June 9, 2019 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan Azzurri vs Woodbridge Strikers (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of Sunday June 9, 2019 between Vaughan Azzurri and Woodbridge Strikers
played at McNaughton Turf in Maple at 3:00pm.

Vaughan Azzurri (all navy, white numbers, red trim)

..............1 Michael Argyrides
2 Jarred Phillips...4 Shiquan Lowe...6 Duran Lee...3 Joseph Amato (cpt)
...........11 Massimo Ferrin...16 Edward Lay...8 Alistair Johnston
..........13 Sameer Fathazada...9 Maksym Kowal...22 Ryan Raposo

Subs:...12 Matt George (gk)...5 Raheem Rose...7 Jahsua Mills...10 Jason Mills
...15 David Velastgui...20 Daniel Cramarosa...21 Federico Leal
team officials:...team head coach Patrice Gheisar...assistant coaches Anthony Vadori, Francesco Vescio,
and Kasey Kiarash...
manager Tony De Palma...therapist Estaban Clavijo

Woodbridge Strikers (all white, blue numbers)

.....................76 Michael Markac
16 Tyrell Rayne...4 Francesco Sinopoli...24 Matthew Strangis...3 Joshua Kiselyov
...........20 Isiah Johnston...6 Joshua Paredes-Procter (cpt)...7 Emmanuel Issac
..........11 Matthew Santos...21 Jose De Sousa...9 Ignazio Muccilli

Subs:...1 Kelvin Friseiro (gk)...12 Mateus Henrique Maia De Freitas...14 Adam LoFranco...15 Andres Caicedo
18 Lucas Puntillo...22 Deshawn Palmer-Agyemang...23 Luca Baldassarre
team officials:...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...managers John Scarlato and Johnny Stancati
...equipment manager Amedeo Pellegrino...therapist David Lisi

Game officials:...referee Scott Bowman...referee's assistants Anthony Dinambro and Nick Vagenis
...fourth official Mike Stacy...(watermelon shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 3:05pm...Vaughan defends south end.
2 min...VA Lay cornerkick from right bounces over heads of VA Ferrin and VA Kowal at 8 yards and is cleared
for fast break.
5 min...VA Fathazada is checked off ball on edge of box bwfore he can get shot.
6 min...Woodbridge Emmanuel Issac GOAL...WS Matthew Santos rolls pass from 25 yards in middle over
to Issac on right and he shoots low 15 yarder from right into left corner of net past sprawling
goalie Michael Argyrides at 5 yards.
9 min...WS De Sousa is injured at VA 30 yard line.
11 min...VA Lay and VA Kowal have shots blocked on right side of box.
11 min...WS Santos receives pass on right and 12 yard shot on tough angle is saved by sprawling goalie on right post.
18 min...VA Lowe 60 yard chip down middle has ball bounce to goalie before charging VA player can get to it.
18 min...WS player's long cross from right has WS Issac head from left end line that goalie leaps to grab on left post.
19 min...VA YELLOW card...goalie Argyrides earns it for sliding at 22 yards trying to break up through ball pass
and slides and hits his arm. He was lucky it was not a Red card.
20 min...WS Santos low 25 yard freekick up middle his a foot in player wall.
22 min...Vaughan Maksym Kowal GOAL...VA Sameer Fathazada bends 22 yard freekick around player wall
and diving goalie Michael Markac saves on right post. The ball flies out into crowd of players
and Kowal shoots 12 yarder from slight right into center of net with goalie still down.
23 min...WS Santos recovers loose ball and blasts 25 yarder well high and wide right of net.
29 min...VA Raposo 28 yard chip from left bends wide left of net.
32 min...VA Raposo dribbles along 12 yard line from right but has shot down middle blocked.
34 min...VA Fathazada chips 25 yard freekick from left is headed around in box but cleared.
35 min...WS Kiselyov is injured jumping for header at VA 45 yard line.
.........A water break is called.
37 min...VA Kowal rush down right wing and low cross from 10 yard line deflects off defender
and goalie has to dive on right post to catch.
41 min...Vaughan (Woodbridge own goal) GOAL...WS Ignazio Muccilli under pressure from VA player
passes ball back from 25 yards on right that catches goalie off guard until too late and ball
rolls into left corner of own net.
44 min...VA YELLOW card...Amato* earns it for complaining about freekick call.
* the league website says VA Duran Lee was shown the card.
45 min...WS Parrades-Procter and WS Johnston work up 35 yard freekick and Johnston can't get clear shots
on right end line.
46 min...half ends 3:51pm.

Halftime break: Neither team goes back to the dressing rooms across the street. The starters rest in the shade
of the benches. The subs warm up on the field.

Second Half:...starts 4:09pm...there's now a breeze from the east.
46 min...VA Kowal blasts 18 yard shot along right end line which diving goalie pushes away on left post.
VA Raposo blasts low 20 yarder and two defenders slide but goalie smothers on left post.
49 min...WS Johnston cross from 25 yards on left has WS De Sousa in crowd of players at 20 yards heads towards net
and goalie catches on bounce.
50 min...WS Johnston rush to pass on left and bends 25 yarder just missing top right corner of net.
52 min...WS Paredes-Procter 25 yard freekick on right end line is bent high and wide left of net for goalkick.
55 min...VA Sameer Fathazada makes run into right side of box and WS Emmanuel Issac trips him up.
Referee Scott Bowman calls a Penalty kick.
56 min...Vaughan Maksym Kowal GOAL...Kowal blasts Penalty kick low into right corner of net
as goalie sprawls not far enough over to stop it.
57 min...WS sub...Caicedo replaces Strangis.
58 min...VA Lowe gives up cornerkick on WS player's cross into 6 yard box from right.
58 min...WS Parades-Procter cornerkick from right has defender head ball away in crowd of players at 10 yards.
61 min...VA Kowal rolls through ball pass too far forward for VA Phillips and over end line.
62 min...WS sub...Palmer-Agyemang replaces De Sousa.
64 min...WS Rayne 28 yard shot from right is well over net.
65 min...VA sub...Jason Mills replaces Fathazada.
66 min...WS sub...Maia De Freitas replaces Muccilli.
67 min...WS Palmer-Agyemang short run on right and blasts 25 yarder high over net.
68 min...VA Amato clears ball off WS player at 15 yards.
69 min...WS Johnston cornerkick from right has WS Sinopoli leap for header at 7 yards but pop ball backwards out of box.
70 min...Vaughan Jason Mills GOAL...Jason Mills runs up middle from 35 yards and blasts 12 yarder
into right side of net past goalie out at 5 yard line.
71 min...VA sub...Velastegui replaces Kowal.
71 min...WS Caicedo cornerkick from right has goalie make overhead catch at 3 yards.
72 min...VA Raposo 25 yard shot down middle has goalie catch.
74 min...VA Raposo cross from 25 yards on left has WS Caicedo stop and clear.
75 min...VA Ferrin 30 yard freekick from left has goalie fly to top left corner to push wide.
76 min...VA Ferrin and VA Raposo work out short cornerkick from left and wins another cornerkick.
76 min...VA Ferrin and VA Raposo cornerkick is worked out but wasted without a cross into box.
77 min...VA Lay shot is partially blocked and VA Ferrin is called offside at 15 yards.
78 min...WS sub...Puntillo replaces Issac.
.........VA sub...Leal replaces Ferrin.
81 min...WS sub...LoFranco replaces Kiselyov.
.........VA sub...Jahsua Mills replaces Ferrin.
83 min...VA Velastegui centering pass to VA Phillips who takes a few steps and 22 yard shot well over net.
87 min...VA sub...Rose replaces Raposo.
90 min...Vaughan Raheem Rose GOAL...VA Federico Leal makes short rolled pass up the middle
from 45 yards to Rose who makes short run and while goalie slightly screened with defender
and another VA striker in the way rolls 25 yarder into right corner of net past diving goalie.
91 min...VA Rose 25 yard shot from sharp right has goalie fly forward and push through and out left side of box.
93 min...WS Maia De Freitas 28 yard freekick from right is over WS Sinopoli head on left side of box.
94 min...game ends 5:57pm.

Final Score:....Vaughan Azzurri.......5.......Woodbridge Strikers........1......

Attendance started slow but grew to about 150. This was on my calendar as a night game at Vaughan's new home
at North Maple Regional Park but an official answered me that the opening has been delayed by another three weeks
because the change rooms are not finished yet. At McNaughton, the change rooms are about 500 yards away
in the nearby community centre with a busy street in between. The Vaughan Azzurri L1O women's team had just
beaten Hamilton United Elite 4-2 before I arrived.

Weather was warm and sunny (good for us in the stands that face east so the sun was at our backs) and the
referee even called a water break at 35 minutes when a Woodbridge player was being treated for an injury.

The surprise turning point for me wasn't the own goal which gave Vaughan the lead before the end of the first
half it was back at 19 minutes when WS Emmanuel Issac broke out of his own end after a VA cornerkick was headed
out of the box. Issac ran to about 60 yards and rolled a pass from the left wing forward and to the right.
WS Jose De Sousa running down the middle possibly afraid he was offside pulled up at 50 yards but
WS Matthew Santos continued in from the right. VA goalie Michael Argyrides came out to 22 yards and slid
to keep the ball away from Santos but as he carried on with his slide the ball hit his arm. I expected that
would be a Red card but referee Scott Bowman only pulled out a Yellow and ordered a WS freekick. Santos had
already overrun the ball so he had to turn back but by then the whistle had blown. With a 1-0 lead
at the time, a freekick (OK they blasted it low and into the player wall), and most important playing
a man up for the rest of the game, the game could have been completely different.

Besides the Yellow card against the Vaughan goalie and the Penalty kick against Woodbridge the referee
game out one more Yellow card each to both teams.

Former Vaughan Azzurri head coach Carmine Isacco was in attendance wearing some York 9 FC swag (where
he's an assistant coach). Current head coach Patrice Gheisar looked like a genius with subs of Jason Mills
at 65 minutes who scored five minutes later and Raheem Rose at 87 minutes who scored three minutes later.
These goals weren't to rub it in but for these players to make a case for being starters in future games.

This was the last game of the weekend so the standings will stay in place until Friday. The win moves
Vaughan back into a tie for second with Oakville Blue Devils with identical 5 wins, 1 loss, 0 ties for 15 points.
Both teams trail the unbeaten Alliance United by one point.

Vaughan has had the number of Woodbridge since the Strikers won the L1O Cup Final in 2017. Vaughan was
suspiciously drawn against Woodbridge in the second round last year and beat them 2-0, Vaughan beat them
in league play 4-3 on the road, and beat them 2-0 in the league final.

The loss drops Woodbridge to a record of 2 wins, 4 losses, 0 ties for 6 points. That's only good enough
to be all alone in eleventh in the sixteen team league. Top eight make the playoffs. Strikers have lost
three in a row. There is no L1O Cup competition this year so they better pick it up for a possible playoff
rematch this season.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Vaughan Azzurri starters