August 21, 2022 League1 Ontario...Burlington SC vs ProStars FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

...........................

Results and details of the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game of Sunday August 21, 2022 between
Burlington SC and ProStars FC played at City View Park Centre in Burlington at 6:00pm.

Burlington SC (all blue uniforms, white numbers, yellow shoulders)

..........................1 Brandon Kerr
23 Sebastian Noftall...5 Juan Jaramillo...14 Joseph Willingham-Murphy...19 Octavian Ciotirca
..........25 William Ratelband...11 Braden Culver (cpt)...3 Nicolas Noblecilla
............21 Stefan Milidrag...20 Augustus Oku...9 Yordan Stoyanov

Subs:...31 Oliver Steinke (gk)...6 Romedi Llapi...7 Vahan Sargsyan...10 Kevin Espiro
...12 Yossef Zaghloul...17 Matthew Demichele...22 Jacob Bagaso
team officials:...assistant coaches Alban Lika, Amy Holt, Mike Nepturne, Neil Wilson
therapist Alisha Skinner (suspended player Matthew Mills)

ProStars FC (all white uniforms, black numbers)

........................24 Jared Maloney
...........2 Carlo Difeo...39 Baryal Khan...6 Victor Gallo (cpt)
7 Faris Ammari...41 Makiyan Voytsekhovskyy...25 Joshua Parades...36 Al James
..........34 Christophe Campoli...10 Ameer Kinani...12 Alexander Zis

Subs:...8 Emmanuel Issac...23 Mathew Dorvale...29 Julian Desousa...32 Santiago Patrarroyo
...33 Isiah Noel...35 Maceo Harrison...38 Bradley Ogbevuon...40 Marcos Nunes...42 Mashhood Rehman
team officials:...team head coach John Yacao...equipment amanager Rahael Bell...therapist Gabriele Boulding

Game officials:...referee Vasyl Dzikh...referee's assistants Marko Grubisic and Mariusz Buczkowski
...fourth official Mahboob Gulestani...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 6:00pm...Burlington defends east end. A pregame rain had soaked the field but
it drained immediately and I saw no slipping that could be blamed on the field.
1 min...PS Ammari rolls ball forward on right too far for PS Difeo and over end line.
9 min...ProStars Christopher Campoli GOAL...PS Baryal Khan sends low cross from the right through into
the 6 yard box. Campoli takes 8 yard shot that's stopped point blank by sprawling goalie Brandon Kerr.
Campoli pounds the 8 yard rebound low into left side of net.
10 min...Burl Oku 25 yard shot is deflected for cornerkick.
11 min...Burl Noblecilla cornerkick from right is over goalie and everyone else. Burl Culver rolls centering pass
from left that goalie smothers.
13 min...Burl Culver 45 yard freekick down middle. A Burl player is called offside on cross from left along 7 yard line.
14 min...Ps Zis and Burl Culver crash together which the referee initially ignored until he realizes it's possible head injuries.
Culver needs the trainer. Both teams take an impromptu water break.
20 min...Burl Stoyanov rolls 35 yarder to PS goalie as not Burl player runs in for it.
22 min...Burl goalie is out to left side of box to beat PS James to through ball.
24 min...A PS player sends in 30 yard cross down center. PS Ammari one-touches 15 yard midair shot that flying goalie
pushes away.
25 min...PS Zis cornerkick from right has ball deflect off PS Gallo and away starting Burl fast break out.
26 min...The ball bounces too far forward for a charging PS Ammari on right.
27 min...PS Gallo 60 yard chip too far for charging PS Ammari on right.
29 min...ProStars Ameer Kinani GOAL...PS Faris Ammari run on slight left and crosses over sliding goalie at 6 yards
and Kinani pounds 7 yarder into middle of open net.
34 min...Burlington Augustus Oku GOAL...BSC Youssef Zaghloul starts with hand ball unseen by the officials
at center line then passes forward to BSC Yourdan Stoyanov and he threads through ball to Oku who shoots past goalie
Jared Maloney.
36 min...Burl Noblecilla cornerkick from right is between all players in box and out left side.
36 min...PS player can't get away shot in Burl box.
37 min...PS YELLOW card...Parades earns it for knock down as Burl Oku was tripped up at PS 35 yard line on run.
38 min...PS Noblecilla 35 yard freekick down middle has goalie catch between crowd of players at 6 yards.
39 min...Burl Oku pops up header at 18 yards in middle over to right which is stopped.
40 min...ProStars Ameer Kinani GOAL...PS Carlo Difeo crosses from 30 yards on far right. Kinani heads in 10 yarder
charging in on slight left.
42 min...PS Ammari takes ball off defender on left end line and sends high centering cross and PS Kinani charges and 8 yard
header down middle is just over bar.
43 min...PS Voytsekhovskyy is injured when Burl Willingham-Murphy bashes into him.
44 min...PS Zis 25 yard freekick from far right has flying goalie push wide left of the post.
45 min...PS player's cornerkick from left has defenders clear.
45 min...PS Ammari rush down left and centers cross on roller and charging PS Kinani shoots 12 yarder wide right.
45 min...PS Difeo shot from right is off Burl Willingham-Murphy and wins cornerkick.
46 min...PS RED card (second Yellow)...Joshua Parades earns his second Yellow card for complaining about a foul
committed against him not given while PS were setting up a cornerkick. Referee Vasyl Dzikh sent him off.
His first card was at 37 minutes for tripping up a player.
48 min...PS Zis short cornerkick from right is messed up starting Burl Stoyanov on a long breakout.
49 min...half ends 6:51pm.

Halftime: There's a mini-game of Burlington youth players in the center circle. The mascot and a woman are supervising.
The substitutes stay out of the field for both teams. The ProStars starters stay on their bench rather than go back
to the dressing rooms.

Second Half:...starts 7:03pm. The temperature has dropped and there's now a strong breeze from the west. Still mostly overcast.
halftime subs:...Burl Espiro replaces Ciotirca.
..................Burl Zaghloul replaces Culver.
46 min...PS Ammari run on left and low cross through box across 6 yard line is over diving goalie. A PS player's bicycle kick
misses on a cross from the right.
48 min...PS Difeo gets back to check Burl Stoyanov off the ball in the PS box.
48 min...PS Voytsekhovskyy is injured on tackle from behind at PS 40 yard line.
..........Burl YELLOW card...Espiro earns it for his part on the last play.
..........PS YELLOW card...Zis earns it for pushing or a Burl player faking that he'd been punched in the back of the head.
51 min...PS YELLOW card...James earns it for bumping over Burl Espiro who wins freekick on right edge of PS box.
52 min...Burl Willingham-Murphy 25 yard freekick is over head of charging Burl player and goalie catches.
54 min...Burl Willingham-Murphy 35 yard cross from left has goalie catch in 6 yard box.
55 min...PS sub...Rehman replaces Voytsekhovskyy.
55 min...PS Campoli can't get to through ball pass as goalie picks up ball at 15 yards down middle.
57 min...BS Milidrag leaps to head 18 yarder wide right of net on receiving cross from 40 yards from left.
58 min...Burl Espiro shot from 20 yards along right end line is blocked by defender and deflects back off Espiro for goalkick.
59 min...PS Ammari long run up left and cuts into box but PS Campoli can't control his short pass at 10 yards.
60 min...Burl Stoyanov and Zaghloul work out short cornerkick from left has cross to Burl Milidrag who heads ball wide
right from 12 yards on right.
61 min...Burl Zaghloul 35 yard freekick from left is low and into player wall.
63 min...PS sub...Nunes replaces Campoli.
65 min...ProStars Faris Ammari GOAL...Ammari rushes down left side and gets low 15 yard shot around
Burl William Ratelband catching right corner of net just inside post.
68 min...Burl Espiro can't get around PS James on run on right and pushes ball over end line.
70 min...Burl Oku taps ball to Vurl Willingham-Murphy and his 10 yard shot has sliding gaolie slap away.
71 min...Burl Oku 33 yard cross from right is caught by goalie.
72 min...PS Ammari run up left and rolls pass to PS Kinani shot is blocked by goalie at 15 yards past him. Burl Ratelband
slides to block and defender concedes cornerkick.
73 min...PS sub...Harrison replaces Khan.
73 min...PS Zis corcnerkick from left is high over players in box.
74 min...PS James cross is off Noftall and deflects for cornerkick on left.
75 min...PS sub...Ogbevuon replaces Ammari.
76 min...PS Zis cornerkick from left has goalie and defender clear wide right for cornerkick.
76 min...Burl YELLOW card...goalie Kerr earns it for complaining about the call.
77 min...PS sub...Harrison replaces Kinani.
............Burl sub...Sargsyan replaces Espiro.
............Burl sub...Bagaso replaces Noblecilla.
79 min...Burl Bagaso cross along right end line has Burl Oku miss his 15 yard scissor kick connecting.
80 min...Burl Zaghloul 30 yard shot is well over net.
80 min...Burl sub...Demichele replaces Oku.
82 min...PS Harrison gets away shot over bar from 22 yards as Burl Bagaso holding onto him.
83 min...Burl Stoyanov 25 yard shot down middle has goalie fly to palm away left of post.
84 min...Burl Stoyanov cornerkick from left has goalie bat down and pick up.
84 min...Burl Stoyanov can't win Penalty kick on weak fall into box.
85 min...Burl Milidrag blasts 25 yarder from left well high and right of net.
86 min...PS Gallo makes key header to clear in PS box while getting hammered in knock down.
89 min...Burlington Yordan Stoyanov GOAL...BS Jacob Bagaso cross from right at 18 yard line has Stoyanov
head 10 yarder downward that bounces into right side of net.
90 min...Burl Stoyanov on 1 on 3 rush has last defender clear ball away at 8 yards in middle.
90 min...Burlington Stefan Milidrag GOAL...BS Yordan Stoyanov cross from left has Milidrag head 12 yarder
that flies into right side of net.
91 min...Burl Demichele heads 20 yarder backwards towards PS goalie but well wide right.
93 min...Burl Ratelband 50 yard chip from right has goalie catch at 15 yards in crowd of players.
94 min...PS YELLOW card...Harrison earns it for kicking ball back for team mate to take throw-in.
95 min...game ends 7:53pm.

Final Score:......Burlington SC......3........ProStars FC........4.......

Attendance grew to about 120 on this early evening which started off with a sprinkling of rain
for the first few minutes of the game. The online weather forecast I saw had scheduled hours of rain
from about 3:00pm continuing overnight but held off for an hour after the game ended. I got here almost
two hours before game time (turned out this place was easy to find and traffic was not too bad). It was
very hot and humid but cooled off by game time and was quite comfortable by the second half. I felt
sorry for the guy who had to wear the hot mascot costume who was greeting the arriving fans. It looked
style wise like the late 1970s era Toronto Blue Jays mascot except his costume was all blue. He helped
supervise the kids mini game at halftime in the center circle.

70 km is usually beyond the distance I drive to watch games but I wanted to see Burlington to say I'd seen
every L1O Men's Premier Division team this season at least twice. Difficult to do with 22 teams.
That's taken 36 games to pull that off this season. Some of the GTA teams I've seen seven times.

Being able to say “I've seen all the L1O teams a minimum of twice” sounds better than having to add “except”.
I passed on attending the MLSNEXT Pro game between Toronto FC II and Cincinnati FC II closer to home
at York Lions Stadium. Both games were moved within the last week. Burlington moved their game from
4:00pm to 6:00pm and TFC II moved their game an hour earlier so it would also start at 6:00pm. Saved me
the trouble of trying to get to both.

I've never been to this stadium before. Burlington started their season at the Haber Centre (never been
there neither). This place looks like a new facility with stands seating 1500 people for this field
(per their website) with an additional field on each side. A large clubhouse on the non-stands side.
Surrounded by a church and farmers' fields. Not really a 'city view' from here but maybe there's
a subdivision planned. New artificial turf here. A table top scoreboard was behind the stands. It was
OK for me across the field using my binoculars if I couldn't tell a '6' from an '8'.

Referee Vasyl Dzikh gave out seven Yellow cards (two Yellows to the same player meant the sending off,
so five in total to ProStars). The league software cannot show the Burlington goalie earning a Yellow.
No water breaks were scheduled but both teams took one at 14 minutes after a collision which Dzikh
initially ignored until realizing it could be head injuries. Alexander Zis shook his off quickest
but Burlington's Youssef Zaghloul needed the trainer.

At halftime ProStars Ammer Kinani was asking if suspensions began for four Yellow or five Yellow cards
in this league. He couldn't find the answer but after the game he said he was asking for teammates.

ProStars dominated the first half but knowing they'd have to play the second half with only ten men
put their 3-1 lead in doubt. Second half and they were always one guy short up front because they
didn't want to press too hard and leave them short at the back. Key goal at 65 minute by Ammari
on a solo effort not being able to get by the defender and sending a low shot around him which turned
the defender into a screen on the goalie seeing the ball.

Joshua Parades was none too popular with his own teammates after being sent off. “That's the second
time he's put us down” and “Selfish” and “I'll never play with him again” were comments I heard.
A park attendant came up along the players bench side during the second half to say “I don't want
to lock the dressing room door if I may lock that guy inside” whereby another attendant said “I think
he left already and drove away”.

This was a huge game for ProStars. They had a chance to jump into the last playoff spot (sixth) but
only a win would be good enough. They missed out last week when they were in St Catharines
and Roma Wolves scored in the 89th minute to pull off a win. A nailbiter at the end today with those
two goals to make it close and the five minutes of added time.

ProStars finish the regular season with a record of 14 wins, 6 losses, 1 tie for 43 points. Defending
L1O champions Guelph United miss out as they had played out their schedule and had to watch
as Simcoe County Rovers and ProStars passed them this weekend.

Thomas Skublak of Guelph was in the stands watching. I double checked with him after the game that it
was not Svyatik Artemenko sitting beside him with a group of friends. That might have been awkward
to explain as Artemenko played in Guelph's last game the Friday before this weekend then appeared
on the bench Sunday afternoon having signed an emergency contract with CPL York United to be the backup
goalie. He was the backup goalie for York yesterday as well when they travelled to nearby Hamilton
to play Forge FC.

Alexander Zis jumped to ProStars before the trade/signing deadline and was a starter today. He is one
of eight players when I ran through a gamesheet when I saw them play last month who started the season
with another team before suddenly appearing on the ProStars roster.

Ex-Unionville Milliken players bookend ProStars performance with Christopher Campoli scoring their
opening goal and Jared Maloney making some crucial saves in goal jumping for catches and surviving
some bumps in those crowds of players in the box. Campoli was drafted in the U-Sports draft by York
and HFX in subsequent years but maybe third time chance and he'll stick around?

The seven teams dueling the last number of weeks for the six playoff spots had ripped an eleven point
gap between themselves and the rest of the pack. The CPL is doing something similar but the four
teams in front have just about locked the four playoff spots up.

ProStars will play the third place team in the standings in a one game quarterfinal...Alliance United.
Will they play at Centennial College or Varsity Stadium (both school fields that Alliance has used
this year). The other quarterfinal will be third place North Toronto Nitros hosting fourth place
Simcoe County Rovers at Downsview Park. Looks like I'll have to choose as preliminary scheduling have
both games taking place on Wednesday night.

Burlington SC finish their season at 4 wins, 9 losses, 7 ties for 19 points. They finish seventeenth
in the standings. Oops that's only 20 games. Right, a game against Masters FA was rescheduled for
poor stadium lighting (or they didn't work at all) and will be played this Saturday. That may have
been my chance to see Burlington a second time but with my luck the two semi-finals will both take
place Saturday night.

The magic position of a twelfth place finish to survive the Top 12 division split in 2024 is 28 points
held by Scrosoppi FC. The bottom ten teams of the current twenty-two team Premier Division will form
the newly created second-tier 'Championship Division' with promotion and relegation between the two then
restricted to 'one up, one down' for the years after that. I suspect the league will have to have
a combined standings for point totals between the two years. The 2022 points will be converted to 75%
vs 2023's 100%. A team that finishes with 40 points will start next year with 30 points and one
with 20 points will start with 15 points...hey catch us if you can! A separate column for the 'current'
2023 season to decide that year's top six playoff teams will be required.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Burlington SC starters