July 29, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Woodbridge Strikers vs Vaughan Azzurri game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday July 29, 2018 League 1 Ontario League game between Woodbridge Strikers and Vaughan Azzuri
played at Vaughan Grove in Woodbridge at 7:00pm.

Woodbridge Strikers (all blue, white shoulders and numbers)

..................1 Roberto Stillo
4 Francesco Sinopoli...6 Josha Paredes-Procter...5 Kyle Watson (cpt)...3 Bruce Cullen
2 Quante Smith...7 Michael Krzeminski...14 Ali El Zeir...18 Federico Leal
..........17 Emmanuel Issac...11 Matthew Santos

Subs:...69 Tyrone Williams (gk)...10 Christian Cavallini...15 Tarik Robertson...16 Tyrell Rayne
...19 Stephen Afrifa-Kodua...20 Julian De Sousa...24 Matthew Strangis
team officials:...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...managers John Scarlato and Johnny Stancati
...equipment managers Amedeo Pellegrino and Lyndon Marshall...therpist David Lisi

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

...................12 Jarred Brown
2 Jarred Phillips...9 Shiquain Lowe...20 Alain Sargeant...3 Joseph Amato (cpt)
7 Jashua Mills...15 Austin Ricci...6 Matthew Arnone...19 Mario Kovacevic...10 Jason Mills
....................8 Dylan Sacraento

Subs:...11 Brandon Mills...14 Jarek Whiteman...17 Devante Walker...21 Anthony Osorio
...13 Ryan Raposo...25 Josh Kiselyov
team officials:...team head coach Carmine Isacco...assistant coaches Francesco Vescio, Hieu Quach, Patrice Gheisar,
and Wayne Mills...manager Tony De Palma...therapist Estaban Clavijo

Game officials:...referee Marko Ristic...referee's assistants Robert Reid and Brian Novagradac
...fourth official Roshan Mendonca...(watermelon shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 7:05pm...Woodbridge defends south end on this mild and sunny evening. The sun will set in the
north west in the second half.
5 min...W Issac low cross into the VA box from 12 yard line on left has defender stop and clear.
6 min...W Watson clears VA cross into box from left.
6 min...VA Jason Mills can't win Penalty kick after dribbling into box on left and being knocked over.
8 min...VA YELLOW card...Ricci earns it for grabbing W Issac and spinning him around just outside VA box.
9 min...W Leal 25 yard freekick from left has goalie push ball away from top left corner of goal.
9 min...W Leal cornerkick from left is popped up by defender and cleared. W Issac 15 yard shot from left is caught by goalie.
14 min...VA goalie is out to 25 yards to clear ball before W Issac can get to through ball down middle.
17 min...Vaughan Jason Mills GOAL...Mario Kovacevic at 40 yards in middle rolls pass forward to 30 yards and Mills
squeezes between two defenders and at 10 yards on right side of box rolls ball past sprawling goalie Robert Stillo into
left side of net.
19 min...W YELLOW card...Issac earns it for pulling down VA Ricci on rush at W 38 yard line.
20 min...VA Sacramento 40 yard freekick from left has VA Arnone in crowd of players flick 10 yarder wide right of net.
21 min...Woodbridge Federico Leal GOAL...Leal blasts 30 yard freekick down middle that's into top right corner of net
over outstretched arm of Jarred Brown.
26 min...W Smith ends W pressure by skying 25 yard partial clearance from right that goalie catches wide left of net. VA Amato
had earlier slid to stop a shot from the right.
27 min...W Cullen steals ball at 45 yard line on left and races upfield. He shoots low 15 yarder that goalie sprawls and pushes
wide left of post.
28 min...W player's cornerkick from left is cleared out right side of box.
32 min...VA Kovacevic holds ball at W 25 yards passes right to VA Sacramento who rushes to right end line and crosses
along 6 yard box but VA Jason Mills has 7 yard shot on left saved point blank by goalie on left post.
34 min...W YELLOW card...Cullen earns it for tripping up VA Ricci on run down right sideline.
35 min...VA Sacramento blasts 25 yard freekick from far right and goal is called back as two VA players were offside.
36 min...W Sinopoli is injured at W 40 yard line wins freekick.
38 min...VA Jason Mills long run up left and touches pass back and centered for VA Sacramento who blasts 28 yarder down
middle well over net.
39 min...W Issac long run down left but VA Ricci gets back to steal ball on end line.
41 min...W Smith is touched back pass on right and chips 40 yarder well wide right and over back fence.
44 min...W Paredes-Procter after freekick pass around started by him. He gets ball back and blasts 35 yard shot well high
and wide right of net.
44 min...W Santos gets rebound of own blocked cross on left and 20 yard cross is over players in box.
45 min...half ends 7:50pm with no time added.

Halftime: Neither team goes back to their dressing room one field over.

Second Half:...starts 8:03pm. The sun has still not set.
halftime subs:...VA Whiteman replaces Jashua Mills.
.................W Robertson replaces Smith.
.................W Cavallini replaces Leal.
.................W Rayne replaces El Zeir.
47 min...VA Jason Mills on rush down right centers ball but defender concedes cornerkick.
48 min...VA Sacramento cornerkick from left has VA player not able to turn header in crowd in box at 8 yards.
48 min...VA Ricci and Whiteman are caught offside so their 7 yard goal doesn't count.
49 min...W Rayne low cross from right after run is through box but unplayed.
53 min...Vaughan Jarek Whiteman GOAL...A VA player runs up the right side from the center line and rolls centering pass
from 30 yard line between players. Mario Vovacevic turns back for ball at 25 yards but when he seeds defenders on right side
of box chops pass to middle where Dylan Sacramento stops ball on edge of box and sends short cross to left for Whiteman who
chips 20 yarder from even with left post that dips just under bar of right side of net over leaping goalie 3 yards off his line.
55 min...Woodbridge Tyrell Rayne GOAL...Charging Rayne is rolled pass up middle by Emmaneul Issac and rolls 18 yarder past
sliding goalie at 12 yards and into right side of net.
57 min...W Robertson chips 40 yarder from right that goalie steps forward to catch wide left of net.
59 min...VA Whiteman cross from right end line is cleared by defender in box preventing tap-in.
61 min...W Santos shot has VA Amato raise foot to tip 25 yard shot back to goalie.
63 min...VA Ricci rush up right aand cuts to middle and passes from 30 yards to VA player who bounces 20 yard shot from left
just outside box for goalie to catch near left post.
64 min...VA Sacramento intercepts clearance and quick shot up middle is wide right.
65 min...VA sub...Raposo replaces Ricci.
65 min...W Rayne high 30 yard cross from right sideline is over players in box. W players low bouncing cross from left is cleared
by defender in box.
66 min...Woodbridge [Vaughan own goal] GOAL...Michael Krzeminski rushes along end line and rolls 15 yard cross that sliding
Shiquain Lowe pops ball at 5 yards over own goalie and into top right corner of net.
68 min...VA Sacramento blasts 28 yard freekick from right that goalie just under bar punches upward and deflected for goalkick.
70 min...VA Phillips chips 33 yard cross from left wide left and over end line with teammates waiting in box.
71 min...W YELLOW card...goalie Stillo earns it for wasting time but the ball boy was slow to give him the ball.
73 min...W YELLOW card...Krzeminski earns it for grab on VA player at W 25 yard line.
74 min...Vaughan Mario Kovacevic GOAL...Dylan Sacramento 25 yard freekick from slight right has leaping Kovacevic
head 10 yarder downward in middle of box and goalie is down to ground to grab it but ball squeezes over the line.
75 min...W YELLOW card...Paredes-Procter earns it for shirt grab.
76 min...VA Amato is knocked over making key headed clearance in VA box.
77 min...VA Raposo 25 yard cross from far left bounces to goalie.
77 min...VA YELLOW card...Sacramento earns it for kicking shot from 28 yards after offside whistle was blown.
78 min...VA sub...Osorio replaces Sacramento.
79 min...W YELLOW card...Sinopoli earns it for pulling down VA player.
80 min...VA Osorio 30 yard freekicki from left has VA Lowe header from 10 yards on right that's saved by diving goalie.
82 min...W Rayne spins and one-touch 25 yard shot weakly to goalie.
84 min...VA Raposo steps to middle from left and shoots low 22 yarder that diving goalie smothers on right post.
85 min...W Cavallini blasts 25 yarder from elft that tips off defender at 18 yards and pops over net.
85 min...W Paredes-Procter cornerkick from right has VA Arnone head ball down and pass away for fast breakout.
86 min...VA Raposo cross from 40 yards on right has VA Kovacevic head 10 yarder down middle that goalie pushes
wide right of post.
87 min...VA Kovaceivc jumps and twists header from 10 yards wide right of post after receiving cross from left.
88 min...VA Lowe makes key header in VA box preventing W play.
88 min...Woodbridge Emmanuel Issac GOAL... WS Joshua Paredes-Procter cornerkick from right has defender near right post tip
ball over players in box and over to Issac on left who one-touches 7 yard shot low to short side past goalie shuffling over from
center of net.
90 min...VA Whiteman 12 yard shot down middle is saved by sprawling goalie.
91 min...VA Jason Mills 12 yard shot down middle is saved by sprawling goalie and Jason Mills foot drag injures goalie.
The trainer is needed.
92 min...VA sub...Kiselyov replaces Amato.
.........W sub...Strangis replaces Santos.
93 min...VA Kiselyov cross from 15 yards on left end line is caught by goalie.
95 min...VA Sargeant run up right and wins cornerkick on cross on end line.
95 min...VA Osorio cornerkick from right is whistled down in box.
96 min...game ends 8:54pm.

Final Score:...Woodbridge Strikers.....4......Vaughan Azzurri.......3.......

Home games for Woodbridge always have a Man of the Match for each team given by their sponsor
'Coventry North Jaguar Land Rover' (and no the prize is not a car). For Vaughan it was Mario Kovacevic
who scored what was at the time the tying goal and for Woodbridge it was Roberto Stillo who had
had three great saves after the winning goal (besides those all night) to hold on to the lead.

This was a very competitive game with each team responding with an equalizer within 4 minutes, 2 minutes,
and 8 minutes when one team took the lead. When Issac scored the late winner, the Strikers goalie
Robert Stillo immediately had to make two sprawling saves on 12 yard shots to break the pattern.
Even the time just before the 'winning' goal I him making two spectacular saves on Vaughan chances.

These two teams met at the Quarterfinal stage of the L1O Cup just over a month ago. It must have been
very satisfying for goalie Stillo to get the win as he picked up two Yellow cards that game and was ejected
at 67 minutes. Vaughan won that earlier match 2-0. Colm Vance and Michael Argyrides shared the shutout.
Vance only played 21 minutes and was seriously injured and has not played a game since.

As the Woodbridge Women's team had played on the grass field earlier this afternoon, the game was moved
to one of their turf fields that I hadn't noticed before. I had thought it was one of the next door
Ontario Soccer Centre fields. There was only about half the seats as the other field but the 125 fans
squashed in made the stands look full. The grounds crew left their scoreboard running from the grass
field (the turf field didn't have one). By the second half there were some York 9 fans who brought the
'Generation IX' banner and pinned it on the far chain link fence. They said after the game that they were
initially faked out by the phantom scoreboard clock and empty stadium. Woodbridge and Vaughan I'd say
have the biggest youth soccer organizations of the district. This would have been the night to have
a table and brochures available to hand out as people left the stadium between the corridors of the two
fields but the opportunity was lost. I didn't have time to make that suggestion as I had to find
Vaughan coach Carmine Isacco for an audio interview as he was named as one of the assistant coaches
to York 9 FC on Friday morning.

In the crowd was Tony De Thomasis the manager of Unionville-Milliken SC new to the league this year.
He was the owner of the 2017 CSL champions York Region Shooters and merged some of those guys into
the UM team this team. I told him UM holding FC London to a tie on Friday night helped TFC III take
over first place earlier today with a win. He said the Friday night game was postponed until 10:00pm
because of thunder and lightning but they didn't want to have to come all the way to London again
to play a make up game so they stayed for the delay. I asked him if he found this league competitive
and how his team fit into L1O and he answered his older first 11 players are fine but the younger
players aren't good enough at the present time. It may take them a few years to mature and be strong
enough to compete.

I asked after the game Woodbridge defender Bruce Cullen who played for Durham United last year
if he was related to the garden store moguls family (who are from that area). "No, we wish!" was
the answer from him and his family talking after the game.

Chris Mannella who played last night in Ottawa as a substitute in their USL game against Louisville City
was in the crowd here tonight. He is from the GTA but that is a long trip he did anything but fly.

With Woodbridge winning tonight they find themselves in a three tie for second place with Sigma and London
but they've played two and one game more (respectively) than those teams so probably won't hold that spot
too long. Woodbridge do take the lead in goals scored this year with 36 while maintaining a tight defence
of only 10 goals allowed.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Woodbridge Strikers starters