May 18, 2022 League 1 Ontario...North Toronto Nitros vs BVB IA Waterloo game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game of Wednesday May 18, 2022
between North Toronto Nitros and BVB IA Waterloo played at Downsview Park in North York at 9:00pm.

North Toronto Nitros (red socks and shirts, black shorts, white numbers)

.......................1 Ali Ghazanfari-Moghaddan
..........6 Gabriel Mikina...5 Christian Westlaken...4 Brandon Barone
13 Abdullah El-Chanti...3 Akeim Villous...18 Justin Santos...14 Kai Martin...10 Abdul Babawale
................8 Abdi Zakaria...11 Ali El-Zeir

Subs:...50 Quinn Stahmer (gk)...2 Thomas Maacarone...9 Dino Custovic...17 Daniel Casa
...19 Pablo Hempelmann-Perez...20 Asher Barnes...21 Emmanuel Obiefuna
team officials: team head coach Marko Milanovic...assistant coaches Antonio Greco, Filip Prostran,
and Shawn Sawyers...therapist Andrew De Souza

BVB IA Waterloo (yellow socks and shirts, black short and numbers)

.....................1 Yoel Kebreab
2 Alban Osdautaj...5 Mitchell Hartman...14 Keorapetse Molete...22 Majaliwa Lukambo
6 Nikolas Antolcic...3 Arber Osdautaj...15 Justin Wood...13 Bai Essa Coker
..................16 Malek Aborig...7 Wesley Cain

Subs:...20 Jerffery Omoregi-Sanni (gk)...6 Anas Ayayda...9 Jonny Monney...10 David Chung
...11 Olivier Love...17 Jamal Frank Junior Brobbey...18 Thomas Sackor Obada Abdallah
team officials:...team head coach Jordan Brown...therapist Aidan Nolan

Game officials:...referee Kim Lee...referee's assistants Pablo Fernandez and Martin Harrison
...fourth officials John Camelia...(dark green shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game s tarts 9:01pm...NTN defend south end.
1 min...NTN El-Zeir runs cutting in from left is checked off ball on edge of W box.
4 min...W Molete 45 yard freekick up middle is cleared on edge of box.
5 min...NTN goalie pikcs up rolled shot from left on left side of box.
6 min...NTN Mikina 28 yard freekick from left just misses top left corner.
8 min...NTN goalie catches 18 yarder from left under bar after W player's cross from right is unplayed in box.
10 min...NTN Babawale is injured at W 20 yard line on far right and needs trainer.
13 min...NTN sub...Casa replaces injured Martin who exited on far side of field.
17 min...NTN El-Chanti pass to NTN Zakaria who rolls pass to NTN Santos who eludes diving goal who gets a piece
of ball and deflecting it for cornerkick.
18 min...NTN Barone pops header from cornerkick from right from 20 yards tht goalie catches on left.
19 min...W Alban Osdautaj 30 yard freekick from right has defender head away at 15 yards in middle.
21 min...W Cain is checked off ball on far left of box.
The W players are pressing in the NTN end for quite a few minutes.
24 min...W Antolcic 20 yard low shot from right is caught by goalie.
25 min...W Antolcic run down right and 22 yard shot is off NTN Barone for cornerkick.
26 min...W Alban Osdautaj cornerkick from right has W Hartman header bounce from 15 yards to goalie.
28 min...NTN Zakaria hest ball over to NTN Santos who blasts 28 yard shot down middle well high and wide left.
29 min...NTN Zakaria low cross from left end line wins cornerkick by defender's clearance.
30 min...NTN El-Chanti cornerkick from left is caught by goalie.
31 min...NTN El-Zeir cross from left near end line has defender raise leg to stop.
32 min...NTN Santos shot from 15 yards pops off goalie. NTN Zakaria is called offside on rebound.
35 min...W Molete 20 yard freekick from slight left is well high and wide right of net.
37 min...NTN Santos and W goalie collide on left end line as Santos charges for ball.
39 min...W Cain wins cornerkick on left run and sliding defender pokes ball away.
39 min...W players short cornerkick is wasted as not crossed into box.
40 min...W Alban Osdautaj cornerkick from right has defender head away. W Antolcic 28 yard shot is over
players and caught by goalie.
41 min...W player wins cornerkick on deflection of hard shot that deflects over net.
42 min...W Antolcic cornerkick from left is over to W Hartman on right who heads wide right from 7 yards.
43 min...NTN El-Chanti 35 yard shot down middle is wide left of net.
44 min...NTN El-Zeir is tripped up on run down left and wins freekick.
44 min...NTN El-Chanti 33 yard freekick from left has goalie catch under bar on right side of goal.
45 min...W player's shot is over net and back fence.
46 min...half ends 9:47pm.

Halftime: both teams go back to their dressing rooms.

Second Half:...starts 10:04pm.
Halftime sub:...NTN DiMaro replaces Babawale.
47 min...W Lukambo cornerkick from left has defender head away in crowd of players in box.
48 min...W Cain low 20 yard shot up middle is smothered by goalie.
51 min...W YELLOW card...Hartman earns it for pulling down NTN Coker by shoulder at 22 yards.
52 min...NTN Mikina 22 yard freekick from middle is wide left of net.
52 min...NTN Abdi Zakaria GOAL...Waterloo goalie Yoel Kebreab takes a short goal kick wide right to defender
who is checked off the ball and crosses into the 6 yard box. To me it looked like W defender Keorapetse Molete
headed the ball into his own net just under the bar. Zakaria may have been the player making the cross and it was
judged to have been going in anyway or he connected on a header if Molete missed.
55 min...NTN player's 45 yard freekick from left has NTN Zakaria called offside on header.
56 min...W Lukambo is centered ball and 30 yard shot is just over bar.
57 min...W Coker bends in 25 yard shot that goalie catches.
58 min...NTN Santos 35 yard freekick from right sideline has goalie step forward on left to punch away to start fast breakout.
60 min...NTN Abdi Zakaria GOAL...NTN Justin Santos long run up left and cuts towards goal and short pass is centered
and charging Zakaria taps ball forward from 6 yards inside left side of net.
61 min...NTN YELLOW card...Dimarco earns it for bumping over W player forcing him to take an off balance 22 yard shot.
63 min...W Molete blasts 22 yard freekick is down middle well over net and back fence.
64 min...NTN Villous steps through for deflected shot over net off defender.
65 min...NTN El-Chanti 30 yard low shot of partially cleared short cornerkick is wide left.
66 min...W sub...Ayada replaces Wood.
68 min...NTN Santos 30 yard freekick from far right has defender clear after ball hits his butt.
69 min...NTN Zakaria hits left post from 5 yards with goalie on ground near post.
71 min...W defender breaks up 2 on 1 at 30 yards.
72 min...W sub...Abdallah replaces Antolcic.
73 min...NTN El-Chanti cornerkick from left is short and two shots are blocked on edge of box.
73 min...W Ayayda can't quite turn pass at 15 yards on left while in open.
75 min...NTN sub...Barnes replaces Zakaria.
76 min...NTN Barnes low 10 yard shot is smothered by sprawling goalie who was already down.
76 min...NTN goalie punches away ball in crowd of players.
77 min...NTN goalie catches ball bouncing after cornerkick from right.
80 min...W RED card...Bai Essa Coker is given a direct Red by referee Kim Lee for a high boot that kicks
NTN Luca Dimarco in the face. Dimarco did not return to the game and was eventually replaced at 84 minutes.
82 min...W sub...Sackor replaces Arber Osdautaj.
83 min...NTN Justin Santos GOAL...Santos and NTN Asher Barnes on a 2 on 0 break up the left wing has Santos
keep the ball himself and shoot 12 yarder from the left over the sliding goalie into the middle of the net.
84 min...NTN sub...Hempelmann-Perez replaces injured Dimarco.
86 min...W Abdallah blasts 25 yard freekick down middle over bar and back fence.
87 min...NTN sub...Obiefuna replaces El-Zeir.
............NTN sub...Custovic replaces Barone.
87 min...W Ayayda blasts 22 yard shot from left low and wide left of net.
88 min...W goalie on right end line under pressure gives up cornerkick.
88 min...NTN Santos cornerkick from right has defender on near post is clear.
89 min...NTN Gabriel Mikina GOAL...NTN Abdullah El-Chanti sends in cross from 30 yards on left
and Mikina heads ball into side of net from 8 yards.
94 min...NTN Dino Custovic rushes into W box against two defenders and is down to his knees but gets up squeezing
between them and W Keorapetse Molete then pulls him down from behind. NTN is awarded a Penalty kick.
...........W YELLOW dcard...Molete earns it for his part in the last play.
95 min...NTN Dino Custovic GOAL...Custovic rolls in Penalty kick to left and goalie dives right.
95 min...game ends 9:54pm.

Final Score:....North Toronto Nitros......5......BVB IA Waterloo........0......

Attendance was about 60 people on this cold night with the temperature dropping as the night wore on.
The league is having each team play a midweek game the third week of every month to squeeze
the schedule in to finish the regular season by the third week of August. This game had a 9:00pm
starting time which ensured that no children would be here.

Downsview Park is the city run facility beside the Toronto FC training ground. The park is down
to two fields as the third field had a bubble that collapsed during a snowstorm over the winter.
It took me most of the evening when I heard L1O officials talking that they meant this was a different
incident than the Pickering Soccer Centre indoor facility (effecting Pickering FC) whose bubble
had also collapsed in a snowstorm. I noticed the third field here but I thought it was just
an oversized tarpaulin stretched not completely flat over the field.

This is the fourth game out of the five games Nitros played that has been a home game. I suppose
they should take every opportunity to play all they can before any reconstruction may overlap
into this field. I suspect renting the city owned facilities is still tight...I remember before
the Toronto FC facility was built and TFC Academy was playing in the CSL the field they rented had
been divided into three and was hosting two community groups playing soccer width wide across
two fields and a third group was playing Ultimate Frisbee and TFCA and their opponents had to wait
another hour before warming up.

Nitros play on Field #2 which has dressing rooms and public washrooms. It also has a working
scoreboard (last year it didn't which I heard was an electrical problem) with the logo of Ryerson
which makes sense as this team has so many university players from there. I'm sure the varsity
teams play here as real estate was always tough to find in downtown Toronto. Oh-oh I wonder when
the cries will start to repaint/rebuild the scoreboard as the school's new name is 'Toronto
Metropolitan University' just decided on less than a month ago.

This game certainly did not play out as a 5-0 result as me and both coaches said after the game.
It was a scoreless first half. Interesting that NTN head coach Marko Milanovic said his team had
not scored a first half goal this season. Nitros had only scored seven goals in their first
four games this year so I was not expecting a goalfest.

Waterloo was pressing and it this may have kept NTN weary of working their way slowly up the field.
What caught my eye was on tonight's 19 man roster all but five were born in this century. That's
young even for this league!

Referee Kim Lee gave out four Yellow cards (three to Waterloo although I only noticed two) plus
the Red. The last game I was at it was the same referee who gave out a Red on Sunday after
consulting with a referee's assistants who saw a kick at a fallen player. This one was near
to wear I was standing with NTN Luca Dimarco waiting to make an easy header at the center line
and Waterloo's Abdullah El-Chanti trying to boot it away with a head high kick and connecting
with Dimarco's face. The trainer was out to try and stop the bleeding. “It was like Niagara
Falls” she said after the game. Also she said she asked the player if he thought it was broken
when she looked at the bump on his nose. He was supposed to have said “No I've always had
a bump on the my nose”.

The shutout was earned by Ali Ghazanfari-Moghaddan. He has played all five Nitros games and
has only allowed one goal! He made all the saves look easy with two handed grabs without having
to move much. I'd some credit to defenders Gabriel Mikina, Christian Westlaken and Brandon Barone
for keeping most shots at a distance and blocking quite a few. Someone has noticed because
coach Milanovic said defender Aidan Hugo had just left the day before for a tryout with
CPL Atletico Ottawa.

Waterloo also had two late freekicks from 22 yards (by Keorapetse Molette at 63 minutes)
and 25 yards (Obada Abdallahat 86 minutes) straight down the middle that were put over the net
and over the cement back fence (there really is no endzone) and into the parking lot. I had
to wait until I left to find out my car wasn't damaged.

Other teams are having to scramble with these midweek games too. Pro Stars FC had to burn off
one of their home games at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton as the City of Brampton wouldn't let
them use their Victoria Park home ground. FC London were playing at Henk Van Dyk Stadium
in Strathroy, 50 km away. Tonight's Electric City FC vs Alliance United game had disappeared
and shows on the league page now as taking place Wednesday June 8th.

Nitros win tonight raises their record to 5 wins in 5 games. That's a five point lead on the
three teams chasing them at this point of the season. They are the only team with a perfect
record although Vaughan Azzurri and Blue Devils can still say they 'have not lost' this season.
Was it an inspiration that I received a tweet at halftime that the Women's Nitros had become
the first team to travel to Peterborough and beat the new Electric City team?

Waterloo's record slumps to 1 win, 3 losses, 1 tie which at four points is in a four way tie
for sixteenth. Statistics are strange though as one of their losses was really a 'forfeit'.

Interviews with head coaches after the game:

North Toronto Nitros head coach Marko Milanovic

North Toronto Nitros head coach Marko Milanovic:...6 minutes, 30 seconds (audio recorded by Rocket Robin)
What did you think of tonight's game?
History of NTN (my comments)
Is there a reason why your record last year was (1-1-10) but was it important to play at this level?
What do attribute this year's 5-0-0 start?
Where are most of your player's from?
How important is it for your team/community/recruiting to survive the 2024 division split in the Top 12 premier tier?
Did you ever think while you played for CSL Canadian Lions that you'd one day be coaching?

BVB IA Waterloo head coach Jordan Brown

BVB IA Waterloo head coach Jordan Brown:...5 minutes, 47 seconds (audio recorded by Rocket Robin)
What did you think of tonight's game?
What is the arrangement the team has with BVB (ie Borussia Dortmund)?
How has the community reacted to joining the Premier Division of League1 Ontario?
All but five player's on tonight's roster were born this century?
How important is it for your team/community/recruiting to survive the division split into a top 12?