October 14, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Woodbridge Strikers vs Unionville Milliken SC playoff game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday October 14, 2018 League 1 Ontario game between Woodbridge Strikers
and Unionville Milliken SC played at Vaughan Grove Turf at 5:00pm. This was the third and final game
for each team in the Group B playoff group.

Woodbridge Strikers (blue socks and shorts, white numbers and shoulders)

.......................1 Robert Stillo
.........23 Francio Henry...5 Kyle Watson (cpt)...3 Bruce Cullen
24 Matthew Strangis...12 Oscar Cordon...20 Isaiah Johnston...7 Michael Krzeminski
.........11 Matthew Santos...9 Stefano Voci...8 Jose De Sousa

Subs:...69 Tyrone Williams (gk)...10 Jose Melo...14 Ali El Zeir...16 Tyrell Rayne
...18 Frederico Leal...19 Jai Tahlan...21 Niklas Bauer
team officials:...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...managers John Scarlato and Johnny Stancati
...equipment managers Amedeo Pellegrino and Lyndon Marshall...therapist David Lisi

Suspended player Josha Paredes-Procter

Unionville Milliken SC (white socks and numbers, red shorts and shirts)

.......................1 Adrian Ibanez
............15 Halburto Harris...6 Richard Edwards...24 Odain Simpson
7 Camaal Reid...5 Michael Fayehun...8 Bojan Zoranovic...10 Tre Crosby...17 Isaiah-Prientice Whyte
................20 Khubaib Mahbourbullah...14 Hassan Abdulmumini

Subs:...0 Alessio Carbone (gk)...2 Dominique Modeste...4 Lucas Teixeira...9 Jalen Brome
...11 Marc Jankovic...22 Alex Lewis...23 Duwayne Ewart
team officials:...team head coach Vasil Ishchak...manager Jordan Holmes...equipment amanghger Tony De Thomasis

Game officials:...referee Alexis Vaughan...referee's assistants Joshua Heuving and Anthony Dimambro
...fourth official Brian Butler...yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 5:04pm...WS defends south end on this cool late afternoon. I switched to a parka
just before game time. There's a bright sun and wind from the west.
30 sec...WS player's 22 yard cross from the left is wide right of the net.
4 min...UM Mahboubullah runs ball over end line on left before he can cross.
7 min...WS player's 15 yard shot from right is over net.
8 min...WS Cullen 25 yard freekick from left is over to right and UM Reid heads ball behind end line.
10 min...WS Johnston cornerkick from right is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
11 min...WS Santos 25 yard cross from far left has goalie push wide right.
12 min...WS Cullen cornerkick from right has three popped up headers until goalie catches ball reaching back on right.
13 min...Woodbridge Jose De Sousa GOAL...WS Michael Krzeminski pass from 25 yards on right is centered
to De Sousa and his 15 yard shot forward is into left side of net beyond goalie Adrian Ibanez diving
at 8 yards.
15 min...WS Krzeminski and De Sousa are both caught offside.
16 min...WS Santos steals ball off UM Fayehun at 35 yards in middle and rolls 20 yard shot wide left of net when in alone.
17 min...Woodbridge Matthew Santos GOAL...WS Michael Krzeminski chips long pass forward from 55 yard
center line down right side. Santos knocks it down at 25 yards line on right and starts to run towards
center letting defender overrun him then shoots low 22 yarder from right between two defenders
at 15 yards and under diving goalie at 6 yards into short right side of net.
19 min...UM Crosby 40 yard freekick from right has UM Reid head 8 yarder on left and goalie palms ball over bar.
20 min...UM Crosby cornerkick from right has ball knocked down on left and UM player has blocked shot and goalie runs
to left to pick it up.
21 min...WS Santos 30 yard blast through players up middle and high wide left.
26 min...WS Cullen short pass from left to WS Voci and he chips 12 yarder wide left.
27 min...UM Zoranovic 30 yard shot from slight left is wide right of net.
29 min...UM Reid rush between players and low 25 yard shot from left is smothered by goalie on left post.
30 min...WS De Sousa chips 10 yarder over goalie and UM Harris clears ball off line. WS Voci is injured in the box.
34 min...WS Cullen is injured in his shoulder at WS 30 yard line and needs trainer. UM win cornerkick downfield.
36 min...UM Crosby low cornerkick from right has nearest defender clear. Crosby after a run eventually crosses over
players in box.
39 min...WS goalie catches 30 yard cross from left by UM Harris.
41 min...UM Whyte can't win Penalty kick when pushed over in box.
42 min...UM Abdulmumini 30 yard shot down middle is caught by goalie at top left corner of net.
43 min...WS Krzeminski flubs 15 yard kick on pass but wins cornerkick on left.
44 min...WS Cullen cornerkick from left has defender flick header out right side of box. WS Watson cross from right
has UM Simpson head away.
45 min...UM YELLOW card...Abdulmumini earns it for argueing not being awarded a cornerkick.
47 min...game ends 5:51pm.

Second Half:...starts 6:06pm.
halftime subs:...UM Ewart replaces Crosby.
................UM Brome replaces Whyte.
................UM Jankovic replaces Harris.
................WS Rayne replaces Voci.
45 min...WS Santos centers rolling pass to WS De Sousa and rolls 30 yard blast up middle that diving goalie pushes
wide right of post.
46 min...WS Cullen cornerkick from right has open WS De Sousa head 12 yarder that goalie palms over net.
47 min...WS Cullen cornerkick from right has WS Cordon have 10 yard shot on left blocked by defender.
49 min...UM YELLOW card...Mahboubullah earns it for trip on WS Cullen near center line.
52 min...UM sub...Modeste replaces Abdulmumini.
55 min...Woodbridge Bruce Cullen receives short tapped back pass at 25 yards on left and centers
it to WS Matthew Santos who one-touches ball forward from 18 yards which UM Richard Edwards chests
down at 6 yards on left post. Edwards puts his foot out to clear and catches charging Cullen
upending and injuring him at 8 yards. Referee Alexis Vaughan awards WS a Penalty kick.
56 min...Woodbridge Matthew Santos GOAL...Santos blasts Penalty kick to top right corner
as goalie dives to left.
58 min...WS Krzeminski and WS De Sousa on multi pass play down left side but defender prevents 12 yard shot.
59 min..UM Reid low 28 yard shot up middle has goalie pick up ball.
60 min...WS sub...Melo replaces Johnston.
63 min...UM Modeste low 20 yard shot from right is stopped by defender. UM Mahboubullah 22 yard shot from right
is wide left of top corner of net.
64 min...UM sub...Teixera replaces Fayehun.
67 min...WS Rayne manueves behind defender but rolls weak 22 yard shot to goalie.
68 min...WS sub...Bauer replaces De Sousa.
.........WS sub...El Zeir replaces Santos.
69 min...UM Zoranovic 20 yard shot is blocked by WS Henry.
71 min...WS Strangis pass forward to WS Rayne whose 10 yard shot wins cornerkick.
72 min...WS players work out short cornerkick from left wasted with no cross into box.
73 min...UM Mahboubullah suffers leg injury at center line.
75 min...UM Modeste juggles forward pass and midair 22 yard shot up middle is wide right.
76 min...WS Rayne long run to rescue ball on right end line after poor first touch sends low cross which is stopped.
77 min...WS Bauer gets foot in on UM Mahboubullah to block shot.
78 min...UM Zoranovic 30 yard freekick is stopped by goalie. UM Brome rebound from 20 yards on left is topped
by defender at 12 yards.
80 min...WS sub...Tahlan replaces Cordon.
81 min...WS El Zeir cornerkick from left has UM Edwards head down and clear.
81 min...the last minute of game 'action'. (*See reason as to why below).

Final Score:....Woodbridge Strikers.......3.......Unionville Milliken SC.......0........

Attendance was about 75 on this cool late afternoon with the temperature dropping rapidly as the
sun went was setting and it got dark. Parkas and blankets were unpacked from peoples' cars
at halftime if not sooner.

I hadn't watched Woodbridge since August 26. Wow these players look familiar but not who I've
seen back in the spring and summer. Jose De Sousa and Jose Melo had come over from Masters FA
at the trade deadline. Niklas Bauer is now here after playing for North Toronto Nitros in 2016
and Vaughan last year (tonight his first L1O game of the season). Oscar Cordon is back with
the team after not playing until August. Tonight defender Bruce Cullen (Durham FA in 2017)
and striker Matthew Santos (Oakville 2017) who both were key tonight. Matt George started this
season in goal for Oakville. On the other side UM defender Michael Fayehun played for
Woodbridge last season.

I didn't think Cullen would finish the game as he was hurt at 34 minutes with some kind
of shoulder injury and needed the trainer. He was also hurt drawing the Penalty kick.
I thought he'd be subbed off with a 3-0 lead but he stayed the whole game.

Matt George earned the shutout for Woodbridge with some key saves.

Best scoring chances were at 12 minutes when WS Bruce Cullen took a cornerkick from the right
that had three popped up headers until the goalie reached back and caught the ball on the goal
line. 19 minutes had UM Tre Crosby take a 40 yard freekick from the right that had UM Camaal Reid
head and 8 yarder on the left that the goalie palmed over the net. 30 minutes Jose De Sousa
chipped a 10 yarder over the goalie and UM Michael Fayehun cleared off the line. 46 minutes
had Cullen's cornerkick from the right had an open De Sousa head a 12 yarder that the goalie
palmed over the net. 71 minutes had WS Matthew Strangis pass the ball forward to WS Tyrell Rayne
whose 10 yard shot was pushed wide left for a cornerkick.

*This game didn't end with as standard 90 minute game. 80 minutes had a Woodbridge cornerkick
which was delayed by a WS substitution. Players took their standard cornerkick positions with
a few defenders back to protect the team from a UM breakout as they didn't really need another
goal. Finally the stadium lights started to come on as it was getting dark. All eyes (and the
Livestream camera) were looking downfield for the cornerkick but on the center half line halftime
sub Francio Henry was one of two defenders who stayed back. After the cornerkick
by WS Ali El Zeir which was cleared by UM Richard Edwards and everyone looked upfield and saw
Henry face down on the pitch. What had happened? There was no player around him. Play was
whistled down and the trainers of both teams were summoned. Henry wasn't moving at all.
Time went by and the PA announcer asked if there was a doctor in the crowd. No real response.
That was just an interim measure as I'm sure by then an ambulance had been called. Some more
medical supplies were brought out from the dressing rooms which because this wasn't the main
field stadium, was about 400 yards away across another field and a parking lot. Someone caring
for the player either a coach or a trainer took off his coat and laid it on top of Henry.
Soon a fan called out “Does anyone have a blanket?” and about five were carried out by fans
from different angles and brought onto the field.

WS Michale Krzeminski came over and offered up the information that Henry first went down
to his knees and his eyes had glazed over then he collapsed and the possibility that he had
suffered a heart attack but that he was breathing. The ambulance crew arrived about ten minutes
after Henry went down (a fire truck arrived soon after, in the GTA fire trucks often arrive
first as they have more elaborate defibrillators then any clubhouse packs. The game was called
and the players were shaking hands at the equivalent of the 98 minute mark as the emergency crews
continued to work on Henry. They sat up Henry and one of the emergency crew asked if he could
remember anything. It looked like he was shaking his head 'No'. They placed him on a stretcher
and wheeled him to the ambulance which had backed up as close as it could get to the gate.
One of the crew asked a player to get Henry's track bag as it should have his wallet inside
with important information. A tweet from Woodbridge's twitter account by the time I'd driven
home stated that the player was responding to treatment at a medical facility and they'd have
more announcements later. They didn't announce the player's name though. At work the next day
I explained the incident (I do volunteer work at Sunnybrook Hospital) and an answer was offered
that it may be for legal reasons. That may be true to notify next of kin but I'd think it may
panic twenty five extended families not just one. “That's my husband/boyfriend/son!” I hadn't
thought of not mentioning the player's name because Gavin Day was doing the LiveStream and the
incident was part of the action...not thinking there was anything serious at the time. I just
made sure I had the right number “Is that #23 or #24?” as I crinkled my neck to get a better angle.

I hadn't seen Francio Henry before. The L1O website lists him playing his first game
on August 12 and now being in all three playoff games for Woodbridge. Game sheets list him
as being born in 1992. Eight digit OSA numbers are given to foreign players so my Google search
of his unusual name points out that he may be Jamaican and because of his age may be the college
player who played for West Virginia University a few years ago.

The fans were mostly pro-Woodbridge. Their calls of “Let's get another one (goal)” had fizzled
out after the third goal with little more than half hour to go and it was just playing out
as a game which usually means don't take any Yellow cards and (ironically) not get injured.
I talked to UM owner Tony De Thomasis later and he said there wasn't a point of playing out
the final minutes as Woodbridge had already won the group. I had seen Darby FC score two
injury time goals yesterday afternoon against Alliance United to flip a result to 2-1 but that
wasn't going to happen tonight.

After the game I congratulated UM's Duwayne Ewart who passed the two day trials of the Canadian
Premier League tryouts. I had to admit that I didn't recognize him because of the changing
pinneys between days and the only ID being the armbands that couldn't be seen from the balcony
surrounded the field. The news is out that passing the tryouts now doesn't even guarantee
a spot at a training camp as those invites will only be given out after all seven trials across
Canada are concluded. Ewart is aware of that but of course you have to pass the trials
to be invited so he's done his part. One other way the goalposts keep changing is that the
budget for salaries has not been finalized so what is a 'living wage' going to be?

Ewart entered the game in the second half in a three player swap (out of five max) to stir
things up. Successful trialist (in the Halifax CPL tryouts) Kiril Dimitrov wasn't in today's
game but he did make his way through the crowd. I looked up a possible reason and found out
that he had played in the (CSA outlawed) Canadian Soccer League final with his team
Scarborough SC yesterday afternoon which went to a 30 minute extra time before going
to a penalty shootout which SC Vorkuta ended up winning. Finally the CSL website gives away
who played in a game by listing the complete lineup instead of just the goalscorers. I see
that Adrian Ibanez was the goalie (yep he was the goalie today for UM) and defender
Odain Simpson was a defender (played 90 minutes today for UM). UM is not the only team
that has players playing for two teams as lots of L1O players also play for their college
teams if the schools are in the Southern Ontario area.

This was the final game of Group B play. The other game in the group started two hours
before this one...tempting to go because it was held indoors but an outright win by Woodbridge
tonight would win them the group. Following along with the tweets in the warm up, Oakville
had a 2-0 lead on Sigma but at 44 minutes had a player dismissed. Sigma caught up and
won 3-2 in the 90th minute. That gave them a 2 win, 1 loss record but the first tiebreaker
was head-to-head wins which Woodbridge held the advantage beating Sigma 3-1 in the first
week of group play so Woodbridge clinched their spot before this game started.

Unionville Milliken finishes group play with a record of three straight losses in this
tough group. They are a new team to L1O this season so to finish in the top half of the
league to make the playoffs is impressive.

The result for Woodbridge means they win the group with 2 wins and 1 tie and they advance
to the L1O final next Saturday at 3:00pm at Ontario Soccer Centre. That field can be seen
from the stands here about 300 yards away on the diagonal.

The final will be Vaughan's third year in a row in the final (the first two years of the
league there was no playoff system). They won in 2016 beating Woodbridge.

These two teams met in L1O Cup action in the Quarterfinal this year which I still feel
couldn't be a truly random draw as the league wanted to ensure there was someone different
in the Cup final as the teams had won the Cup twice each in its four year history and met
the previous two years in a row at the final. Vaughan won this (fifth) year beating Oakville.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Woodbridge Strikers starters