June 30, 2019 League 1 Ontario--summary of Thursday and Friday games (from League 1 Ontario website)
Key Wins From Vaughan, Aurora As Remaining Friday Fixtures End In Draws 06/30/2019, 1:00pm EDT By League1 Ontario staff Vaughan Azzurri maintained pole position in the men's division race after a tight win over North Mississauga, while Sigma and Woodbrige, Durham and Skillz played out entertaining draws to keep things tight at both ends of the table on the Friday of Matchweek 9. Lastly, Aurora FC showed they have no intention of slowing down, staking out sixth position in the table with a strong win over Pro Stars courtesy of hat-tricks from Filipe Vilela and Niklas Bauer. .............................................................................................. Sigma and Woodbridge would share points in Matchweek 9's opener after drawing 2-2 on Thursday evening at Paramount Fine Foods Centre, Mississauga. The match started off with Sigma enjoying majority of possession in the opening 15 minutes and Woodbridge struggling to get any hold on the game. In the fifth minute, Sigma's Goldhar crafted a good chance for himself but was unable to finish as his inside of the boot strike went agonizingly wide. Shortly after, Sigma's Leaford Allen thought he had his seventh goal of season after finishing a promising move but his goal was ruled out for offside. Woodbridge's first sight of goal would come in the 19th minute as Santos attempted to score a wonder goal off a volley but was denied by the quick reflexes of Sigma's Olatunji. Santos (30') would try his luck again from long-range, however, and this time Olatunji could do nothing about it. The venomous strike rifled into the back of his net and put Woodbridge in front. Sigma would respond as Allen (41') would indeed score his seventh of season muscling his way into the box and managing to stick the ball into the back of the net. The second half maintained a sense of balance between both sides but there was a sense that more goals were to come. The first big chance of the second half came in the 70th minute, when Sigma's Jensen rattled the crossbar after a neat cutback. Sigma's Stoddart (78') would be given the chance to put his side in the lead from the penalty spot and he made no mistake, scoring his third of the season. But the match wouldn’t end without some late drama as Woodbridge’s substitute Pellicano (88') would level the score with a superb goal off a half-volley. Sigma will next play Oakville Blue Devils on July 7 (4 p.m.) at Sheridan Trafalgar Campus, Oakville. Woodbridge will next play Darby FC on July 7 (5 p.m.) at Vaughan Grove, Woodbridge. (Alex Bizzarri) ............................................................................................ Alistair Johnston’s lone goal was enough to claim Vaughan Azzurri three points on the road against the North Mississauga Panthers on Friday evening. The match saw Vaughan maintaining majority possession, pinning their opponents in their own half. North Mississauga came out playing a very defensive formation with the objective to shut down Vaughan's attacking threats. They did well to limit them to only three shots in the first half, with only one reaching the target. North Mississauga's one chance came from a counterattack, but nothing overly threatening to the Vaughan defence. As the second half rolled around, play was back and forth as North Mississauga put some pressure on Vaughan's defence. Vaughan’s first real chance came in the 54th minute when Eddie Lay slotted through Sameer Fathazada. Fathazada's low shot was denied by a fantastic kick save from Panther's goalkeeper Jared Maloney. The stalemate was broken when a Vaughan corner kick was swung into the box. The rebound came out to Johnston (70') who volleyed it into the back of the net putting his team up 1-0. North Mississauga made a few substitutions, bringing in more attacking players to try to equalize, but their high pressure didn't quite challenge Vaughan's defensive structure. North Mississauga Panthers will next play Pro Stars FC on July 3 (7 p.m.) at Victoria Park Stadium, Brampton. Vaughan Azzurri will next play Ottawa South United on July 6 (5 p.m.) at Quinn's Pointe, Ottawa. (Irene Halis) ................................................................................................. Durham United FA and Toronto Skillz FC settled for a share of the points after a scoreless draw in a wildly eventful Friday night match up in Pickering. After securing their first victory of the season, Durham United FA returned home to the Pickering Soccer Centre to host Toronto Skillz FC in an effort to improve on their winning ways. It was an up-tempo match for the full 90 minutes as both teams had their share of opportunities to break open the deadlock. However, neither squad could convert, resulting in a scoreless draw. It was quite evident right from kickoff that the game plan for both teams was to go on the attack. The first chance of the match came four minutes in for Durham United, when Barrington Smith headed a cross off the crossbar. It was not long after when Toronto Skillz had their own scoring opportunities as they forced Durham United keeper Kevon Grant to make numerous spectacular saves off of set pieces and counter attacks. As Durham United settled into the game, they were able to shift the momentum in their favour, led by their central midfielder Satsumi Hirano. Hirano made his presence felt throughout, and was brilliantly commanding match as the primary facilitator through the centre of the pitch. Defensively, he was on top of every Toronto Skillz attacker, preventing many opportunities from reaching his net. Toronto Skillz were able to swing the momentum back in their favour in the second half. Their intricate passing and pace down the wings allowed them to create several opportunities through crosses into the eighteen-yard box. They forced Grant to make the save of the match in the 80th minute when a shot from the edge of the box was deflected and the Durham United keeper had to change direction at the last second to miraculously catch a ball that was surely going into the net. The defensive heroics were not finished there. On a Toronto Skillz breakaway in the 89th minute, Hirano raced back with a last second slide tackle to prevent the attacker from getting a shot off towards the net. The Toronto Skillz attack was dangerous and left no margin for error for the Durham United defence, and they successfully answered the call. Despite the fact that neither team picked up three points, both teams will be looking to build off of solid performances from this match. Durham United FA will next play Pro Stars FC on July 6 (7 p.m.) at Victoria Park, Brampton. Toronto Skillz FC will next play FC London on July 6 (7 p.m.) at German Canadian Club, London. (Felix Chau) .................................................................................................. Thanks to the feet of Felipe Vilela and Niklas Bauer, Aurora FC got back on track after a dominant 7-1 home win over Pro Stars FC on Friday night at Stewart Burnett Park. Aurora raced out to an early 4-0 in the first half, with Max Ferrari (11') winning the loose ball from a tackle outside the box and dribbling it in to sneak it past the keeper. Not long after, Pro Stars' Jasjit Singh was called for a foul on late tackle inside the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Aurora's Filipe Vilela (17') made no mistake in converting. Vilela (23') didn't waste much time getting his brace and the insurance goal for Aurora, picking up the loose ball on bad bounce and putting it away to give them a 3-0 lead. Just minutes later, Niklas Bauer (25') picked up the ball with a defender on, but finished well, low from inside the right side of the box to beat the keeper for his first of the game. Bauer would notch two more in the second half (65', 82') to seal the game. ProStars were penalized again inside the box in the second half, Vilela (60') converting on his second penalty attempt to give him his third goal of the game and tied for a league-leading seventh goal of the season. After a disappointing first half, Pro Stars did find one goal through Adel Rahmen (56' pk), whose tidy conversion from the spot momentarily cut the deficit to 4-1. Pro Stars FC will next play North Mississauga FC on July 3 (7 p.m.) at Victoria Park Soccer Stadium, Brampton. Aurora FC will next play Windsor TFC on July 6 (4 p.m.) at Stewart Burnett Park, Aurora. (Melvin Gomez)
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