July 17, 2024...League1 Ontario...Sigma FC vs Vaughan Azzurri game report (by Rocket Robin)
Result and details of the Wednesday July 17, 2024 League1 Ontario Men's Premier game between Sigma FC and Vaughan Azzurri played at the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre* in Vaughan at 8:00pm. This was considered a League1 Ontario Cup quarterfinal match. *(the new name of the Ontario Soccer Centre for at least the next ten years after a deal for naming rights signed back in January). Azzurri's home field is North Maple Regional Park. I will be posting pictures, logos, and more of a play-by-play about this game someday (ie. the offseason). 48 min...Sigma Kadell Thomas GOAL...Sigma Simon Guardiero at 60 yards on left sends low pass forward through three defenders for charging Thomas who cuts into box and shoots low 15 yard shot that sliding goalie Baj Maan at 12 yards gets a piece of but ball deflects into right corner of empty net. 54 min...Vaughan Reshaun Walkes GOAL...VA Jeronimo Sabbatasso Sola chips high cross forward from slight left at 30 yards and defender misses chesting it down and Walkes has stepped behind him and jabs 8 yard shot from right into short side of net between goalie Jack Cristini and near post. 60 min...Sigma sub...Emmanuel Marmmolejo replaces injured goalie Jack Cristini. At 58 minutes, VA Adamo Pantaleo had sent in a high cross from the left to a VA player who headed 8 yarder from right destined for the center of the net with Cristini guarding the near post flew over to palm away. VA Ryan Robinson blasted a 4 yarder from the left post that a defender slid to stop and deflect over to the left end line. Cristini needed the trainer for some kind of hand injury. 61 min...Vaughan Ryan Robinson GOAL...Sigma Alex Cordon at 12 yards on left side of box taps ball back to goalie but VA Chris Campoli steps in between them and blasts 8 yarder that sprawling goalie Emmanuel Marmmolejo stops point blank but ball rolls out for Robinson to shoot low 10 yard shot from middle past defender Mathieu Laurent into left side of net. 88 min...Vaughan Andy Baquero GOAL...Baquero passes forward from 45 yards on left for charging VA Raouf Mohamed who dribbles to left end line and ignoring teammates who call for him to run it to the cornerflag, cuts along endline towards goal and sends low pass for Baquero who blasts 8 yarder up middle past goalie guarding left post and Sigma Alex Cordon into top right side of net. 91 min...Vaughan Omar Marzouk GOAL...VA Raouf Mohamed runs up right eluding three defenders and sends low centering pass that Marzouk pounds in 12 yarder up middle into left side of net over flying goalie.Final Score:...Sigma FC......1......Vaughan Azzurri......4.........
Attendance started off slow but peaked at about 90 by halftime. This was officially a home game for Sigma but finding available fields for games that aren't booked at the beginning of the season are notoriously hard to find. This is a great default field for any GTA area team but tonight only problem I had was the 'homer' PA announcer stopped announcing substitutes and goals in the second half. This was a quarterfinal match in the newly revised L1O Cup which hadn't been awarded since 2018 (Vaughan won that year) as the league eventually expanded to 22 teams and there was barely enough time to play a regular season and squeeze in playoffs too. This Cup schedule seems disjointed though as Simcoe County Rovers clinched a semi-final berth back on May 28 while on the same night Sigma was having their Round of 16 match thunderstormed out and eventually played June 12. The scoreline is deceiving as it was a one goal game until 88 minutes. When I saw the lineups I was surprised that Vaughan had only six players on their bench (five outfield players). I know teams are playing regular season games on the weekends and Sigma had played Friday night while Vaughan had played Sunday afternoon so with the short bench and Sigma scoring first with a full nine player bench I set the discrepancy between the regular season standings aside—Vaughan pulled into first place with their Sunday win and Sigma is struggling in eleventh place. Vaughan triple subbed at 62 minutes with Baquero and Marzouk among the fresh legs and brought in Mohamed at 78 minutes and there's the linescore for the Azzurri pulling away at the end. Hey Baj Maan in goal for Vaughan (the league app has him as their regular starter since June). I remember him from Sigma FC in the pre CPL days backing up Triston Henry. Both moved on to Forge FC. The most recent team I remember Maan on was Simcoe County Rovers Referee Melvin Christopher gave out only three Yellow cards in the game (all to Vaughan players) with just one for timewasting. The first half was played quite cleanly with hardly a peep from the parents/friends in the crowd. Only one Yellow in that half. Play got a little more intense in the second half but no fighting nor cheap shots. I'm not going to say just as well that Sigma didn't progress but they have probably less than a month before some of their best players head back to NCAA schools and if the Cup final is played the week after the regular season ends (ie September) (like the English FA Cup calendar), Sigma would be having to bring up some of their high- schoolers to fill a few roster spots. Also that week they may have to play a second tier 'Championship Division' team (the second place finisher) for survival in the Premier Division if they can't pull up from their current eleventh spot. Assuming Hamilton United looks doomed to finish twelfth and automatic relegation. At exactly the same time as tonight's game, another Quartefinal took place with Blue Devils FC as the 'home' team played Burlington SC in Burlington's home stadium (like I said fields are hard to find on short notice) and Blue Devils spotted Burlington the first goal then scored the rest to win 3-1 (almost the same script as here in Vaughan). So the semi-finals will be Blue Devils playing Simcoe County Rovers with Vaughan Azzurri waiting for the winner of North Toronto vs Masters FA (which finally has a quarter-final date of Wednesday July 31 at 8:30pm at Downsview Park). Rocket Robinback to 2024 League1 Ontario menu
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