June 9, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Masters FA Saints vs Toronto FC III (by Rocket Robin)

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

Result and details of the Saturday June 9, 2018 League 1 Ontario game between Masters FA and Toronto FC III
played at L'Amoreaux Park in Scarborough at 8:00pm.

Master's FA Saints (all red, white numbers)

................55 Spindon Koskinas
7 Shawn Brown (cpt)...6 Eddy Dabire...2 Adam Czerkawski...17 Reafe Anderson
11 Reshon Phillip...8 Sahjah Reid...10 Jose Melo...18 Johnson Jonathan Amoo
............70 Jose De Sousa...90 Josue Jaramilio

Subs:...00 Sebastian Zeballos (gk)...14 Reshaun Walkes...15 Antoine Paul...16 Randy Duran Miss Miyenga
...9 Ignacio Velazquez...19 Bradley Fenton...20 Maleik De Freitas
team officials:...team head coach Rick Titus...assistant coaches Linford Reid and Rob Meikle
...managers Junior Groves and Stphen Blackburn

Toronto FC III (white socks and shirts, blue shorts, red numbers)

......................1 Brogan Engbers
.........2 Afram Gorgees...5 Mohamed Omar...4 Luke Singh
7 Kai Martin...10 Kota Sakurai...6 Mehdi Essourssi...8 Joshua Moreira (cpt)...11 Terique Mohammed
...........9 Zakaria Abdi...13 Kunle Dada-Luke

Subs:...12 Sebastian Sgarbossa (gk)...14 Kembo Kibato...15 Marko Mandekic...16 Sal Mazzaferro
...17 Ralph Priso...18 Ryan Robinson...21 Theodor Corbeanu
team officials:...team head coach Danny Dichio...assistant coach Laurent Guyot
...therapist Samra Habton

1st Half:...game starts 8:00pm...MFA defends south end on this humid evening with the sun setting in the north west.
1 min...TFC Gorgees 25 yard freekick from top left just outside box has TFC Omar tip ball wide but it's called offside
at 5 yard line.
2 min...MFA Melo cornerkick from right has TFC Omar in crowd of players head away at 6 yards.
2 min...MFA Reid receives pass on right and rolls 12 yard shot wide left of post.
5 min...MFA Anderson cross from 30 yards on far left wins cornerkick off defender.
5 min...MFA Melo cornerkick from right has MFA Dabire pop up header in box and defender clears.
7 min...MFA Reid rush from center line on interception and dekes sliding defender but is checked off ball on right side of box.
8 min...TFC Martin cross from right end line drifts behind end line.
9 min...MFA dabire gets back to hook ball away from TFC Dada-Luke on run up middle to edge of box.
12 min...MFA Jaramilio steals ball on edge of TFC box on right and rolls centering pass to MFA Reid who while off balance spins
and shotts 15 yarder wide left of net.
14 min...TFC Sakurai blasts 30 yarder from slight right wide right of net.
15 min...MFA Melo rolls forward pass from 30 yards to MFA De Sousa who is called offside on his 15 yard shot off the post.
18 min...MFA Melo 35 yard freekick on right side is tap to MFA Jaramilio who chips ball into box but play is whistled offside.
20 min...TFC Sakurai is tapped over quick freekick and 30 yard low blast up middle is saved by goalie diving left.
21 min...MFA Jaramilio cornerkick from left has MFA Amoo duck head and his 12 yard header on left is wide left of post.
21 min...TFC Sakurai and MFA Melo are injured in a collision at TFC 50 yard line. Both players need trainers.
26 min...TFC sub...Kibato replaces injured Sakurai (there was about three minutes of midfield play before the change).
..........MFA Melo returns to the game for first time since injury.
27 min...TFC goalie grabs ball a step ahead of MFA Amoo in box.
27 min...TFC Gorgees cornerkick from left bounces through box and is cleared.
28 min...MFA sub...De Freitas replaces injured Melo.
28 min...TFC Gorgees pass from center line on right has TFC Martin rescue ball on end line and cross is caught by goalie.
30 min...TFC Mohammed cornerkick from right is upfield and TFC Gorgees chip from 25 yards into box has defender jump to head
ball away at 10 yards in middle.
31 min...TFC Gorgees cornerkick from left is low and MFA redi stops and clears on near post.
33 min...TFC Essoussi 30 yard shot from left is wide right.
34 min...TFC Gorgees 40 yarde freekick from left has defender on edge of box head ball away.
35 min...TFC Martin gets to ccross from left that was over players in box and blasts 25 yarder wide right from right.
38 min...TFC Dada-Luke dribbles through middle but 15 yard shot is blocked by defenders.
40 min...MFA Anderson cross from 35 yards sideline has MFA De Sousa make midair spin to connect on 15 yard shot
but is called offside.
41 min...TFC Mohammed 35 yard shot from left has TFC Abdi step forward to shoot in from 7 yards but is called offside.
42 min...MFA Jaramilio 30 yard freekick from right is cleared out left side of box.
43 min...MFA Phillip into box but is whistled down although bot players were shirt pulling.
44 min...TFC Mohammed wins cornerkick on defenders slide on left end line.
45 min...TFC Gorgees cornerkick from left bounces through right side of box.
47 min...MFA Phillip and Amoo on multi pass play up middle and Amoo finishes with 20 yard shot over net.
47 min...half ends 8:47pm.

Halftime Entertainment: There's another 'Crossbar Challenge' with this week maybe fifteen pairs of kids and parents.
Winner of a windbreaker is the first person to hit the crossbar on a shot from the penalty spot. TFC Marko Mandekic
is warming up and asks me what they are doing. I explain the rules and say "Now that's NOT what you want to do!".

Second Half:...starts 9:02pm.
Halftime sub:...MFA Paul replaces Jaramilio.
46 min...MFA goalie bats TFC Mohammed to through ball on left edge of box.
48 min...TFC Mohammed cross from right end line is behind net.
50 min...MFA Paul long throw-in from right has MFA player head ball up in crowd of players and goalie punches away.
52 min...TFC Mohammed low cross from left end line has goalie stop on dive.
52 min...TFC Essoussi blasts from 22 yards deflects just wide left of post.
53 min...TFC Gorgees cornerkick from left has nearest defender head away.
54 min...TFC Moreira 30 yard freekick up middle hits left post and defrender clears.
55 min...TFC YELLOW card...Dada-Luke earns it for pushing down MFA player on run at TFC 40 yard line.
56 min...MFA sub...Fenton replaces Phillip.
57 min...TFC goalie picks up deflection before MFA Reid can get to ball.
58 min...MFA Fenton 50 yard freekick from left has two MFA players jump but just can't turn header at 8 yards
and ball is out for goalkick.
59 min...TFC Mohammed heads 22 yard shot from left that flying goalie catches on left post.
60 min...MFA De Sousa turns and fires 30 yard shot down middle just wide left.
61 min...TFC sub...Priso replaces Martin.
.........TFC sub...Corbeanu replaces Mohammed.
62 min...MFA De Sousa 25 yard low shot down middle has goalie smother on right side of net.
63 min...TFC YELLOW card...Gorgees earns it for dragging down player.
63 min...MFA Fenton freekick from 50 yards has MFA Reid pop up header from left wide left of net.
65 min...TFC Dada-Luke pokes pass forward to TFCC Abdi who rolls 12 yard shot from left wide right of post.
67 min...MFA Brown flicks header from 30 yards and MFA Reid 25 yard shot caught by goalie under bar.
70 min...TFC Mandekic cornerkick from right to streaking TFC Mohammed who volleys 18 yard shot that
flying goalie catches.
71 min...MFA De Sousa 15 yard shot is low and directly to middle for goalie to smother.
73 min...MFA Fenton low cross from left has goalie dive to smother.
74 min...MFAS De Freitas is injured in center circle.
77 min...TFC sub...Robinson replaces Abdi.
.........MFA sub...Miyenga replaces injured De Freitas.
78 min...MFA Paul long throw-in from left is cleared for fast break.
79 min...MFA YELLOW dard...Czerkawski earns it for pushing over TFC player on run on right.
79 min...TFC Essoussi 25 yard freekick from right has MFA player head away.
80 min...MFA Reid cross from 25 yards on right is knocked down but MFA Amoo blasts 30 yarder up middle is skied
over net.
82 min...MFA De Sousa 30 yard shot with goalie well out of box chips but defender heads away before ball gets into box.
83 min...MFA De Sousa cornerkick from right is cleared on left.
83 min...MFA De Slousa blast up middle has TFC goalie fly to push ball wide left of post. The goalie had come out
to head away ball at 25 yards.
84 min...MFA Fenton low cornerkick from left has fast breakout by defender.
85 min...TFC Kunle Dada-Luke wins a Penalty kick awarded by referee Marko Ristic when he ran along the 15 yard line
from the left side of the box and MFA Reaffe Anderson slid to make a check and tripped up Dada-Luke when he got
to the center.
87 min...TFC Afran Gorgees GOAL...Gorgees blasts Penalty kick into left corner of net about four feet up just
out of reach of the flying goalie Spiridon Koskinas.
89 min...MFA Miyenga 10 yard header up middle has goalie dive and smother on right post. MFA Brown did not send
in cross as he would have been called offside but a follow-up player behind him made the cross.
90 min...MFA sub...Walkes replaces Amoo.
92 min...MFA Fenton cornerkick from right has MFA Brown just outside left edge of 6 yard box head ball back
across box and MFA Paul near right post heads 7 yarder off the top of the bar over the leaping goalie.
92 min...MFA YELLOW card...Reid earns it for high boot at TFC 50 yard line.
93 min...TFC goalie is out to 25 yard line to clear through ball pass meant for MFA Reid.
94 min...TFC Robinson blasts 25 yard shot up middle that's well high and wide left of net.
95 min...game ends 9:52pm.

Final Score:...Masters FA Saints.....0.....TFC III......1.....

Attendance was about 120 on this mild evening.

Brogan Engbers earned the shutout for TFC III and had to be outstanding. He was out of his net
frequently to break up through ball passes by kicking or even heading them away. At 83 minutes
he had just made a header at 25 yards but the ball was still alive and MFA Jose De Sousa blasted
a shot up the middle that the retreating goalie was able to push wide left of the post.
Even after the goal there was no time to relax as at 89 minutes MFA Shawn Brown stopped
on a play and did not send a cross into the box as he would have been called offside but
a teammate ran forward and sent in a cross that MFA Randy Miss-Miyenga headed from 10 yards
up the middle that Engbers dove and smothered on the right post. 92 minutes had
MFA Bradley Fenton send in a cornerkick from the right and MFA Brown just outside the left edge
of the 6 yard box headed the ball back across the box and MFA Antoine Paul near the right post
headed a 7 yarder over the leaping Engbers but the ball hit the top of the bar.

I saw Georgees score a Penalty kick last week against Aurora FC placing the ball at exactly
the same spot. I asked him if they practice with the MLS team and when he answered 'yes'
I asked him did he take spot kick tips from Sebastian Giovinco or Victor Vazquez. He said
Giovinco has given him advice. I complemented him that he has a higher success rate.
Hmm I was expecting his answer would be Vazquez because Giovinco rolls them while Vazquez
and Georgees place them so even if the goalies guess correctly the shots are off the ground
and impossible to stop.

L1O official Pearce Lang and TFC III head coach Danny Dichio were filming a piece about
the team and Dichio said a lot of the players were up with TFC II who were away tonight
playing Penn FC in a USL game. (For karma sake they lost their game on a late Penalty
kick goal). Dichio said Noble Okello Ayo, Julian Dunn-Johnson, and Aidan Daniels had just
flown back to Toronto today after being in the Toulon Tournament with the Canadian U23 team.
I didn't expect they will ever play at L1O level again but their absence moved up some
of the better TFC III players to take their spots. He said they have received a break in
that some returning university students were on the team. Mohamed Omar from Notre Dame
and Kota Sakurai from Dartmouth were starters.

Great goaltending by Koskinas helped MFA but the TFC III shooting was just not good enough.

Sakurai and MFA Jose Melo (both midfielders) collided at 21 minutes and both needed their
trainers. Sakurai ended up with his arm in a sling. Melo played for another few minutes
until he could be subbed off.

Sakurai was named 'L1O Young Player of the Year' for 2016. This is now the second time this
season I've seen Masters and both times I've missed the 'L1O Young Player of the Year'
for 2017—Cyrus Rollocks who won while playing with TFC III. I asked about him but an official
said he was injured. He was tied for second last season in goals scored with 17.
His goalscoring touch would have helped tonight.

Two undefeated teams faced off tonight with first place TFC III (4-0-1)
against Master's FA Saints (2-0-2).

The current standings (now that the Sunday games have been played) are:

TFC III are in first with 16 points with a 5 win, 0 loss, 1 tie record. Sigma slips up with
just a tie and are (3-0-1) in a three way tie for fourth—identical to FC London and both with
two games on hand with Unionville-Milliken. Master's slip to a two way tie for eighth
at (2-1-2) the same as North Mississauga. Sanjaxx is in a three way tie for twelfth at (1-3-1).
The league did a favour for Oakville Blue Devils by not scheduling a game this weekend
(easy to do with 17 teams). This lets them prepare for this Wednesday's home leg of their
opening round in the Voyageurs Cup against AS Blainville of the PLSQ league. The Quebec team
holds a 2-1 lead from last Wednesday.

Now the goal is to finish in the top eight on September 24 to make the second season.
That's 16 games—everyone will play the other teams once. The surviving teams then get placed
in two four team groups and play three games, the first place teams of each group then play
in a one game final and the winner is awarded the L1O spot in the Canadian Championship
next spring.

Now I'd heard over time that TFC III can't be awarded the spot because of possible club ties
of players and the awkward chance of them advancing and facing off against their MLS TFC team.
I expected they'd just pass and let the other finalist take the spot but I was surprised how
that was answered at the TFC III game by Lang and Dichio. Apparently TFC III will step out
at the end of August (they'll be playing some midweek game so they can finish early) and not
compete in the final eight. They will then concentrate their resources to the USSDA League
(operating since 2007) but new for them. Montreal and Vancouver are already league members
in the September to June season. The league has groupings from U12s to U18-19s.

OK every L1O team—just ensure you finish in the Top 9 to make the second season!

Masters FA Saints starters