May 23, 2024...MLS NEXT Pro...Toronto FC II vs Carolina Core FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Thursday May 23, 2024 MLS NEXT Pro game between Toronto FC II and Carolina Core FC
played at York Lions Stadium in North York at 7:00pm.

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

....................40 Adisa De Rosario
........85 Marko Stojadinovic...51 Adam Pearlman...76 Lazar Stefanovic
72 Mark Fisher...89 Chaarlie Staniland...71 Markus Cimermancic...73 Jesus Batiz
............82 Julian Altobelli (cpt)...38 Charlie Sharp...81 Hassan Ayari

Subs:...80 Shafique Wilson (gk)...58 Ythallo (def)...92 Theo Rigopoulos (def)...95 Nate Edwards (def)
...97 Tristan Pusztahegyi (def)...68 Lucas Olguin (mid)...84 Philip Igbinobaro (mid)...98 Kristjan Fortier (def)
team officials:...head coach Gianni Cimini...assistant coach Marco Casalinuovo...goalkeeper coach David Monsalve

Carolina Core FC (all white uniforms, black sleeves, dark green names and numbers)

.......................0 Alex Sutton
.........44 Christian Diaz...20 Ibrahim Covi...5 Angel Aguas
14 Jathan Juarez...24 Facundo Canete...10 Jacob Evans...18 Jeremiah White IV
.......................52 Ozzie Cisneros
.................21 Derek Cuevas...15 David Polanco

Subs:...31 Robert Bailey (gk)...7 Yekeson Subah (fwd)...23 Tyler Freeman (fwd)...25 Drake Hadeed (fwd)
...28 Federico Stachuk (fwd)...77 Jonathan Bazaes (mid)...99 Aryeh Miller (mid)
team officials:...head coach Roy Lassiter...assistant coach Amado Guevara...goalkeeping coach Donavan Ricketts
...director of soccer operations Robert Ritchie...chief sporting officer Eddie Pope

Game officials:...referee Youcef Boumsied...referee's assistants Brad Doubrough and Joey Filipic
...fourth official Nivin Raizada...(black socks and shorts, chartreuse shirts)

First Half:...game starts 7:03pm...TFC defends south end on this mild evening with the sun in the north west.
2 min...Core White rolls centering pass from near right end line and dender clears ball on the edge of the 6 yard box.
5 min...TFC Batiz dummies the 28 yard freekick by stepping over the ball and TFC Altobelli shoots low and it's cleared at 15 yards.
6 min...Core Evans is centered pass from right and his 25 yard shot is through crowd of players and just over the bar.
7 min...Core YELLOW card...Canete earns it for kick on TFC Batiz at Core 50 yard line on left.
11 min...TFC Sharp runs down right and rolls centering pass that goalie dives forward and saves at 6 yards on near post
under no pressure.
13 min...TFC Batiz run on left cutting into middle and shoots long 5 yard line on left that's cleared.
13 min...TFC Charlie Staniland GOAL...TFC Mark Fisher sends in a high cross from the right end line on edge
of 6 yard box that Staniland pops 8 yard header forward and goalie Alex Sutton leaps at 2 yards to get hands to it
but can't corral it nor push it over the bar and ball pops behind him into open top left corner.
15 min...Core player on left runs ball over end line before he can send in cross.
19 min...Core YELLOW card...Diaz earns it for pulling over TFC player breaking over center line.
22 min...TFC Pearlman loses ball to Core Evan but gets back to block his 20 yard shot.
27 min...TFC goalie out to 25 yards to boot away through ball that three defenders are keeping away Core Polanco away
at 35 yards with Core White cutting behind them from the right.
28 min...TFC goalie catches low bouncer at 7 yards ahead of Core Evans on near left post a step behind it.
30 min...TFC Batiz 40 yard freekick from right is into box and cleared.
Ths scoreboard is frozen at 30 minutes. What sport has time periods of that long? Why didn't they check the program
as to what game they were going to play today? It took a few minutes to bump it up to the right time.
31 min...TFC YELLOW card...Altobelli earns it for faking fall to draw Penalty kick on left side just inside Core box.
33 min...Core Evans cornerkick from let is high and goalie catches overhead in 6 yard box umpressured.
36 min...Core YELLOW card...Covi earns it for mock clapping referee who looked like he was going to card TFC Sharp
who finger wagged at Covi after he knocked Sharp over by him at Core 50 yard line and neither player had the ball.
38 min...Core White low cross from right end line has defender clear in box.
44 min...TFC Batiz 35 yard freekick from slight left is directly to goalie on right post.
45 min...Core players get fast break up left on goalie's long throw but their cross is caught by TFC goalie.
46 min...half ends 7:49pm.

Halftime: There are no events for fans for the first time this season.

Second Half:...starts 8:06pm...most of the field is now in shadow.
halftime sub:...Core Subah replaces Cisneros.
..................TFC Rigopoulos replaces Ayari.
49 min...Core Cuevas run down left and cuts in on right and wins cornerkick on deflection off defender on 7 yard shot.
49 min...Core player's cornerkick from left has TFC players get fast break out on headed clearance of cross from left.
51 min...Core Evans 40 yard freekick from right sideline has defender head away on edge of 18 yard box.
55 min...Core Cuevas rolls 20 yard shot from slight left is just wide left of post.
58 min...TFC Sharp blasts low 25 yarder up middle which diving goalie pushes wide left of post.
59 min...TFC Altobelli cornerkick from left has TFC Fisher sidekick 20 yarder up middle just over bar.
60 min...Core Subah wins cornerkick on run up slight right.
60 min...Core Evans cornerkick from right is high and two Core players pop up header in crowd of players but neither is on target.
63 min...Core Cuevas rolls pass from 20 yards forwarad to Core Juarez but goalie dives out to 5 yards wide left to smother
before Juarez can get shot.
64 min...TFC YELLOW card...Staniland earns it for tackle on Core Evans at Core 50 yard line.
66 min...Core Juarez cross from left along 22 yard line and defender heads away to break up play.
67 min...TFC goalie is injured before Core Evans can take freekick and needs trainer. The players take a water break.
68 min...TFC sub...Pusztahegyi replaces Stojadinovic.
.............TFC sub...Olguin replaces Staniland.
69 min...Core Evans 30 yard freekick from near right sideline has all Core players run to right side and a header is popped
towards goalie which goalie catches on right post.
73 min...Core Polanco rolls ball from right through box and TFC player clears quickly.
74 min...TFC YELLOW card...Pusztahegyi earns it for holding back Core Cuevas on rush up left.
75 min...Core Evans 30 yard freekick from left has TFC Pearlman in crowd of players on right edge of box duck and head away.
77 min...Core White on right cuts 20 yards shot between players that goalie catches on near post.
78 min...TFC Batiz cornerkick from right has Core player clear on left for fast breakout.
78 min...TFC YELLOW card...Pearlman earns it for tackle on breakout.
79 min...TFC Sharp and TFC Altobelli can't get away shot working play to edge of Core box.
80 min...TFC Stefanovic makes big clearance in 6 yard box to prevent shot in open.
81 min...TFC Lazar Stefanovic pushes over CC Facundo Canete who he was chasing into the left side of the TFC box.
82 min...Carolina Facundo Canete GOAL...Canete rolls Penalty kick to slight right as goalie Adisa De Rosario dives left.
83 min...TFC sub...Edwards replaces Altobelli.
..........Core sub...Bazaes replaces White.
84 min...TFC Batiz blasts 30 yarder down middle that goalie palms over net.
85 min...TFC Batiz cornerkick from right wins another one with stop by defender on near post.
85 min...TFC Batiz cornerkick from right lands on top of the net.
86 min...Core Cueva muscles out defender for weak 12 yard roller up middle for goalie to save.
87 min...TFC Pearlman makes big poke check to clear ball from Core Polanco at 22 yards preventing a shot up middle.
88 min...Core Juarez low cross into box from right has defender clear.
90:20 min...TFC Jesus Batiz GOAL...Batiz on rush to 25 yards down middle passes forward and left to TFC Nate Edwards
on left side of box at 8 yards who taps pass back to him and he rolls 12 yard shot between defenders to right corner
of net with goalie guarding short left side.
94 min...Core Bazaes cross from 25 yards along left end line has goalie catch.
95:20* min...game ends 8:56pm. *easy to tell as they keep the scoreboard running!

Final Score:......Toronto FC II.......2.......Carolina Core FC........1.......

Attendance for a weeknight again started off slow for a 7:00pm start but grew to about 250 by halftime. Interesting that this game was a Thursday night but the CPL York United FC have a game here against HFX Wanderers FC at 7:00pm on the preferred Friday night. Looks like the CPL got their schedule in first with this league waiting for their MLS parents to get their schedule in before NEXT Pro put their's out. CPL and NEXT Pro (only league's conflict is here) usually play their home games on opposite weekends but Toronto FC has a game with FC Cincinnati on Saturday night downtown at BMO Field and probably wanted to have their reserve team in town.

Referee Youcef Boumsied gave out seven Yellow cards tonight (four to TFC). He gave one to TFC Julian Altobelli for 'faking' a fall in the Core box trying to draw a Penalty on very soft contact. That was at about 31 minutes with the scoreboard clock freezing at 30 minutes. I couldn't think of a sport where they'd stop a clock at 30 minutes for a quarter, half, or full time. 36 minutes had Core draw a stupid one with Ibrahim Covi drawing a Yellow for mock clapping the referee who he thought was going to tell off TFC Charlie Sharp who finger wagged Covi when Covi knocked him over when neither had the ball.

Sharp didn't look good tonight as he was called offside or held back a run because he thought he was offside or missed a pass or gave away the ball.

TFC Adam Pearlman may have saved the game with a perfect sliding poke check at 22 yards on a 1v1 at 87 minutes against David Polanco ensuring he wouldn't get away a shot nor giving up a freekick nor risking drawing a second Yellow card.

Three guys on TFC II played on Tuesday night in the second leg of their quarterfinal of the Canadian Championship against semi-pro Ligue1 Quebec side CS Saint Laurent. They already held a 3-0 lead from the first game. Midfielder Andrei Dimitru and defender Antony Curic were starters in this second game with Curic playing the full 90 minutes and Dimitru lasting 75 minutes (leaving with an assist). Forward Nate Edwards was a halftime substitute. Final score of that game was 8-1 so an 11-1 aggregate win.

Tonight Edwards was the only player from the Tuesday game that was even on the bench. He came on at 83 minutes to replace captain Julian Altobelli and seven minutes later was a hero on the winning goal. Batiz had plenty of chances with some bad touches but an 84 minutes blast down the middle from 30 yards foreced the goalie to fly back and palm the ball over the bar.

Halftime scoreboard displayed no saves by either team with Core leading 3-1 in shots but TFC with the only shot on target. When I got home and saw FotMob's full time stats, Core led 11-6 in shots. Yeah I noticed that the visitors got more into the game after the first 25 minutes.

TFC's last two home games had ended up as regulation ties that they then lost in Penalty kicks. Then on the road they would win in regulation. Or...they'd have their game postponed. New York City FC II did just that last weekend. They are playing in the U.S. Open Cup instead of their MLS parent team. A lot of American MLS teams are doing that this year as they don't want to take part in that tourney just as the Canadian Championship is taking off with a CPL team Forge FC upsetting MLS CF Montreal in a two game quarterfinal just last night and that CS Saint Laurent team beating CPL HFX Wanderers in Penalty kicks in their one game Preliminary round game a few weeks ago. MLS Vancouver also 'lost' their second QF game on Tuesday night against CPL Cavalry but advanced on the away goal rule. Only MLS Toronto FC has not played a professional team so far in this tournament.

Carolina Core is playing their initial season in 2024. They are an 'independent' team with no affiliation with an MLS one. I'm sure the league is cheering for their survival as the only other indy team was Rochester New York FC playing in Rochester NY making the playoffs in their only year of existance—2022 then folding. Chattanooga FC is the other indy team starting out this season.

The Core have Roy Lassiter, Amado Guevera, Donovan Ricketts, and Eddie Pope on their coaching staff—all MLS legends (Guevera was a hero here for TFC). Pope's home town is High Point North Carolina so most appropriate he is listed as the Chief Sporting Officer. They play at 5000 seat Truist Point Stadium so very similar to York Lions Stadium.

High Point is only 80 miles to Charlotte which has MLS Charlotte FC and its NEXT Pro team Crown Legacy playing in its suburbs. I had read a theory that MLS first wanted to break away from USL by getting all their development teams to withdraw and for NEXT Pro to then bring in independent teams to destroy USL markets and crush that league. Hmm could be a slow process as in the U.S. Open Cup third round Carolina Core faced North Carolina FC of the USL Championship League and the 'Railhawks' knocked them out 1-0.

Four things different between this game and the previous home games held here.

--no halftime entertainment for the fans of crossbar challenge or dizzy penalty kicks where the prize for success was tickets to the next MLS home game and the consolation prize was also tickets to the next MLS home game.

-- I noticed that admission which is $10 for non TFC Season Seat Holders and relatives is reduced to $5 for those holding a York University student card. Hard to tell if any students were in here tonight.

--A scoreboard jingle plays music with an announcement that the ice cream truck is now in the north gate (the only entrance for these games) and there it was staying until 8:30pm (after halftime as promised). There have been no food trucks here this season (I expect business is too slow). No concessions open in the stadium and no nearby restaurants vs small crowds and no restrictions for fans bringing in their own food.

--There were about ten fans (from Section 114 of BMO Field) thanks to some fans pointing them out and me seeing their name on one of their flags singing the entire game. (they had not been here this season). The fan said the Section 114ers were the only supporters who showed up at the Tuesday Canadian Championship game. Yikes 9148 out of 30000 and the fan said that game was in their season ticket package. Nice weather too!

This was the only game in the league tonight. TFC II improve to 4 wins, 2 losses, 2 ties, 0 shoot-out- wins for 14 points. (actually three teams with that many points) but they are given sixth place of the fifteen teams in the Eastern Conference. They will probably lose a spot or two because all the other teams will play this weekend but long term they should be good because they've had two road games postponed. Top eight make the playoffs.

Carolina's record falls to 1 win, 5 losses, 2 ties, 2 shoot-out-wins for 7 points. *Actually eight games played as SOW are already counted as ties. That puts them in fourteenth place.

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

Toronto FC II starters