yard line on right
and runs forward to end line where he backpasses to trailing but charging Haworth who blasts 12 yard shot from right over
sprawling goalie Triston Henry at 3 yards into left side of net.
12 min...AS De Sousa is victim of crunching tackle inside OF box at 15 yards by OF Dos Santos as both jump for cross from left
by AS Santos. AS Ellis then sidekicks from 22 yards and is well over net. AS De Sousa needs the trainer.
17 min...OF Taylor is knocked down in collision on edge of box and OF Seoani follows up with shot that goalie catches but whistle
had already blown.
19 min...OF Carl Haworth GOAL...OF Steevan Dos Santos receives tapped freekick at 60 yards in center and he chips long pass
to charging Haworth who takes ball on bounce at 25 yards on right behind defenders and he runs to 12 yards on right and sharp angle
low shot catches left corner of goal. The AS players appealed for offside as their similar play was called off 30 second earlier.
20 min...The buzzer goes off at 20 minutes to 'end' the half. Oops. Ignore it!
21 min...AS Santos is upended on a sliding tackle at OF 22 yard line on right by OF Mohsen and ball is cleared.
22 min...A dropped ball is given for the ball as it hit the ceiling.
23 min...AS Schneebeli breaks up potential 2 on 1 with overhead kick just outside AS box.
24 min...AS Santos cornerkick from right is just over head of leaping AS players at 15 yards.
25 min...AS goalie clears ball off ceiling.
25 min...OF goalie lears ball off ceiling when he beats charging AS forward on right to through ball.
27 min...AS goalie beats OF Haworth to pick up through ball on left.
31 min...AS Phillips long throw-in from near right cornerflag is into center of box and AS Krzeminski swings and cross
hits defender at 15 yards and is cleared.
32 min...OF Sito Seoane GOAL...OF Carl Haworth intercepts pass at 50 yard line on left and rolls pass forward to Steevan Dos Santos
at 30 yard line cutting over from center. Dos Santos runs forward to 22 yard line and rolls ball across past defender to charging
Seoane on edge of box and he takes low 10 yard shot while in-line with right post into left corner of net.
33 min...OF Seoane low 22 yard shot from right is between players is batted down and caught by goalie.
35 min...AS Ellis on right side of OF box and drops back pass and AS Santos blasts 22 yard shot well high and wide right of net.
35 min...AS Schneebeli slides to break up low cross from right and concedes cornerkick.
35 min...OF Seoane cornerkick from right has goalie punch away in crowd of players on right post.
36 min...OF Seoane cornerkick from left is cleared by AS Schneebeli header on right side of box. OF Haworth then scores offside goal
from 7 yards after OF Dos Santos bicycle kick from edge of box finds him behind defenders.
37 min...AS De Sousa blasts 25 yarder up middle that goalie catches just under bar.
38 min...AS Krzeminski gets back to concede cornerkick preventing OF Taylor from shot in box after spinning off AS Watson.
38 min...OF players work out short cornerkick from left but are flagged offside.
43 min...AS Phillips run up right and cross to middle has OF Manesio flick header clearance out left side of box.
44 min...OF Steevan Dos Santos GOAL...OF Carl Haworth cornerkick from left is short and back to OF Montther Mohsen at 25 yards
on left. Mohsen immediately crosses over player in box and OF Onua Thomas Obasi on right edge of 6 yard box heads centering ball
that Dos Santos pops up header with back to net then turns and sends midair shot from 6 yards while in line with right post into
left corner of net.
47 min...half ends 1:37pm.

2nd Half:...starts 1:54pm.
Halftime subs:...AS George (gk), McNamara, Rollocks, Thomas, Melo, and Cullen replace Henry (gk), Watson, De Sousa, Ellis,
and Krzeminski
...OF Edward, Balbinotti, Luboyera, Sanon, Meilleur-Giguere, Salazar, and Reid replace Dos Santos, Haworth, Dixon,
Falvey, Porter, Taylor, Mohsen
Their formations now looked like this:

League 1 Ontario All Stars

...............1 Matt George
3 Jarred Phillips...5 Aaron Schneebeli...2 Konner McNamara...24 Bruce Cullen
20 Kadell Thomas...14 Joshua Paredes Proctor...8 Giuliano Frano (cpt)...15 Jarek Whiteman
..........21 Joey Melo...19 Cyrus Rollocks

Ottawa Fury FC

.................1 Callum Irving (cpt)
7 Onua Thomas Obasi...3 Eddie Edward...26 Thomas Meilleur-Giguere...24 Jimmy-Shammar Sanon
.......17 Azake Luboyera...6 Sergio Manesio...11 Sito Seoane
.......37 Michael Salazar...14 Gabriel Balbinotti...30 Adonijah Reid

45 min...OF Adonijah Reid GOAL...OF Sito Seoane checks player off ball at 50 yard line and runs
forward from left cutting towards middle. At 43 yard line he rolls pass forward and to right for charging
Reid at 28 yard line and he runs forward and then takes low sharp angled shot from 15 yard line that bounces
past diving goalie Matt George into left corner of net.
48 min...OF goalie hits ceiling with his clearance kick.
48 min...OF Luboyers is injured in a collision with AS Peredes Proctor at AS 35 yard line and needs trainer.
50 min...AS sub...Lay replaces Peredes Proctor. 51 min...AS Whiteman is upended on top left of OF box by goalie as both chase after high chip but no Penalty
kick is given.
52 min...AS goalie clears through ball pass off ceiling.
55 min...AS sub...Mills replaces Whiteman.
56 min...AS Cullen cross from 20 yards along left end line drifts behind net.
58 min...OF goalie runs to left side of box to pick up through ball pass sent too far by AS Cullen and
OF Edward shields ball from AS Seoane.
61 min...OF Reid taps pass on left back to OF Salazar who blasts 25 yarder from left off top of cross bar.
61 min...AS sub...Afzaly replaces Frano.
62 min...OF YELLOW card...Manesio earns it for tripping from behind tackle on AS player in center circle after
players had passed ball away.
63 min...OF goalie runs out to 15 yards to catch high chip freekick into box sent in by AS goalie.
66 min....OF defender clears ball off ceiling.
67 min...OF Salazar on left side of box after run touches back to OF Seoane to blast 15 yarder that goalie tips
over bar.
67 min...AS goalie catches OF Seoane cornerkick from right on left post.
69 min...OF Salazar on run down left with AS McNamara pressuring has goalie slide at 7 yards on left to partially
check. AS Schneebeli in middle of box clears.
70 min...AS sub...Frano returns to replace Phillips who was injured early in the last play.
71 min...AS Rollocks run down left and blasts 15 yarder off sliding defender. There's no handball Penalty call
although his hands were on his chest protecting himself.
72 min...AS goalie clears ball off ceiling.
73 min...AS Cullen is tapped pass and 25 yard shot down middle is saved by diving goalie on left post.
74 min...AS Frano charges for loose ball and from 12 yards chips over net.
76 min...OF Michael Salazar GOAL...OF Eddie Edward on right at 75 yards crosses to left for OF defender
at 75 yards on left who chips ball downfield to charging Salazar even with defender on left and he cuts
towards middle to get to ball first before second bounce at 25 yard line and he heads it forward and with
back to net chips from top left corner of box over goalie charging to left and recovers ball on edge
of 6 yard box and gets away midair kick as another defender gives him a push and that puts ball into center
of open net.
77 min...OF goalie fumbles low catch behind end line on left post after AS Mills sends in low cross from 15 yards
along end line.
77 min...AS Lay receives ball after cornerkick from left after defender pops up on header and blasts 25 yarder
well over net.
82 min...OF Salazar rolls short centering pass to OF Balbinotti from left and his 18 yard roller is picked
up by goalie.
84 min...AS sub...Whiteman returns to game and replaces Frano.
85 min...AS Thomas is checked off ball again on top right of OF box.
87 min...OF Reid at 15 yards flicks ball sent in from left by OF Salazar from 30 yards past goalie and rolls
towards right post but retreating defender retreats to concede cornerkick.
88 min...AS defender clears OF Seoane cornerkick from right off ceiling from right end line.
89 min...OF Manesio receives centering pass and shoots 22 yarder up middle between players well wide left of net.
90 min...AS Whiteman shot from right end line has sliding defender stop at 3 yards and another defender clears
from right post.
92 min...AS goalie runs to top right corner of box to pick up through ball before OF Reid gets to it.
93 min...game ends 2:42pm.

Final Score:....League 1 Ontario All-Stars.......1........Ottawa Fury FC........6.......

Attendance was about 75 on this cold day but the game was played at the premises Indoor facility.
Spectators lined the balcony around the field about 20 feet above the sideline. I counted seven times
the drop ball rule enforced as that's how many times the ball hit the ceiling.

This is the last pre-season game for the Fury who will kick off their USL season Saturday March 17 away
against Charlotte Independence. Their next game will be two weeks later when they return to Toronto
to play TFC II at BMO Field on Saturday March 31. After two more home games they will get their first
home game against North Carolina FC on Saturday April 21. A L1O official wouldn't even tell me which
week the L1O season will kick off. “We'll be announcing it next week”. This is somewhat of a payback
from last year when L1O rustled up an all star team to travel to Ottawa for a 4-1 defeat.

I asked a L1O official before the game if there were 'unlimited substitutions'. “Yes”. Now what that
means that players who left the game could return. That rule was only used once in this game.
L1O Jarred Phillips was injured at 70 minutes and was subbed off with Giuliano Frano who was also
a starter but had been subbed out at halftime when L1O plunked in six new guys. The most interesting
part was the Fury played short from 55 minutes when midfielder Azake Luoyera was injured. Fury had
made seven subs at halftime but assistant GM Carrie McKay answered me they had used up their player
allotment. Hmm...maybe they wanted to practice a game situation when they were down a man. I didn't
notice a drop in quality and I only noticed a fan who arrived late asked me why Fury were a man down.

Referee Yusri Rudolf gave out only one Yellow card which never got rough but players were somewhat
sloppy. The artificial turf probably limited the sliding tackles to a minimum.

It was an interesting group of 'fans'. School is still on so it was all adults there. Parents and
spouses for the locals mostly with a lot of players that may not have been quite all star quality.
Some players I noticed were actually from the Fury. Midfielder Chris Mannella (a former captain
of TFC II) who is trying to earn a contract with the Fury said he was recovering from a concussion.
Defender Nana Attakora who has a contract answered me that he is recovering from an injury.

I asked one of the soccer dads (who I mistook for a L1O official) how many times the All Stars have
practised...he answered “I don't think often”. He came back later in the game and said “Three times”.
Ahh. Fury had their problems too in budget terms as they had taken a five and a half bus ride from
Ottawa this morning. McKay said when the USL season gets started they will arrive in a town the day
before a game.

L1O offensive runs were often frustratingly ended by offside calls whereas many Fury tries the other
way were successful with timed runs which caught the All Stars defenders flat footed.

Now the 'All Stars' were pretty good L1O players but their NCAA players were not here and since the
March break holiday is next week, the high-schoolers weren't here so it was an older group of players
(who probably begged for the day off from their day jobs) possibly showing off for potential Canadian
Premier League spots. The oldest of these guys are closing in on thirty years old. Why couldn't
this league have started years ago?

I saw Oakville Blue Devils tech staff official Brett Mosen and asked him about OBD's first round
Voyageurs Cup home leg match against AS Blainville of the PLSQ (the Quebec equivalent of L1O).
The game can't be played at their Sheridan College home because the stadium doesn't have lights.
I was expecting last Fall's answer of Tim Horton's Field in Hamilton but he said it will be here.
I wondered where he was pointing so I asked him again. He was pointing towards Ontario Soccer Centre's
outdoor field. Yeah Wednesday June 13 should be warm enough to play outdoors.

Ottawa Fury will await the winner of that first round. There's no FC Edmonton this season so Fury
will skip a round. If Ottawa wins, they will play Voyageurs Cup holders Toronto FC (the MLS team!).

Blue Devils had four players in today's game...second half goalie Matt George, and halftime sub
defender Konner McNamara and starters forward Matt Santos and winger Khody Ellis. I hope they were
taking notes.

The L1O is almost 100% Canadian as expected for a mostly amateur league but a pleasant surprise
is the Fury today signing their thirteenth Canadian player—midfielder Adonijah Reid who is back
for a second year 'on loan' from FC Dallas of the MLS.

I remembered Reid from L1O team ANB Futbol a few seasons ago. He scored 20 goals in 20 games when
he was age 15. That team had the three Mills brothers who all transferred over to Vaughan Azzurri
when ANB decided not to continue at the L1O level. Another alumni from Reid's breakout season
is Raheem Edwards!

McKay said goalie Maxine Crepeau is on a similar one year loan from MLS Montreal Impact like Reid
but fellow Impact loan-ees midfielder Michael Salazar and defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguere are both
on a re-callable loan.

Wow I was waiting for this game! I've been to three TFC games this season and the only Canadian
I've seen see action is Jonathan Osorio. The last game against Tigres they had only one Canadian
on even on the bench--Tosaint Ricketts. The TAM and GAM money salary rules may make Rocket Robin
'take it on the LAM' to the new Canadian Premier League.

League 1 Ontario All Stars players were with these teams teams in 2017.
Oakville Blue Stars: Matt George (gk), Konner McNamara, Matt Santos, Khody Ellis
Sigma FC: Triston Henry (gk), Giuliano Frano, Kadell Thomas
Vaughan Azzurri: Jarred Phillips, Brandon Mills, Jarek Whiteman
Woodbridge Strikers: Kyle Watson, Michael Krzeminski, Joshua Paredes Proctor
FC London: Aaron Schneebeli
Masters FA: Joey Melo, Jose De Sousa
TFC Academy: Cyrus Rollocks
Durham United: Bruce Cullen, Eddie Lay
not with any team in 2017: Mansoor Afzaly

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

League 1 Ontario All Stars starters