October 4, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan Azzurri vs Alliance United playoff game review (by Rocket Robin)

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

Result and details of the Thursday October 4, 2018 League 1 Ontario game between Vaughan Azzurri and Alliance United
played at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 9:00pm.

Vaughan Azzurri (all navy, white numbers)

...................1 Matt George
4 Devante Walker...5 Justin Springer...23 Shiquan Lowe...20 Daniel Cramarossa
13 Zachary Drake...8 Dylan Sacramento...6 Matthew Arnone...15 Austin Ricci
............2 Jarred Phillips...19 Mario Kovacevic (cpt)

Subs:...12 Omeed Naeemy (gk)...3 Joseph Amato...7 Jashua Mills...10 Jason Mills
...11 Brandon Mills...18 Alain Sargeant...21 Lucas Puntillo
team officials:...team head coach Carmine Isacco...assistant coaches Francesco Vescio, Patrice Gheisar,
and Wayne Mills...manager Tony De Palma...therapist Estaban Clavijo

Alliance United (all white, black numbers)

....................1 Mark Rogal
11 Russell Rodrigues...6 Lukas Macnaughton...10 Jesse Assing (cpt)...3 Devon Bowyer
4 Nikola Stakic...13 Farrell Francis...14 Oswald Adu...15 Connor McFall
..............7 Nirunthan Sivananthan...20 Steven Furlano

Subs:...30 Tristan Martino...5 David Colelli...8 Dante Lyte...12 Vasyl Matviishyn
...16 Djimi Guedei...19 Koosha Nazemi
team officials:...team head coach Ilya Orlov...assistant coach Denys Rylskyi, Julian Carr, Roman Rashchuk

suspended player Bogdan Poliakhov

Game officials:...referee Scott Bowman...referee's assistants Bradley Doubrough and Nick Vagenis
...fourth official John Leuser...(watermelon shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 9:04pm...VA defends north end on this cold night with a cold wind from the north.
1 min...VA Sacramento freekick from 30 yards up middle is caught by goalie on left side of net.
2 min...VA Ricci blasts low 20 yarder that goalie slides at 12 yards to save. VA Drake 22 yard rebound down middle
has goalie palm ball wide right for cornerkick.
3 min...AU defender heads away VA cornerkick from right.
4 min...AU Furlano cornerkick from right is cleared on outside of box.
5 min...VA Ricci long run down left and rolls cross along end line and goalie picks up ball.
7 min...VA Walker 40 yard chip from right is caught by goalie.
8 min...VA Cramarossa high cross from 30 yards on left is caught by goalie.
10 min...VA Ricci low cross through box from left wins throw-in.
10 min...VA Phillips can't win Penalty kick on AU Bowyer tackle on run to 8 yards on right.
11 min...VA Phillips 35 yard cross from right is over VA player at 10 yards on left.
12 min...VA Phiilips cross from right from 20 yards has defender head away.
17 min...AU Furlano can't win Penalty kick on pass to right into box.
19 min...VA YELLOW card...Cramarossa earns it for tackle to stop AU player breaks out at center line.
20 min...AU Furlano cornerkick from left has VA Kovacevic head away on near post.
22 min...VA Walker rescues ball near right end lilne and cross drifts behind net.
23 min...AU Adu threads pass from 50 yards to AU Furlano but he's called for pushing defenders at 22 yards.
24 min...AU goalie catches 35 yard bouncer from left.
25 min...VA Phillips rolls pass forward on right and VA Arnone cross at 10 yards wins cornerkick.
26 min...VA Sacramento cornekrick from right is cleared. VA Ricci is injured on play on left side of box.
27 min...VA Ricci on left side of AU box wins freekick for AU for pushing defender.
29 min...VA Drake loses ball at end of 3 pass play into AU box.
29 min...VA Kovacevic wins cornerkick on blocked shot for 10 yards.
30 min...VA Sacramento cornerkick from left has defenders clear.
32 min...VA Cramarossa wins cornerkick on 30 yard cross from left.
33 min...VA Sacramento low cornerkick from left has AU Stakic.
34 min...VA Walker 35 yard cross from right has VA Kovacevic heads down but defender clears.
35 min...Vaughan Dylan Sacramento GOAL...VA Matthew Arnone crosses from 40 yards on left over to VA Jarred Phillips
near right edge of box. He back up a bit to avoid a defender and crosses into box where Sacramento on right edge
of 6 yard box heads ball into left corner of net on one bounce beyond flying goalie Mark Rogal.
37 min...AU Bowyer clears ball at 15 yards on VA through ball pass attempt.
38 min...AU Adu gets back-to-net header from 20 yards has goalie catch wide right of net.
39 min...VA Cramarossa 55 yard freekick is caught by goalie.
41 min...VA goalie runs forward to grab deflected ball from right off VA player.
42 min...AU goalie out of box to clear ball before VA Sacramento can get to it.
45 min...half ends 9:49pm.

Second Half:...starts 10:07pm.
47 min...VA Phillips is checked off ball on right edge of box.
50 min...AU McFall receives long pass and cross into box is cleared by defender.
51 min...AU Sivananthan pops up header in VA box and defender heads away.
52 min...AU Stakic low 35 yard chip from right is picked up on bounce by goalie wide left of net.
53 min...AU Furlano pass to AU McFall for run down right and cross is over box and over end line for goalkick.
53 min...AU sub...Nazemi replaces McFall.
56 min...AU Furlano freekick 22 yards on left just outside top left has goalie catch at 3 yards and hang
on in front of two AU players waiting to tap-in.
56 min...AU YELLOW card...Nazemi earns it for pulling down VA Phillips at AU 50 yards on run down left.
59 min...VA Furlano blocks clearance attempt in AU box but is whistled down when he pulls defender over.
60 min...VA Sacramento blasts 35 yarder between players and goalie bats down and smothers.
63 min...VA Ricci is checked off ball on left side of box on 1 v 3 rush.
65 min...AU Stakic rush up right and cross has AU Francis head 10 yarder that goalie catches.
66 min...VA Arnone give and go play but loses possession on left side of AU box and he's called for knocking down defender.
67 min...AU Furlano called for pushing from behind on offensive rush into box.
69 min...AU Furlano goal called back offside a few seconds earlier overturning 12 yard blast.
71 min...VA YELLOW card...Ricci ears it for tackle on complaining about freekick call at VA 40 yard line.
72 min...AU Furlano 45 yard freekick from right has set of players miss 8 yard header on left.
73 min...AU Furlano cornerkick from left has VA player leap and head ball away on left side of box.
74 min...AU Furlano wins cornerkick on backheeler on rush for ball on right end line.
75 min...AU Furlano cornerkick from right has defender head away in crowd of players.
78 min...VA Sacramento pass too far forward for VA Ricci and goalie picks it up on right side of box.
79 min...AU sub...Matviishyn replaces Francis.
80 min...VA sub...Jason Mills replaces Kovacevic. VA Sacramento becomes captain.
81 min...AU Furlano 45 yard freekick from right is whistled down in box.
82 min...AU YELLOW card...MacNaughton earns it for moving ball before taking freekick at Au 35 yard line.
84 min...VA YELLOW card...Sacramento earns it for timewasting on freekick at AU 40 yard line.
85 min...AU Stakic can't win Penalty kick on tackle VA in box.
86 min...Alliance RED card...Lukas MacNaughton earns his second Yellow within three minutes when he shoulder tackles
VA Justin Springer to flatten him at AU 30 yard line.
87 min...VA Sacramento tap over freekick has chip from 30 yards bounces to charging goalie.
88 min...AU Furlano 45 yard freekick has VA Jason Mills pop header from 18 yards over end line for cornerkick.
88 min...AU Furlano cornerkick from left has defender clear from box.
90 min...AU Furlano 35 yard shot down middle is through players and goalie catches.
94 min...VA Springer heads 22 yarder back to VA goalie.
94 min...game ends 10:56pm.

Final Score:......Vaughan Azzurri......1........Allliance United.......0.......

Attendance was about 80 on this cold night. This is the kind of weather we expect at this time of the year with
windbreaker weather in the day and parka weather at night. The game had a 9:00pm start because the field was rented
out to a kid's academy team until 8:00pm. The playoff draw wasn't made until two weeks ago and fields aren't always
available. Next year with Vaughan soccer operations moving to their new North Maple facility, they should be able
to schedule games any time they want. The main fields have been installed but the dressing rooms are still under
construction.

Referee Scott Bowman gave out five Yellow cards (three to Vaughan). The first card to Lukas MacNaughton at 82 minutes
was after MacNaughton tried to take a freekick quickly deep in the AU end and a Vaughan player who was only three
yards away didn't move and the ball hit him. He repositioned the ball with his hands to take it again but about
three yards to the side and earned the Yellow card. The second Yellow three minutes later was a bone crushing
bodycheck to stop Justin Springer...ironically almost in the same spot where he earned his first card. Playing short
the last few minutes limited the pressure that could be applied. AU goalie Mark Rogal came in to the Vaughan box
on their last cornerkick but a defender ended up back on the center line to prevent any fast breakouts on an open net.

Neither team had more than a few close-in chances. Defenders on each team made key stops inside their box and/or
forwards would make good runs into the box then fumble the ball away without getting a shot. The referee wasn't
fooled by any Penalty kick shouts by either team. Vaughan dominated possession in the first half but the game opened
up after the break.

Matt George earned the shutout for Vaughan. He had few shots against him but made about three clean catches that
if he dropped them an AU player was there waiting for a simple tap-in.

The three Mills brothers started on the bench for Vaughan. Only middle brother Jason played tonight when he came
in at 80 minutes as the only VA substitute whereas five are permitted.

Jarrek Whiteman was not in the Vaughan lineup. A soccer parent said he was still injured. That injury
on September 14 here against Sigma has stretched much longer than initially expected as I heard from a team official
a week after it happened that he'd be back by the beginning of the playoffs.

Dylan Sacramento scores his third goal of the playoffs as he had two in the previous game against Darby in a 4-0 win.
He had ten in the regular season after joining the team for by the fourth week of the season.

Steven Furlano was the best player again for Alliance but had a bit more help than the regular season finale against
Sanjaxx where he was the lone forward. Tonight he had Nirunthan Sivananthan and Connor McFall pressing in from
the wings to help out. Furlano again took all the cornerkicks and freekicks closer than 50 yards. An example was
at 74 minutes when he ran full out to the VA end line to save the ball and backheeled it so it hit the chasing
defender and deflected out for an AU cornerkick.

Best scoring chances were at 2 minutes when VA Austin Ricci stole a ball off a defender at 40 yards and ran up the
left and blasted a low 20 yard shot that the goalie slid at 12 yards to save. VA Zachary Drake took a 22 yard
rebound shot down the middle that the goalie palmed over the net for a cornerkick. 56 minutes had AU Steven Furlano
take a 22 yard freekick from just outside the top left of the box and the goalie caught it at 3 yards and hung
on in front of two waiting AU players. 65 minutes had AU Nikola Stakic rush up the right and center a cross
to AU Farrell Francis who headed a 10 yarder that the goalie caught. 72 minutes had Furlano take a 45 yard freekick
from the right that had a set of players on both teams miss an 8 yard header on the left. 90 minutes had Furlano
take a 35 yard shot down the middle through a bunch of players that the goalie caught.

Vaughan takes a stranglehold on Group A with two victories in two games. Next week they travel to London to play
FC London on Friday night. FC London plays Darby this Saturday in Whitby indoors. Alliance shocked FCL last Friday
in both teams' opening group game with a 1-0 win in London. Connor McFall scored the lone goal in the fifth minute.
Bogdan Poliakhov collected a late Red card in the game and was missing tonight in the midfield.

Alliance has earned a lot of respect in these playoffs. They only clinched a spot on the last day of the season
and have been defensively sound only allowing two goals. Vaughan had beaten Alliance 4-2 in their regular season
meeting back on July 14 at L'Amoreaux (AU's home after the Centennial College field is reclaimed by the school for
part of the summer).

I feel bad about only catching one playoff game for two weeks in a row but for the second time the other games are
scheduled on a Saturday when Toronto FC plays. Friday night games in London are too far away for me. Next week
I'll try to catch two.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter RocketRobin01

Vaughan Azzurri starters