June 23, 2018 League 1 Ontario--ProStars FC vs Toronto FC III League Cup Quarterfinal (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday June 23, 2018 League 1 Ontario between ProStars FC and Toronto FC III
played at Victoria Park in Brampton. This was a Quarterfinal found match for the L1O Cup.

ProStars FC (all blue, white numbers)

.....................22 Aaron Peters
........15 Abbey Kunrunmi...19 Matthew Brown...6 Michael Borowski
9 Adel Rahman...3 Owusu George...4 Navid Rahman...5 Uday Arora...13 Nathaniel McAuley (cpt)
.............16 Ezekiel Uadiale...8 Aleksander Zwierzynski

Subs:...1 Jonathan Albanese (gk)...2 David Bain...7 Jason Muzvidziwa...10 Jesse Okorie
...11 Muhammed Ashim...12 Marco Polancec-Marin...23 Dylan Micallef
team officials:...team head coach Indrit Fortuzi...assistant coach Josef Komlodi...manager Gordana Polancec-Marin
...therapist Alesia Russo

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

.....................1 Gianluca Catalano(cpt)
2 Afram Gorgees...4 Mohamed Omar...5 Marko Mandekic...3 Terique Mohammed
...........11 Jordan Faria...8 Joshua Moreira
.........7 Malyk Hamilton...10 Steffen Yeates...13 Kunle Dada-Luke
.....................9 Daniel Bilousov

Subs:...12 Rimi Olatunji (gk)...14 Kai Martin...15 Colin Gander...16 Theodor Corbeanu
...18 Luke Singh...19 Zakaria Abdi...17 Elijah Le
team officials:...team head coach Danny Dichio...assistant coaches Benoit Cheyrou and Gianni Cimini
...therapist Samra Habtom

Game officials:...referee Braeden Krampert...referee's assistants Bradley Doubrough and Kuizan Weekes
...fourth official Marc Henoud...(watermelon shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 8:30pm...PS defends north east end.
2 min...PS goalie out to edge of box to dive on in front of TFC Faria but he only gets a piece of and ball deflects
off foot of Faria and rolls over end line wide right of net.
3 min...TFC Dada-Luke centers ball from left at 30 yards and TFC Yeates shoots roller wide left.
4 min...PS Zwierzynski recovers poor backpass and blasts 8 yarder from right that sprawling goalie makes
point blank save at 4 yards.
7 min...PS Navid Rahman 28 yard blast from left is high and wide right of net.
9 min...TFC Moreira ends TFC pressure with low 25 yard shot up middle wide left.
10 min...TFC goalie beats PS Zwierzynski to through ball pass at 15 yards.
11 min...PS McAuley blasts 20 yarder from right to hit outside of left post.
12 min...PS Adel Rahman blasts 25 yarder up middle wide right on deflection off defender.
13 min...PS Kunrunmi cornerkick from right has defeder pop up header. PS Zwierzynski makes midair 15 yard shot
up middle that deflects off defender and goalie catches on left post.
16 min...TFC Mohammed cornerkick from right has PS Kunrunmi on left post sky clearance. TFC player's recross
from right drifts over net.
19 min...TFC Bilousov has two passes from right cleared by defenders in box.
20 min...PS Adel Rahman 28 yard freekick from right has defender dive and head back for goalie to catch.
22 min...TFC Faria and Bilousov play give and go from center and Faria finishes with low 20 yard shot from left
that's caught by goalie.
24 min...PS YELLOW card...George earns it on delayed call after TFC rush had fizzled out.
26 min...TFC Gorgees 25 yard freekick from left is blasted far over net.
28 min...PS Arora is injured on sliding tackle racing down left just outside box.
.........TFC YELLOW card...Gorgees earns it for that tackle.
29 min...PS Zwierzynski 25 yard freekick from left is headed away by player in wall.
30 min...TFC win Penalty kick when a TFC player rushes inside right side of PS box and is knocked down.
31 min...TFC Afram Gorgees GOAL...Gorgees stutter steps and shoots Penalty kick to inside right corner
hitting back post as goalie dives left.
35 min...PS Brown 55 yard freekick from right bounces unplayed through left side of box.
41 min...TFC Mohammed 25 yard freekick from far left is past charging TFC player trying for header.
42 minn...PS players win just a freekick when player pulled down running into right side of TFC box. Referee consults
with referee's assistant to decide the call.
43 min...PS Adel Rahman freekick from 20 yards on right edge of box has defender in front of crowd of players head away.
44 min...TFC Kunle Dada-Luke wins Penalty kick on pull down when he changes direction inside PS box.
45 min...TFC Kunle Dada-Luke GOAL...Dada-Luke blasts Penalty kick high and to right side of box and flying
goalie Aaron Peters gets hand to ball but pushes it further into right corner of net.
46 min...TFC Yeates can't win Penalty kick when TFC Dada-Luke feeds him pass and he goes down in box.
48 min...half ends 9:17pm.

Halftime: The TFC players stay on the field rather than return to the dressing room.

Second Half:...starts 9:31pm.
Halftime Subs:...PS Bain replaces McAuley.
................PS Micallef replaces George.
47 min...PS YELLOW card...Uadiale earns it for cleats up tackle at PS 35 yard line.
47 min...PS goalie catches 30 yard bouncer between players.
49 min...TFC Gorgees 28 yard freekick from far left is over players in box and bounces out for goalkick.
51 min...PS Arora cross from left end line is kicked away by defender in middle of box.
53 min...PS Uadiale 28 yard shot down middle is wide right.
54 min...TFC sub...Martin replaces Gorgees.
55 min...TFC Moreira cross from 15 yards on far right is caught by goalie.
57 min...PS Adel Rahman freekick from 25 yards on left has TFC player head ball away in crowd of players at 10 yards.
59 min...TFC goalie is out to top right of box to smother low cross.
60 min...TFC Bilousov 18 yard shot from left after run has goalie at 10 yards palm ball over net.
60 min...TFC Mohammed cornerkick from right is stopped.
61 min...TFC YELLOW card...Mohammed earns it for dissent.
.........PS Arora is injured at PS 45 yard line.
62 min...PS sub...Muzvidziwa replaces injured Arora.
63 min...TFC (Pro Stars own) GOAL...TFC Malyk Hamilton crosses from 8 yard line on right side of box.
PS goalie clears ball at 3 yards but off defender Michael Borowski at 5 yards and ball deflects back into net.
64 min...TFC sub...Abdi replaces Bilousov.
65 min...PS sub...Ashim replaces Uadiale.
67 min...TFC Yeates fed ball at 35 yards and 25 yard shot has goalie stop.
67 min...TFC YELLOW card...Yeates earns if for tackle or dissent on knock down of PS player at PS 35 yard line.
68 min...PS Zwierzynski 28 yard blast down middle has goalie palm ball over bar on leap.
68 min...PS Muzvidziwa cornerkick from left ha s defender head ball away.
70 min...PS Adel Rahman 30 yard freekick from right has defeneer head away.
72 min...PS sub...Polancecc-Marin replaces Zwierzynski.
72 min...TFC Martin rolls ball along 6 yard box from right and TFC Dada-Luke stops it but he's off balance can't
get away shot.
75 min...PS Ashim has 22 yard shot partially blocked and ball rolls to goalie.
76 min...PS Polancec-Marin rolls pass too far forward for PS Navid Rahman and goalie stops.
76 min...TFC sub...Coreanu replaces Hamilton.
77 min...TFC player's low 30 yard freekick from left is called offside in box.
78 min...TFC Faria rush from center up left on 3 on 3 but defender deflects ball wide.
79 min...TFC Mohammed cornerkick from left is flagged in box.
79 min...PS goalie beats TFC Abdi to through ball pass at PS 35 yard line and dribbles away.
80 min...TFC Dada-Luke continues run from center on left while getting pulled from behind twice on but ball
is cleared just outside box.
81 min...TFC goalie at 30 yards to clear through ball.
82 min...TFC sub...Le replaces Yeates.
83 min...TFC Faria cuts to middle and 22 yard low shot is stopped by goalie who dives out to 8 yards to cover rebound.
85 min...PS Adel Rahman rolls cross from 15 yards on left and goalie dives forward to stop two PS players waiting
for tap-ins.
86 min...PS Ashim Ashim rolls pass to PS Polancec-Marin on left and his 18 yard shot has goalie dive and push ball
wide left of post.
86 min...TFC YELLOW card...goalie Catalano earns it for timewasting on goal kick.
88 min...TFC Faria 35 yard freekick from left has goalie sprawl to left post to save and big rebound is cleared.
89 min...PS Brown 45 yard freekick from left has goalie catch wide right of net.
91 min...TFC Faria rush on left but pushes ball too far forward and goalie smothers it at 12 yards on left.
92 min...PS player on right just outside of box crosses over crowd of players in box.
93 min...game ends 10:19pm.

Final Score:....ProStars FC....0.......Toronto FC III........3........

Attendance was about 80 on this mild and overcast evening. It had rained during the day so the grass was wet.

This was a tough game with about half the infractions in the box awarded Penalty kicks by referee Braedon Krampert.
Pro Stars had one somewhat in/out the right side of the box that was ruled just a freekick. A few dives
weren't awarded PKs for each team.

Tough to say the goals were on PKs and an own goal with the chances TFC had but goalie Aaron Peters did well
stopping all the shots from open field play. In the last round I saw him stop a Penalty kick in regulation
and one in the shootout to decide who advanced from their Aurora FC game. Afram Gorgees had scored the only
goal against Masters FA two weeks ago in league play on a Penalty kick deep into stoppage time so the duel
was set up. Still the shooter should score 75 percent of the time?

ProStars had their best chances early when it was pretty even until the first goal. 4 minutes had
PS Aleksander Zwierzynski blasted an 8 yard shot from the right that the sprawling goalie made a point blank
save at 4 yards set up by a poor backpass. 11 minutes had PS Nathaniel McAuley blasted a 20 yarder from
the right that hit the outside of the left post.

I don't usually talk about the game with L1O officials but the stat guy on tonight said the turning point
of the game was just before the end of the first half when TFC Afram Gorgees did not draw a second Yellow
(first was at 28 minutes) for a foul right in front of the fourth official's table—he was also sitting there.

Gianluco Catalano earned the shutout for TFC III. His best saves to preserve the shutout were at 68 minutes
when PS Aleksander Zwierzynski blasted a 28 yarder down the middle that he leapt and palmed over the bar.
86 minutes had PS Muhammed Ashim rolled a pass to PS Marco Polancec-Marin on the left and his 18 yard shot
had Catalano dive and push wide left of the post.

After the game I wanted to say something nice to Catalano about maybe getting to at least the bench in the
TFC II USL match on Wednesday against first place FC Cincinnati—their first game in the revamped
Lamport Stadium. Catalano has played five games for TFC II the USL website lists. First I had to wait
my turn as two teammates dumped the Gatorade bucket on him. The answer was 'no' as he's leaving tomorrow
for 'Yukon' ie University of Connecticut! Ahh Cyle Larin going there came to my mind. Then head coach
Danny Dichio came up behind us and I started to talk with him. Also going to U Conn is midfielder
Steffen Yeates. Tonight's backup goalie Rimi Olatunji is going to Providence College and defender
Mohamed Omar is going to U of Notre Dame. (So did CWNT and now Canadian Soccer Hall of Famer Candace Chapman).

As we talked about former TFC Academy players (Alliance United has four!), Dichio said he wants the players
that played with TFCA to keep their love for the game and continue to play. He said he'd love them to play
in the new Canadian Premier League and help the Canadian National team. Wow! Is he ever a contrast
to TFC President Bill Manning and his feelings comparing CanPrem in Toronto to competing pizza restaurants.
A very inspirational Dichio! Like Knute Rockne (the coach of U of Notre Dame football back in the 1920s.
Remember it was Pat O'Brien who played him in the movie and Ronald Reagan eventual US President was
player George Gipp).

I noticed on Pro Stars tonight were brothers Adel and Navid Rahman both playing in the midfield. They were
here for the early season last year then moved to KFC Komarno of the Slovakian second division and this spring
were with Achilles '29 in the Netherlands second division. Pro Stars assistant coach Josef Komlodi said they
were back in the GTA to get their Canadian passports renewed and are going to a training camp for the
Pakistani national team.

This game was played at Victoria Park Stadium. This is the first time it has been used in a few years
for L1O. Pro Stars have had two home games already but played elsewhere. The field is real grass and
their have been new stands and washroom/dressing rooms constructed from the days of wooden bleachers
of CNSL/CPSL/CSL days. The revamp was completed a few years ago but was overshadowed by the fire to the
adjacent James F McCurry Victoria Park Arena on May 27, 2016 which has wiped out use of the arena to this day.
The soccer dressing rooms and washrooms used to be inside the arena before the stadium had their own installed.
Last night the arena appeared condemned with police riot fencing stretched around the building.

One more of the stadium improvements is a new scoreboard although they didn't get it working until about
the 20 minute mark and it counts downward. They conveniently stopped counting the score at 2-0.

Last year Pro Stars played at different venues like Terry Fox Stadium (they've done that earlier this season).
I was here last year and they played a game in the adjacent field across the parking lot. Victoria Park
always had the distinction of being closed late in the season by the City of Brampton (motto 'The Garden City')
so the fields wouldn't get ground up after heavy rains. With L1O regular season play wrapping up by the third
week of September and Pro Stars last home game being in August, it is doubtful that will be a problem as they
are near the bottom of the standings and playoff round action looks remote.

TFC III move on to the semi-finals against Sigma FC who on Friday night beat FC London 8-0.

Another TFC official I spoke too said he was not too sure that TFC III would be back next year in the L1O
because of the overlapping seasons of the USSDA league and their players will need a break. The season
being partly in winter will mean some of the games will be played under the dome that the BMO Training facility
erects each year. He also wasn't sure if TFC II would fall back to the USL Third Division as a lot of MLS clubs
have said they would.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

ProStars FC starters