Fri August 19, 2016 League 1 Ontario--Windsor Stars vs Toronto FC Academy (from League 1 Ontario website)

Dragoi Strike Takes Windsor Over TFC Academy 1-0
08/20/2016, 7:30pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

Christian Dragoi (17') netted the only goal of the game in a 1-0 
Windsor Toronto FC Stars victory over Toronto FC Academy in Windsor on Friday night. 

"I think our age came through a little bit tonight," said Windsor head coach, 
Dave Rimbert. "We're a little more experienced and our back four could see 
what they were trying to do."

"They're young and the field conditions weren't great, and that probably 
didn't help the overall level of play," he added. "Both teams worked hard, 
and I need to give these kids credit - man, do they work hard."

"I'm also not going to be very critical because when you're playing 
on a surface where you're not sure of the bounce, it's hard to play one 
and two touch soccer because the ball's bouncing and you're a little bit 
more timid." 

Windsor keeper Kyle Vizarakis kept the clean sheet, his fifth of the season.

"They're solid in the back, but we were able to get between the lines, 
defend and counter a few times," said Toronto FC Academy head coach, 
Stuart Neely.

"I think we made the keeper look good by hitting it directly at him, 
but it's hard to miss the boy - he's an absolute monster! Still, I don't 
think we made him work hard enough to make his saves."

Windsor's defensive performance was outstanding, with a fluent and strong 
back four in place, and the midfield working hard to shield their backline 
and launch counters. 

"Defenders make coaches look good don't they!" said Rimbert.

"We have a pretty formidable defence and it's hard to score when we have 
all four of them back there," he added. "Kyle [Vizarakis] came up big 
on a couple occasions today and he should - he is big and he shouldn't 
let anything in there. It's not easy for teams to score on us when 
we have those four back there, and you have to remember they are the 
same age group - they have been playing together for a long time."

Windsor's forward players also demonstrated great fluency, with 
communication and movement that kept the TFCA players on their toes.

"I played Mike [Pio] on the left side, and put Dragoi in the middle, 
but I give them freedom to move around," said Dragoi. "I'm not a real 
stickler when it comes to the attack as long as they feel comfortable 
and they produce."

"I've nothing but good things about Mike, he works a lot harder than 
people give him credit for, it's just that he looks so smooth doing it. 
He's just an all-around great soccer player, as far as I'm concerned anyway."

"And [Dragoi] is a player of a high calibre," he concluded. 
"Lots of intelligence, and soccer IQ is very high."

"That goal was all soccer IQ, he knew when to get in there and 
he knew when to cut the guy off, and then the guy had to take him 
down or let him shoot. He's obviously a great help for sure." 

back to 2016 League 1 Ontario Men's index

.

.