April 28, 2024...League1 Ontario Vaughan Azzurri vs Simcoe County Rovers game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the Sunday April 28, 2024 League1 Ontario game between Vaughan Azzurri and Simcoe County Rovers
played at North Maple Regional Park in Vaughan at 8:00pm. This is Week 1 of play in the Premier League.

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

.............................1 Alessio Carbone
............23 Kelvin Joel Ramirez-Figueroa...6 Saahb Kular...15 Matthew Medeiros
16 Jacob Begley...10 Jeronimo Sabbatasso Sola...2 Andy Ruiz Baquero...5 Raheem Rose (cpt)
.............9 Reshaun Walkes...8 Christopher Campoli...11 Ryan Robinson

Subs:...12 Michael Decker Williams (gk)...3 Shayan Ameir Soltanzadeh...13 Justsin Santos...17 Christian Napoleon Kyriacou
...18 Shawn Noah Shvartshtein...20 Sherwin Anthony Chen...21 Angad Singh Dharni...22 Antoine J Decoteau
...25 Daunte Zidane Tulloch
team officials:...head coach Carmine Isacco...assistant coaches Anthony Daniel Vadori, Jeffrey Valcius and Fabio Campoli
...physiotherapist Casey Joseph D'Mello...other official Martine Eleuteri

Simcoe County Rovers (white socks and shirts, navy shorts, baby blue sleeves and numbers)

............................13 Oluwarimidalare Olatunji
.........15 Justyn Thomas...3 Tajay Reid (cpt)...23 Jordan Barclay
19 Alejandro Miguel Portal Oliva...6 Andron Kagramayan...7 Alexander Spiros Zis...11 Shawn Claud Lawson
.........17 Courtney Junior Mitchell 'CJ' Smith...10 Orlendis Carlos Benitez Henandez...9 Jevonate Layne

Subs:... 1 Dikola Charm Douglas (gk)...4 Andre Beecher...8 Paul Karagiannakos...12 Javier George
...16 Kair Thomas...18 Ijah Halley...21 Felipe Fiorino D'Agostini...22 Jalen Antonio Ellis-Watson
...28 Micah Joseph
team officials:...head coach Zakariae Mahrady...assistant coach Arta Mohasses...goalkeeper coach Paul Smith
...team manager Derek Boakye...goalkeeper coach Paul Smith...atheletic trainer Milad Mohib...kitman Kwabena Owusu

Game officials:...referee Roain Satarzadeh...referee's assistants Twayne Anderson and Daniel Jacob
...fourth official Matthew Arduini...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)...match coordinator Nick DeFreitas

First Half:...game starts 8:04pm...Vaughan defends south end on this overcast night with a threat of rain. It's getting colder
so parkas must be worn!
55 sec...VA goalie is out to 15 yards on right to dive on roller.
1 min...VA Rose cross along 5 yard line on left is caught by goalie stepping forward.
4 min...VA Walkes shoots rebound in crowd in box over net from 7 yards.
5 min...VA player receives pass to top left of 18 yard box but defender prevents him from getting away shot.
6 min...SCR Hernandez injured at VA 35 yard line in collision with VA player.
8 min...SCR goalie out to top lelft coxrner of box to beat VA Campoli to bouncer.
10 min...VA Walkes run down right wing and bends 25 yard shot well over net.
11 min...SCR YELLOW card...Smith earns it for kicking ball over side fence after whistle was blown when ball went out
for VA throw-in.
11 min...SCR Barclay twists header in 6 yard box to clear ball out right side.
12 min...VA Baquero receives cross along 15 yard line and one-touches shot low and wide right.
14 min...VA player kicks 22 yaarder forward and well wide left of net.
17 min...SCR Zis 25 yard freekick from slight left is blasted into player wall.
22 min...VA Rose low 18 yarder from far left is smothered by goalie on near post.
23 min..SCR goalie is out to top right of box to catch high chip beating VA Campoli to ball. VA Begley had sent in chip.
24 min...VA Sola long run down right while holding off defender sends in cross that SCR player gives up cornerkick.
25 min...VA player's cornerkick from right is cleared for throw-in on right.
26 min...VA Robinson cornerkick from right has nearest defender on right head away.
26 min...VA Rose high cross from 30 yards on lelft has two VA players miss heading it towards goal.
27 min...VA Baquero finishes multi player rush with leaping header on cross from left just wide right on 7 yard header.
29 min...VA YELLOW card...Walkes earns it for knocking over SCR player at 22 yard line on left.
30 min...SCR Zis 25 yard freekick from left has retreating defender head ball wide left of net.
31 min...Players from both teams take a break back to their sideline as the SCR goalie is injured well away from play and needs trainer.
33 min...play resumes.
34 min...VA Sola low cross into box from right has defender clear.
35 min...SCR Smith dekes players up pright and cross from right side of box ois over leaping SCR player at 6 yards.
36 min...VA Campoli rush to through ball on right and crosses into 6 yard box which is cleared by a defender.
40 min...A VA mix-up between a defender and the goaie has an SCR player able to one-touch shot over empty net from 20 yards.
42 min...SCR Reid makes key slide to conced cornerkick on VA rush opn left with a VA player in center of box waiting to make tap-in.
43 min...VA player's cornerkick from left has VA Begley head 10 yarder over net and back fence.
44 min...SCR Hernandez cornerkick from right is whistled down in box.
45 min...A VA player is called offside nullifying his chance of winning Penalty kick on flying tackle that tripped him.
48 min...SCR Layne make flying header in center at 12 yards to get to cross from right but heads it well over net.
49 min...half ends 8:53pm.

Halftime: both teams's reserves stay out on the field and warm up.

Second Half:...starts 9:11pm...it's now dark and much colder with that cold night chill.
45 min...VA Medeiros makes key poke check on SCR Smith run into top right of box.
46 min...SCR Smith slides to connect to cross from right and blasts 6 yard shot off the underside of bar.
48 min...SCR Hernandez 7 yard roller from right is cleared by defenders.
This is the first SCR pressure so far this game.
50 min...SCR Smith high cross from right end line has SCR Zis connect on scissor kick at 10 yards on left sending it well over net.
50 min...VA Walkes can't draw Penalty kick on run into right side of box.
51 min...VA Robinson 35 yard freekick from slight right is chip that's wide left. VA Begley near left end line sends ball
to VA Rose but he's already over the end line on left.
53 min...SCR Hernandez is just step behind rolled pass over to right and ball continues over end line.
55 min...VA Walkes rolls ball forward up right at 30 yards. VA Sola gets to it and he shoots 7 yarder from right end line
well high and over net.
56 min...Vaughan Reshaun Walkes GOAL...SCR Shawn Claud Lawson on right at 30 yard sideline backpasses
to SCR Tajay Reid. Reid rolls crossfield pass to goalie Rimi Olatunji at 8 yard line on slight left. Olatunji turns
to roll ball out left side of box to another defender but Walkes who had followed that ball throughout the play
poked the ball away while side by side with the goalie and turns from the left and walks to top of left corner
of the 6 yard box and rolls ball into empty net. Goalie had gone down but there was no foul call.
59 min...SCR Smith on run on right eludes defender to get cross into box. SCR Hernandez one-touches 12 yard shot well
over net and back fence.
67 min...SCR sub...Halley replaces Smith.
...........VA sub...Soltanzadeh replaces Sola.
69 min...SCR Medeiros shot from 15 yards has goalie make save on left post.
The referee orders VA Ramirez-Figueroa off the field to get a leg bandage.
70 min...SCR Hernandez cornerkick from right has defender head ball away in 6 yard box.
72 min...VA Walkes run on right on 1 v 3 but his cross bends behind the net.
72 min...SCR sub...George replaces Kagramayan.
...........SCR sub...D'Agostini replaces Lawson.
73 min...SCR Hernandez cuts to middle and 18 yard shot is between players and caught by goalie in center of net.
75 min...VA YELLOW card...Head coach Isacco receives it for something he said from the players' bench.
75 min...VA sub...Santos replaces Walkes.
75 min...SCR Zis 40 yard freekick from far left has ball sail wide right of net untouched.
78 min...SCR sub...Ellis-Watson replaces Barclay.
79 min...SCR Thomas heads away VA player's cross into 6 yard box from right.
81 min...SCR Hernandez cornerkick from right has charging SCR D'Agostini on far left end line not able to turn ball on kick.
83 min...SCR sub...Joseph replaces Oliva.
84 min...SCR Halley rolls ball from right along 8 yard line and defender punts it away.
85 min...Hernandez high freekick from 25 yards on right has VA player head ball away in crowd of players on left side of box.
88 min...VA YELLOW card...Campoli earns it for tackle at SCR 45 yard line.
90 min...SCR Zis long cross from 30 yards on left has charging SCR Halley not able to get to it on right end line.
90 min...VA Campoli is injured at SCR 40 yard line.
91 min...VA sub...Chen replaces injured Campoli who exits off the fan side of the field.
92 min...VA players have a good time wasting effort at the right SCR cornerflag earning a throw-in and a cornerflag.
94 min...SCR Hernandez wins cornerkick on 22 yard shot that's partially deflected high and wide left of net.
95 min...Simcoe County Rovers Justyn Thomas GOAL...SCR Alexander Zis sends in high cornerkick from left
and Thomas steps in front of defenders to leap and head 6 yarder downward and ball bounces into center of net
with goalie Alessio Carbone guarding the right side. The big crowd of player's in the box even included
the SCR goalie coming upfield.
96 min...game ends.

Final Score:...Vaughan Azzurri.......1.......Simcoe County Rovers......1.......

Attendance was about 300 with the two bleacher stands being filled and fans crowding along the rest of the field (all on the east side) the thickest near the only exit on the south side. The temperature was getting cooler as it got dark and if a parka wasn't needed in the first half, it was needed in the second.

This was a rematch of the L1O semi-final last season held at Georgian College in Barrie. No league playoffs this year so it's just a straight out race for first. I thought Vaughan dominated possession in the first half and could have put this away if they'd put away their chances against last year's L1O Champions. So just when I thought Rovers would be tired because of playing in Toronto against the MLS club Toronto FC in the first round of the Canadian Championship, instead Rovers came out after halftime with renewed energy and turned it into a back and forth upfield game with the momentum going their way except for the blooper giving up that goal. Rovers had plenty of chances to equalize before, in effect, the last kick of the game but most of their shots were well off-target.

I arrived just as the previous game had ended between these two clubs' Women's teams with Vaughan winning that game 2-1. Most fans left but then came back before the Men's game started two hours later. The City of Vaughan will not open the washrooms until May 6th and the concession stand is not open so no wonder people left. The players' locker rooms have been moved into the washrooms so at least they have running water.

Referee Roain Satarzadeh gave out four Yellow cards, three to Vaughan including one to head coach Carmine Isacco on the bench. The Rovers one was for kicking the ball over the side fence after the whistle had been blown. Nothing really rough although there were a lot of injuries late in the game either from the change in the weather or time wasting by Vaughan to break up the Rovers increasing momentum. Lots of shots over the north fence into the wooded area rather than the easier to find south end park/stadium entrance. The end fences are three times the height of the nets so wouldn't expect that to happen. One was even put over by Vaughan's midfielder Jacob Begley on a header! He did turn around to make a few clearances. He can head 30 yards and Vaughan was instantly out of trouble with clearances like that.

A Vaughan team official updated me on the park. I could see the cricket pitch now has grass growing on it (it was still being graded last Fall). There will be only one pitch because the organizers did not come up with money for a second one. There will be pickle ball courts installed over there next. The soccer club has two fields operating but have plans to add two more to the south of what they have now. Tonight the other field was being used but it was only a practice of one team of men in some rec league so this game had no distractions of having a second whistle going off in the field beside ours. The official said the city will also install a traffic light at their driveway end so people can turn on to Keele Ave and their clubhouse may also be moved or a new one built closer to their fields.

This property may have been slow to develop because Golf Canada were ready to make this property into up to three golf courses if the City of Oakville had sold their Glen Abbey course for condo development. Now that is not going to happen so the race of other sport groups is on!

This was the last game of the first weekend in the Premier Men's Division. This was the third tie of the six games played. Hey the parity is working so far. The second tier Championship Men's Division had five games with one tie and three games finishing with one-goal winners. Looks like the league goal scoring leaders will be less this year as there won't be any Canada vs Cayman Islands style scorelines.

The 1-1 tie puts Vaughan and Rovers at eighth and ninth of the twelve teams. Sixth and seventh are from the 2-2 game with Alliance United and ProStars FC holding those spots. Fourth and fifth are Woodbridge Strikers and Blue Devils FC who tied 3-3 this afternoon. Scrosoppi FC (last year's regular season champs—but no trophy then), Burlington SC, and Guelph United all had wins so they start with 3 points and pull away. Reminder...first place at the end of the regular season wins the L1O League Championship and the spot in the 2024 Canadian Championship. The revised League Cup kicked off its first round last week which is an everyone in (except reserve teams) from the three tiers although many of the Premier Division teams earned a bye into the next round.

Tonight's finish was very similar to yesterday afternoon's game between ProStars and Alliance with a tying goal scored well into stoppage time. A last chance cornerkick/quickly taken freekick sent into the box and headed in from short range.

It's still the first week of the new League1 Canada app being available to the public. The League1BC games are shown on there too. I was able to filter that off (distracting when I'm concentrating on one game) but when I turned my phone off, when I signed on again, the BC stuff was back.

Also the history of a player has just started to build with most players only having one game but now Canadian Championship records (including past years) are on there and any CPL league experience shows up. That means Rovers Ijah Halley's history for appearances in both show up. Even Vaughan's Raheem Rose's club games for 9 de Octubre in the Futsal Canadian Championships are shown! Hey and who has the Azzurri wearing green in their drawing of player kits? They've worn navy since they came into the league.

Now a drawback is that, so far, past seasons of League1 Ontario play don't show up on the app and searching on Google for previous year's league history stats gives a dreaded “404-Out of Bounds” message which means the league killed its own archives. Every week brings changes so we'll wait and see!

Simcoe County Rovers head coach Zico Mahrady

My post game audio interview with Simcoe County Rovers new head coach Zico Mahrady: (4 min, 54 sec)
Your thoughts on tonight's game?
How important is it that you get off to a fast start this season because there are no playoffs?
What did it feel like to play earlier this week against Toronto FC at BMO Field in the Canadian Championship?
Any feelings of the tough draw given to L1O teams who seemed doomed to always draw one of the two Eastern based MLS teams?
How does it feel to take over coaching after Jason Beckford left the team?
How many players do speak Spanish (like you can)?

I like to set up my interviews before the game so I missed getting one for Carmine Isacco even though we said hello after the women's teams game. At the time I didn't realize he is also the Men's team head coach this season. I'll ask when I see Vaughan again in a few weeks.

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
X @RocketRobin01

Vaughan Azzurri starters