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Result and details of the Friday May 24, 2019 USL League 1 game between Toronto FC II and FC Tucson
played at BMO Training Centre in Downsview at 4:00pm.

Toronto FC II (all red, white names and numbers)

.................90 Kevin Silva
........52 Julian Dunn-Johnson...42 Patrick Bunk-Andersen...57 Terique Mohammed
48 Dante Campbell...59 Noble Okello...43 Adolfo Ovalle (cpt)...50 Matthew Srbely...84 Jacob Shaffelburg
..............19 Griffen Dorsey...77 Jordadn Perruzza

Subs:...80 Spencer King (gk)...35 Mehdi Essoussi (mid)...37 Gideon Waja (mid)...39 Luca Petrasso (mid)
...51 Trevor Swartz (def)...58 Jordan Faria (mid)...72 Jelani Peters (def)
team officials:...head coach Michael Rabasca

FC Tucson (all white, black numbers and tiny names)

..................24 Philip Ejimadu
13 Luke Hauswirth...33 Kody Wakasa...12 Kyle Venter (cpt)...3 Terron
19 Zach Wright...14 Colin Stripling...17 Karsten Hanlin...16 Devyn Jambga
............99 Jordan Jones...9 Guillermo Delgado

Subs:...18 Carlos Merancio Valdez (gk)...8 Eti Tavares (mid)...10 Luis Martinez (mid)...11 Jamael Cox (mid)
...15 Devin Vega (mid)...26 Scott De Voss (def)...27 Klisman Sousa (def)
team officials:...head coach Darren Sawatzky

Game officials:...referee Scott Bowman...referee's assistants Brad Doubrough and Jason Vaillancourt
...fourth official Fabrizio Stasolla...(teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 4:07pm...TFC defends south end on this mild afternoon with a bright sun in the west.
2 min...TFC Campbell rolls ball forwasr from 22 yards on right for TFC Dorsey and his low sharp angle 10 yard shot
is stopped by diving goalie and defender clears on left post.
6 min...TFC Srbely is injured in check at TFC 45 yard line.
8 min...TFC Dorsey low cross from right along 6 yard line has defender clear before TFC Perruzza can get to it.
9 min...Tuc Jambga high cross from 25 yards on left is over players in box.
10 min...Tuc Hanlin 35 yard freekick from right is wasted as ball is rolled forward and Tuc Hauswirth doesn't get to it to cross.
12 min...TFC Shaffelburg chips cross from left edge of box is over players and cleared away on right.
14 min...TFC Okello rolls centering pass from right and TFC Dorsey 15 yard shot deflects off defender for cornerkick.
15 min...TFC Mohammed cornerkick from right is whistled down in box.
16 min...TFC YELLOW card...Mohammed earns it for injurying Tuc Wright on check at TFC 50 yard line on run.
16 min...Tuc player 50 yard freekick from right is over charging players and bounces well wide left.
18 min...TFC Mohammed 45 yard shot between players up middle is caught by goalie.
19 min...TFC Shaffelburg low cross from 20 yards on far left is cleared by defender.
20 min...Tuc Jambga high cross after run for ball on left is well over player waiting at 8 yards.
21 min...TFC Mohammed is injured at own 25 yard line.
22 min...Tuc goalie makes awkward jump to get ball off TFC Shaffelburg.
22 min...Tuc goalie dives forward to smother 20 yard roller.
27 min...Tuc Jambga slides to get to ball on left end line and chips it off back of crossbar.
28 min...Tuc Delgado rush from cetner line up middle and blasts 35 yard shot low and well wide left of net.
30 min...Tuc Hanlin cornerkick from right has TFC Okello head away in crowd of players at 10 yards. A Tuc player
fires in from 30 yards up middle to Tuc Jones who fires shot over net from 12 yards but he's called offside anyway.
31 min...TFC YELLOW card...Dorsey earns if for collision at Tuc 15 yard line.
33 min...Tuc Jambga on left runs across to middle at 30 yards and fires roller well wide left.
34 min...TFC Mohammed 30 yard chgip from left into box and defender at 10 yards ducks to head away.
35 min...TFC Shaffelburg cross from left near end line has defender clear at 6 yards even with left post.
37 min...TFC Jordan Perruzza GOAL...Perruzza rush up left and passes further left to TFC Jacob Shaffelburg
who runs up sideline and eludes sliding defender Zach Wright and chips cross that charging Perruzza
who continued run up middle heads 7 yarder into top right corner with goalie Philip Ejimadu guarding
left side of net.

38 min...TFC Dunn-Johnson and TFC goalie recover from messed up back pass.
39 min...TFC Perruzza blasts 30 yard shot down middle well high and wide right.
40 min...Tuc Delgado blasts 25 yarder from slight right well high and wide left.
44 min...TFC goalie catches Tuc Hauswirth cross from 30 yards on right on leap on right post over Tuc player in front of him.
47 min...Tuc Hanlin corxnerkick from right has TFC Bunk-Andersen in crowd of players head away at 6 yards.
47 min...half ends 4;54pm.

Halftime Entertainment: A coffeemaker is given to the loudest fan. Anthony's Espresso Equipment Ltd has been
a club sponsor for years.

Second Half:...starts 5:08pm. The weather is still sunny and warm with a wind from the west.
45 min...TFC Srbely is injured at TFC 50 yad line with back injury.
47 min...TFC Srbely rolls through ball pass from 40 yards to TFC Perruzza for breakaway but diving goalie at 15 yards
pokes ball away from him.
48 min...TFC Dorsey 22 yard shot from right is high and wide left of net.
50 min...TFC Shaffelburg rush on left and threads 15 yard pass into box but defender prevents two TFC players
in 6 yard box from making play.
51 min...TFC Ovalle 28 yard shot is over net.
51 min...TFC sub...Petrasso replaces Srbely.
53 min...Tuc Jones heads down 28 yard freekick cross from left on right side of box but has ball deflected away.
54 min...TFC Perruzza rush for pass into left edge of box and goalie charges to edge of box to slide and knock
ball away for throw-in near corner flag. Perruzza flips over him and needs trainer. Three minutes later Perruzza
is able to walk off.
57 min...TFC player's throw-in into Tuc box is cleared for fast break out.
58 min...Tuc Jones pass to Tuc Delgado pass in TFC box is called offside.
60 min...Tuc Wright cuts around defender TFC Mohammed on right end line but no one is there for his pass in box.
60 min...TFC sub...Faria replaces injured Perruzza.
61 min...TFC Faria taps pass back for TFC Okello at 30 yards to shoot low shot wide left through crowd of players.
62 min...Tuc players shoots 30 yarder from left high and wide right of net.
63 min...TFC Dunn-Johnson heads away Tuc player's cross into box.
65 min...Tuc sub...Cox replaces Wright.
67 min...Tuc Hanlin 30 yard freekick from right has goalie step in front of crowd of players to make catch.
69 min...TFC Faria pushes pass to TFC Petrasso for run in left side of box and goalie makes point blank save at 10 yards.
A Tuc defender clears ball that trickled behind goalie at 10 yards. Tuc Ventger was injured earlier in the play
and needs trainer.
70 min...TFC Dorsey rush to right end line and cross in 6 yard box has TFC Petrasso miss chesting ball and goalie
belts it away.
71 min...Tuc Hauswirth chips 22 yarder from right well over net.
71 min...Tuc sub...Vega replaces Hanlin.
73 min...Tuc Hauswirth low cross along 8 yard line from right has Tuc Cox shoots 15 yarder off right post.
75 min...TFC Faria gets pass in clear on left and bends 20 yarder wide right of post. Tuc Terron was injured earlier
in the play.
76 min...TFC Petrasso pass to TFC Dorsey on right and his 12 yard shot is pushed wide right by flying goalie.
77 min...Tuc sub...Sousa replaces Terron.
82 min...TFC Dorsey cornerkick from right is over players and bends well behind net.
83 min...Tuc Jones receives throw-in on right edge or box, turns, and chips ball but is cleared on left edge of box.
84 min...Tuc Jones cross from right edge of box is over Tuc Jambga at 10 yards on left.
86 min...TFC sub...Waja replaces Okello.
.........TFC YELLOW card...Okello earns it for being too slow to leave the field.
88 min...Tuc Jambga makes backwards chip from 18 yards that's an easy catch for goalie.
88 min...TFC YELLOW card...Campbell earns it for arm grab on Tuc players streaking down left sideline.
89 min...Tuc Sousa 30 yard freekick from left is flagged down in box.
89 min...Tuc Sousa cornerkick from right has TFC Shaffelburg as nearest player on right kick away.
90 min...TFC Shaffelburg has 20 yard shot blocked from right rather than passing to open players.
93 min...TFC Petrasso rolls shot on 3 on 2 rush which defender gets back to clear to prevent 12 yard tap-in.
94 min...TFC Shaffelburg shot from 18 yards is stopped point blank by goalie.
95 min...TFC Mohammed breaks in on left side of box and 10 yrd shot is wide right.
96 min...TFC Faria on 2 on 1 break with TFC Waja passes to him and Waja rolls ball wide left of empty net.
96 min...game ends 5:59pm.

Final Score:...Toronto FC II.......1.......FC Tucson......0.......

Attendance was about 600 people on this mild and mostly sunny day with a bright sun in the west.  
The crowd was large but about 2/3's or more were TFC Academy kids.  Some of them were taking notes 
as if it was school but as one kid showed me it was them counting events like cornerkicks and passes 
rather than following any individual player.  It was only about the fourth day of sunny weather 
during the last two months.  The grounds crew were hosing down the playing surface?  Yes although 
it's still artificial turf I suppose it was to cool down the temperature of the rubber bits 
on the field.  

The small table top scoreboard was hard to see staring into the sun so I ended up using my wristwatch.  
Games are still broadcast live but called at a central location in Florida so I was told.  
Poor Terry Dunfield (who called the games with Gareth Wheeler the last few seasons) was relegated 
to the stadium announcer.  [That pairing called the York 9 FC game the next day and he answered 
me t hat he was only filling in—he's also one of the TFC Academy coaches].  The DJ was only playing 
one minute of each song before mixing in to the next one—reminding me of the early days of the 
internet with song downloads where you could only hear the first minute of every song before 
you had to buy it!  

Man of the Match (who is always a TFC II player as in previous years) was announced as goalie 
Kevin Silva who as it was listed on the USL website had no saves to make as FC Tucson had no shots 
on target.  FCT best chance was at 73 minutes when FCT Luke Hauswirth after a run up the right 
sideline sent in a low cross from the 18 yard line that had FCT Jordan Jones dummy it and 
FCT Jamael Cox take an 8 yard shot up the middle over a sliding defender and the ball hit 
the right post.  

I'd have given the man of the match to the Tucson goalie Philip Ejimadu who had many great 
saves to make as he was often left alone with TFC players outracing the slow Tucson defenders.  
He had a few point blank saves to make and even one of those cartoon Lucy/Charlie Brown pull 
the football away on a breakaway done so cleanly just inside the box that the TFC player didn't 
have a chance to fall over.  

Jacob Shaffelburg answered me after the game and said they should have put them away (earlier).  
True because one shot in the frantic finish at the end would have wasted the TFC effort.  

Referee Scott Bowman gave out four Yellow cards in the game all to TFC players.  All were for 
rough challenges or holding except the one to Noble Okello at 86 minutes for being too slow 
to exit the field after he was subbed off.  Midfielder Okello has been named to the 40 man 
Gold Cup roster for Canada.  It's not likely he will make the final 23 man roster but earned 
a look for impressive play with their U20 and U23 players.  Jayden Nelson and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 
are on the roster (but not today).  Nelson was a hero in advancing the U17s to the World Cup 
with a hat trick against Guatemala and a goal from the spot in the PK shootout against 
Costa Rica to get them into the U17 World Cup.   

Best not scoring chances of the game (all TFC II) were at 2 minutes, TFC Dante Campbell rolled 
a ball forward from 22 yards on the right for TFC Griffin Dorsey and his low sharp able 10 yard 
shot was stopped by the diving goalie and a defender cleared the ball on the left post.  
47 minutes had TFC Matthew Srbely roll a through ball pass from 40 yards to TFC Jordan Perruzza 
for a breakaway but the diving goalie at 15 yards poked the ball away from him.  54 minutes had 
Perruzza rush for a pass into the left edge of the box and the goalie charged over and slid 
to knock the ball away for a throw-in.  Perruzza flipped over him and needed the trainer but 
was eventually able to walk off the field but was replaced.  69 minutes had his replacement 
Jordan Faria push a pass to TFC Luca Petrasso for a run and his shot from the left side 
of the box had the goalie make a point blank save at 10 yards and a defender got behind him 
to clear the ball.  Within a minute Dorsey rush to the right end line and cross into the 6 yard 
box and Petrasso chested it down but the goalie belted it away.  94 minutes had Shaffelburg 
all alone shoot from 18 yards that was stopped point blank by the goalie.  I have not bothered 
to highlight all the shots that were sent wide or over the net!  

I have seen so many of these players over the years playing for TFC III that used to play 
in League 1 Ontario but they left at the end of last season—now known as just their Under 19s.  
That team plays in the USSDA system now and my commitments mean I just can't keep up with 
them anymore.  TFC II roster lists 18 of their 30 players as Canadian.  Some of their 
MLS Superdraft picks are getting playing time here.  

This was TFC II's first home game of the season after six games on the road.  They'd started 
off undefeated but had lost their last three games.  TFC started the day in last place of the 
ten team league but with so many teams bunched together they flipped up to sixth (although 
it is the first game of the weekend).  Their record improves to 3 wins, 3 losses, 1 tie 
and 10 points with a 0 goal differential.  They are tied for the last number of games played 
so with now quite a few home games coming up, should improve on that.  Top four teams advance 
to the playoffs starting the second week of October.  

I suspect the late home game is because the 'bubble' was still up until last month as training 
for the main team.

The ground has erected an aluminum stand with some existing rows stretching to the end lines 
that I'd say could hold 1000 people.  The stands were engraved 'BleacherRentals.ca' which 
I suppose they will  take apart at the end of the season to put the bubble back up over 
the winter.  There could be a scramble like today to get the last three rows that are under 
a canopy if there are any more games on sunny days.    

TFC II have moved down from 'USL' now (USL Championship) to newly created division USL 
League One).  This division was supposed to include smaller American cities and ALL the 
MLS '2', 'B' and 'II' teams but only TFC, FC Dallas (who didn't have a USL team until this year) 
and Orlando City (who sat out USL competition last season) are in this second tier.  

Maybe now TFC II has found their level.  A mid table team after all those years of losing.  
They have loaned three players to Ottawa Fury who have stayed in the (newly named) 
USL Championship (after avoiding being pushed into the new Canadian Premier League).  
Those players lent are defender Robert Boskovic, midfielder Aidan Daniels, and forward 
Shaan Hundal.  Also Ryan Telfer (a question whether he is a TFC or TFC II player calibre 
player was loaned for the 2019 season to the CPL team York 9 FC.  

The FC Tucson record falls to 3 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie for 10 points but the league places 
them fifth because their goal differential is +1.  This team 'moved up' from the PDL (now 
classified as USL League Two) this year.  (Who says North America doesn't have 
promotion/relegation? although it's sometimes based on economics rather than standings!).  
It's their first year of being professional and are owned by the USL Championship team 
Phoenix Rising.   Listed on their roster on the league website is forward Ben Spencer who 
was kept in the TFC organization quite a while but didn't shine for TFC nor TFC II.  

I haven't been following the team so closely this season.  I keep getting tweets to remind 
me as a fan to vote for TFC II players as 'goal of the week' and 'save as the week'.  
With less teams there's more chance they'll be nominated but to see a save that meant 
the TFC only allowed three goals instead of four isn't going to get me to vote.  

Next game of TFC II is on Wednesday May 29 against North Texas SC.  They are currently 
in first place with a record of 6 wins, 0 losses, and 1 tie and a goal differencial of +9.  
They are a new team in the whole USL system.  This is finally a farm team of the MLS FC Dallas.  
The MLS team has been known for their Academy system producing players for them but they 
never had a USL first division team.  That produced some strange placings as Superdraft 
choice Adonijah Reid was loaned to Ottawa Fury last season rather than somewhere locally 
as he was young and Canadian (from the Toronto area).  With North Texas tearing through 
the league, it's a surprise that they didn't put their team in the higher calibre 
'USL Championship' division.  

Rocket Robin
robin g@eol.ca 
twitter @RocketRobin01  


Toronto FC II starters


FC Tucson starters


TFC Jordan Perruzza (77) takes opening kickoff.


FC Tucson Karsten Hanlin (17) takes freekick over to right line to FC Tucson Luke Hauswirth (13).


TFC Jacob Shaffelburg (84) and TFC Jordan Perruzza (77) were a danger in Tucson box most of the game.


TFC Julian Dunn-Johnson (52) and TFC Noble Okello (59) tangle for possession of ball.


FC Tucson player's cornerkick is sent into TFC box.


FC Tucson Guillermo Delgado (9) takes second half kickoff.


FC Tucson Karsten Hanlin (17) sends freekick into TFC box.


The stands available for the fans. Prime place to watch is under the canopy on sunny or rainy days.


The owners of the stands I'll assume.

back to TFC II 2019 menu

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