Sat June 4, 2016 League 1 Ontario--Toronto FC Academy vs Pro Stars FC (from League 1 Ontario website)

Five Goal Second Half Leads To Narrow 3-2 TFCA Win Over Pro Stars
06/04/2016, 7:15pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

It was a back and forth battle in the sun as Toronto FC Academy traded 
blows with Pro Stars FC in a 3-2 TFCA victory at Kia Training Grounds.

"I think we looked to be a bit more direct, but direct with quality 
today," said Pro Stars head coach, Omar Jbhabi. ""We wanted to possess 
when we could, and today we started to see our openings to go forward, 
which was a big plus." 

"I think we just have lapses in focus, and when we do it doesn't seem 
to cost us one goal but often two," he said. "We need to be mentally 
stronger and focus for a full ninety minutes, which we haven't 
done yet. We looked good but switched off at the sixty-fifth minute, 
it cost us two goals and that's just unacceptable."

All the goals came in the second half, as both teams turned the screw 
in an effort to be the first one to score. 

Glenn Muenkat (64') and Mirza Custovic (68') got the home side off 
to a great start, but Pro Stars Erick Olazabel (72') and Mann Slewa  
(78') levelled the scoreline again to set up a dramatic finish. 

"We certainly sensed some weakness in the opposition late on, 
but then they got their goal at 2-1," said Toronto FC Academy 
head coach, Stuart Neely. "They got another bad goal from terrible 
decisions on our part and we were punished for it and were rattled 
from that point on."

"Youth teams have a tendency to do that but at the same time 
we have different perspectives and we need to manage those scenarios. 
They scored their second on a corner kick, poor individual marking, 
and we felt the pressure then, but then we actually settled 
down again."

Toronto FC Academy used their youth and growing experience to put 
the tiring Pro Stars under pressure in the final minutes, and 
yielded their just reward when Luca Petrasso (86') located 
the winner. 

"We weren't firing on all cylinders, but we did enough and 
pressed higher," added Neely. "I think they were a bit 
disorganized when we pressed and it allowed us to win the ball 
more often than not and sneak a goal."

"I think we deserved the three points but we were fortunate 
to find a third goal at the same time."

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