June 17, 2019 League 1 Ontario--summary of Sunday games (from League 1 Ontario website)
Oakville, Woodbridge, Skillz Get Wins While Alliance Held To Draw By Aurora 06/17/2019, 5:45pm EDT By League1 Ontario staff Oakville Blue Devils and Woodbridge Strikers had important wins - keeping the Blue Devils in second place on goal difference and the Strikers in the hunt for playoff status - while Toronto Skillz added their second win of the season on the Sunday of Matchweek 7. Elsewhere, Alliance United maintained their unbeaten status but were held to a draw by an Aurora side that continue their bright start to the season. ................................................................................................... Toronto Skillz scored at the very end of a hard-fought match against OSU Force to get a crucial second League1 win on Sunday afternoon. Defender Danial Khalili's (87') header was the difference against two evenly-matched teams at Birchmount Stadium. A deep cross from right side found Khalili, who connected well with the ball to lob it over OSU Force goalkeeper Horace Patient Sobze Zemo, to give his side the all-important lead in the game. This was the Skillz's first goal at home at Birchmount Stadium, and made sure the Toronto Skillz built off their first win of the season, a 1-0 win over Unionville last week. The defeat added to OSU Force's negative run, as they have lost all of their seven games this season and have not scored since the opening week. However, the visitors will feel they were hard done, as they were almost level on shots (nine to eight for the Skillz). But the Force could only find the target once throughout the game, and their only shot on target came in the opening minutes of the game. Skillz's accuracy were better (four-for-nine) and they also had the best chance apart from the goal, as midfielder Milan Drapic unleashed a beautiful shot from outside the box, but was denied by the upright on 63 minutes. Toronto Skillz will next play Pro Stars FC on June 22 (7 p.m.) at Victoria Park, Brampton. OSU Force will next play Durham United FC on June 22 (5 p.m.) at Quinn's Pointe, Ottawa. (Cetin Yilmaz) ........................................................................................................ Brandon Duarte bagged a brace along with singles from Jacob Dyck, Braden Culver and Judah Hernandez as Oakville Blue Devils crushed Unionville Milliken S.C. with a score of 5-0. The first half was one-way traffic with Oakville dominating the game, pinning back Unionville in their own half, creating few real goal-scoring chances and finding the net twice. It was a very aggressive start from the hosts, as they had three clear opportunities to take the lead. First, Jacob Dyck's lob over onrushing keeper Matthew Mattila went wide; then, Mattila used his foot to parry away Dyck's low strike from the edge of the box in an almost one-on-one situation; and next, Marco Gennaccaro's shot from inside the box was denied by Mattila. Moments later, Gennaccaro inspired with two fantastic assists, both from the left flank, one for Brandon Duarte (36') to finish it low from close range and one for Jacob Dyck's (41') tap-in into the top of the net. Oakville had the better of the early second half. Unionville keeper Mattila flew to palm a Carlo DiFeo rising strike from Gennaccaro's cross out from under the bar; on the resulting corner, Difeo whipped the ball into the box and Duarte (53') guided it home with a header to take advantage of Mattila's misjudging the flight of the ball. After the third goal, Oakville took their feet off the pedal, letting Unionville push a bit forward though they could only create a chance with Jalen Brome's shot from inside the box, which was easily saved by Oakville keeper Lucas Birnstingl. Just close to the end, Oakville scored two more goals through their substitutes. Braden Culver (89') unleashed a rocket from outside the box into the roof of the net, and four minutes later, in the last minute of the three minutes of the stoppage time, two substitutions combined for a goal as Evan James pulled back for Judah Hernandez's (90 + 3') tap-in from six yards. It was Oakville's sixth win from seven games keeping a clean sheet in four of them. On the other hand, winless Unionville suffered their second consecutive loss. Oakville Blue Devils will next play North Mississauga SC on June 21 (7:45 p.m) at Paramount Fine Foods Centre 1, Mississauga. Unionville Milliken S.C. will next play Aurora FC on June 22 (8:00 p.m) at Mt. Joy Field, Markham. (Mahdi Ghaffaribarzi) ................................................................................................... Woodbridge Strikers finally came away with all three points against Pro Stars FC at Vaughan Grove on Sunday, beating them 3-1 after goals from Santos (37'), Owusu (58' pk), Rayne (63') and Puntillo (79'). The match started off intensely with both teams showing they came to play with grit, desire and passion. In the fifth minute, Woodbridge's De Sousa created a good shooting opportunity for himself from a surging run on the right side of the box, but his left-footed curler went just over the bar. Pro Stars' first good attempt came in the 19th minute when A. Rahman struck a powerful shot from the right side of the box but his effort would go wide. Pro Stars' keeper Campanico would make a number of good saves in this match, with the first of the bunch coming in the 33rd minute when he denied Issac from close range keeping the match scoreless. Woodbridge would finally break the deadlock in the 37’ thanks to a long range effort from Santos - his 3rd of the season. With momentum turning in favour of the hosts, Pro Stars had it all to play for as they went into the second half. In the 52nd, Woodbridge's first-half substitute Rayne had a big chance to give his side a two goal advantage but his strike from close range smashed against the post. Pro Stars didn't have the start they wanted in the second half, but an inspired piece of play from technical winger Arora won his side a penalty which was slotted home from defensive midfielder Owusu (58'). However, Woodbridge were quick to respond and in the 63rd Johnston put Rayne through on goal with a beautiful through balll Rayne made no mistake, striking the ball into the back of the net. Woodbridge would then capitalize after a few missed chances in the 79th when substitute Puntillo latched on to a lovely ball - this time from Santos - and smashed it into the bottom left corner. The match would end 3-1 for the home side as they finally put to bed a difficult three game losing streak. Woodbridge Strikers will next play Alliance United FA on June 23 (5 p.m.) at Vaughan Grove, Woodbridge. Pro Stars will next play Toronto Skillz on June 22 (7 p.m.) at Victoria Park, Brampton. (Alex Bizzarri) ....................................................................................................... Alliance United and Aurora FC drew 2-2 on the Sunday evening of Matchweek 7 after a well-fought match by both teams. Both teams shared possession with a lot of play happening in the middle third of the pitch. Aurora’s only shot on target in the first half would grab them the early lead when Johnson Amoo (27') was slotted past the defence, and finished on target to put his team up by one. Aurora FC would get two other goals in the half, but both were flagged by the Assistant Referee for offside. Alliance managed five shots on target with their best chance coming at the end of the half when Chris Jacovou's low shot was denied by the diving hands of Aurora goalkeeper Ryan Collins. An equalizer came early in the second half for Alliance when Milan Beader cracked a shot off the right post, and Atchuthan Sivananthan (50') buried the rebound past the goalkeeper. Alliance’s second goal came off a Kenny Lioutas corner, as captain Nikola Stakic (73') headed the ball into the back of the net. The visitors would equalize late into the match when a penalty was awarded after a player was taken down in the box. Youssef Zaghloul stepped up to take the penalty shot. The shot was denied by the diving hands of Alliance goalkeeper Praveen Ahilan, but the rebound was put away into the back of the net by Aurora centre-back Michael Fayehun (83’) to equalize. Aurora had the chance to win the match in the dying seconds of extra time when Kwame Opoku's cross from the right side was met by a one-time volley from Iyowuna Jumbo. Alliance's Ahilan made the huge kick save to keep the match leveled. With this tie, Alliance remain undefeated this season with a 5-0-2 record in third place, while Aurora sit in sixth place with a 3-1-3 record. Alliance United will next play Woodbridge Strikers on June 23 (5 p.m.) at Vaughan Grove 1, Woodbridge. Aurora FC will next play Unionville Milliken on June 22 (8 p.m.) at Mount Joy Turf, Markham. (Irene Halis)
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