July 10, 2022 MLS NEXT Pro Toronto FC II vs Columbus Crew 2 game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the MLS NEXT Pro game of Sunday July 10, 2022 between Toronto FC II and Columbus Crew 2
played at York Lions Stadium in North York at 7:00pm.

Toronto FC II (gray socks, red shorts and shirts, white names and numbers)

....................90 Luka Gavran
58 Kobe Franklin...51 Adam Pearlman...62 Rohan Goulbourne...81 Themi Antonoglou
................72 Lazar Stefanovic...52 Alonso Coello Camarero
80 Paul Rothrock...85 Antonio Carlini...82 Julian Altobelli...73 Stefan Karajovanovic

Subs:...60 Baj Maan (gk)...33 Reshaun Walkes (fwd)...35 Mehdi Essousi (mid)...64 Kota Sakurai (mid)
...65 Antony Curic (mid)...68 Nakye Greenidge-Duncan (mid)...74 Kundal Mawoko (def)...75 Luca Accettola (mid)
86 Alec Diaz (fwd)
team official: manager Gianni Cimini

Columbus Crew 2 (all yellow uniforms, black names and numbers)

....................28 Patrick Schulte
26 Abdirizak Mohamed...4 Justin Malou...27 Daniel Strachan...33 Jake Morris
20 Mohamed Farsi...22 Marco Micaletto...16 Isaiah Parente...8 Isaac Angking
................9 Noah Fuson...18 Alexandru Irinel Matan

Subs:...40 Stephen Yerian (gk)...2 Philip Quinton (def)...7 Ryan Telfer (def)...10 John Kamara (fwd)
...11 Coleman Gannon (fwd)...14 Zion Scarlett (fwd)...17 Michael Vang (mid)...19 Jordan Knight (fwd)
24 Stephen Tuffour (fwd)
team official:...head coach Laurent Courtois

Game officials:...referee Scott Decker...referee's assistants Twayne Anderson and Melvin Christopher
...fourth official David Barrie (all black uniforms)

First Half:...Game starts 7:05pm...TFC defend south end on this midle evening with a bright sun in the north west.
The stands are already in the shade.
30 sec...TFC Rothrock rush up middle and passes to TFC Karajovanovic whose low shot is deflected wide right.
1 min...TFC Antonoglou cornerkick from right has goalie catch.
5 min...Crew player's 25 yard shot is over net.
6 min...TFC Rothrock rush down nright and low cross to center of box has defender stop and clear.
8 min...Crew Fuson rush to top left of box and 22 yard low blast is through players and smothered by goalie on near post.
11 min...TFC Franklin give and go works down right and low cross into 6 yard box has defender stop and clear.
12 min...Crew Farsi bends in 25 yard shot from right and TFC Coello heads away at 8 yards in middle.
12 min...TFC Yeates checke player off ball on TFC left end line.
13 min...Crew Parente cornerkick from right has charging Crew Morris head ball wide right from near post at 5 yards.
14 min...TFC Altobelli 20 yard chip from left is caught by goalie.
15 min...Crew Farsi and Fuson work give and go and Farsi rolls 10 yarder up middle and goalie stops by sitting on ball.
16 min...Crew Farsi rush to right end line and rolls pass to middle but Crew Matan is turned away from ball and ball is cleared.
18 min...Crew Matan is injured at TFC 40 yard line but play continues until TFC player is called offside. Players take water break
while the trainer is on the field.
20 min...play resumes.
22 min...Crew sub...Vang replaces injured Matan.
23 min...Crew Parente is centered ball and 20 yard shot up middle deflects wide right for cornerkick. A TFC player is hurt
on the play.
24 min...Crew Parente cornerkick from right is short and when he crossed into box it was cleared.
28 min...Crew Fuson wins cornerkickc on run to right end line.
29 min...Crew Parente cornerkick from right has charging Crew Malou pop 6 yard header over net.
32 min...TFC Yeates ends TFC play with chip from 28 yards over defenders but goalie beats forwards to catch on bounce.
33 min...TFC Coello tap to TFC Altobelli who bends 28 yarder down middle wide right.
34 min...Crew defenders back to break up TFC play on edge of box and prevent shot.
37 min...TFC Karajovanovic returns TFC Yeates pass from left back to center and Yeates shoots 20 yarder wide left of net.
38 min...TFC Antonoglou can't win Penalty kick call on check on left side of box.
39 min...Crew Morris and Vang give and go up left and cross across fallen defender and Crew player slides to roll 12 yarder
wide right.
41 min...Crew Micaletto rush on right to elude defender but rolls it over end line.
43 min...Crew Vang low cross from nenar end line has TFC Franklin push out for cornerkick.
44 min...Crew Parente cornerkick from left has defenders able to clear with headers.
45 min...TFC Goulbourne chip from center line has goalie beat TFC Karajovanovic to catch at 16 yards on left.
46 min...half ends 7:51pm.

Halftime: The field turf is 'watered'. Only the TFC subs stay out to warm up. Crew subs join about halfway through.

Second Half:...starts 8:09pm...the stands and now half of the field are covered in shades.
47 min...Crew Micaletto 40 yard freekick from left is low and cleared at 22 yards.
47 min...TFC YELLOW card...Franklin earns it for knock down on Crew Micaletto away from play.
48 min...Crew Angking 33 yard freekick from slight left is wide right.
49 min...TFC Antonoglou 40 yard freekick for slight left is headed away at 20 yards.
51 min...Crew Micaletto and Crew Farsi pass and go on right has Farsi head ball to center and goalie catches.
53 min...Crews Morris clear run in 2 on 1 when defender misses header then centers cross but Crew Fuson overruns
and can't win Penalty kick on dive in box.
54 min...TFC Rothrock low cross from rigtht side of box. Crew Malou kicks over own net.
54 min...TFC YELLOW card...head coach Gianni Cimini earns it for his constant complaining from the sideline.
55 min...TFC Antonoglou cornerkick from right has defender head out left of box but play is whistled down.
56 min...Two TFC defenders shield ball from Crew Fuson until goalie can pick up.
58 min...TFC Yeates can't win Penalty kick on play with TFC Franklin into box.
58 min...TFC YELLOW card...Carlini earns it at center line for complaining about a call.
60 min...Crew Angking chips pass forward to Crew Mohamed but bounces over end line.
61 min...TFC Franklin 28 yard shot deflects off defender and pops up for goalie to charge forward and catch at 15 yards.
61 min...Crew sub...Knight replaces Farsi.
63 min...Crew Knight low 30 yard shot from right is wide right.
65 min...Crew Knight cross into box has Crew players shot is blocked by defender at 8 yards.
65 min...Crew Vang is given pass and cross from 20 yards is through box.
67 min...TFC Carlini chips 50 yarder over players and goalie catches on bounce on left side of box.
69 min...TFC Rothrock quick cornerkick is passed upp right side. Crew Malou pushes Rothrock back when ball is finally put
into box.
69 min...TFC Altobelli weak 20 yard roller has goalie pick up. Four TFC passes up left are made like a rugby-wide end play.
70 min...TFC Altobelli finishes play with 15 yarder deflect over net.
71 min...TFC Antonoglou cornerkick from right has TFC pop header forward and goalie outjumps TFC Rothrock to catch
on right post.
73 min...TFC Altobelli rolls pass from center to right. TFC Rothrock shot has goalie catch 12 yarder from right.
74 min...TFC Franklin rush on right and low cross is cleared in box.
75 min...TFC Antonoglou run down left and high cross is over head of TFC Rothrock at 6 yards on right and bounces
for Crew throw-in.
78 min...TFC Antonoglou is injured in tackle at Crew 30 yard line and needs leg bent into shape.
79 min...TFC Altobelli 35 yard freekick from left is through box unplayed and out wide right.
80 min...TFC sub...Greenidge-Duncan replaces Karajovanovic.
............TFC sub...Walkes replaces Altobelli.
81 min...Crew Vang dekes defender cutting along 6 yard line. A ball in the box has Crew Fuson fall and have 10 yard
shot blocked.
82 min...TFC Greenidge-Duncan rush into Crew box to end line and ball cleared.
82 min...TFC Coello shot is wide left but it fools the crowd in the stands to thinking it was a goal.
84 min...TFC Rothrock low cross is through box is unplayed from right.
85 min...TFC sub...Diaz replaces Carlini.
............TFC sub...Accettola replaces Rothrock.
............Crew sub...Telfer replaces Vang.
............Crew sub...Gannon replaces Fuson.
86 min...Crew Mohamed low cross from right. Crew Telfer tips ball up at 8 yards has goalie catch on near post.
87 min...TFC Accettola one-touch 20 yarder up middle is over net.
89 min...There's lots of scrambling to clear from TFC box but TFC finally wins a throw-in.
90 min...TFC Accettola run down left. TFC Walkes has 10 yard shot has goalie pushes wide left.
91 min...TFC Yeates cross from 25 yards for left has goalie catch.
91 min...Crew Morris blasts cross from 22 yards near left endline has goalie catch.
92 min...TFC Greenidge-Duncan has Crew Vang block shot on edge of box.
93 min...TFC players have Crew defenders block two shots.
93 min...game ends 8:56pm.

Final Score:.....Toronto FC II.......0...........New England Revolution II........0........
But wait! The game isn't over as MLS NEXT Pro offers a bonus point for the team that wins in Penalty kicks.

A coin flip decided who kicks first and what end to use. The south end doesn't make any difference as fans are
all in the west stands.

1 TFC Steffan Yeates has shot to left and goalie Patrick Schulte dives and bats down.

1 Crew Coleman Gannon stutter steps and shoots but goalie Luka Gavran bats down high on left corner.

2 TFC Kobe Franklin GOAL...Franklin shoots high to top right as goalie gets hand to but can't keep it out.

2 Crew Marco Micaletto shot is low to right and goalie dives to stop.

3 TFC Themi Antonoglou GOAL...Antonoglou shoots low to right and goalie dives left.

3 Crew Jake Morris GOAL...Morris shoots low to left under diving goalie.

4 TFC Alonso Coello Camarero shoots midway to left and goalie flies to bat down.

4 Crew Isaiah Parente GOAL...Parente shoots high to top center as goalie dives right.

5 TFC Nakye Grenidge-Duncan GOAL..Grenidge-Duncan chips to center over goalie who'd already crumpled.

5 Crew Isaac Angking GOAL...Angking stutter step shot is low left as goalie shuffles right.

6 TFC Alec Diaz GOAL...Diaz blasts low to center of net as goalie dives right.

6 Crew Ryan Telfer shoots low to right center as goalie sprawls to save and ball hits his body.

Result: Toronto FC II wins Penalty kick contest 4-3 in six rounds and collects the bonus point.

Attendance was about the same as last Sunday which was about 400. Tonight there were a few dozen fans
cheering for Columbus. I wasn't sure when I'd hear cheers at odd times and thought it was across
the street for a track and field meet that was taking place when I was here on Friday night to watch
CPL York United. Nope it was when a Crew player had a good chance. I had my easiest time of the season
getting in tonight as the chief lady from the security firm waved me through as soon as the gates
were opened. (I am not on the guest list).

It is tough to plan for Penalty kicks as some of last week's PK scorers like Julian Altobelli
and Paul Rothrock who scored last time had already been subbed out in tonight's game. Kobe Franklin,
Themi Antonoglou, and Alonso Coello Camarero stayed in their places in the second through fourth spot
and each had scored last week.

I thought TFC played better tonight than their last game. There were fewer mistakes I felt. Last week
the TFC MLS team dropped down four players for conditioning....maybe on short notice...as the connections
were not working as well. Tonight, Kadin Chung, Jacob Shaffelburg, Jordan Perruzza, and Themi Antonoglou
weren't even on the bench. Actually Shaffelburg was used in yesterday's TFC vs San Jose game coming
in at 87 minutes. Chung, Perruzza, and Antonoglou were unused subs in the MLS game.

I had been all puffed up thinking how more young Canadians would be dropping back to NEXT Pro as the
MLS club fills in a lot of spots with high price internationals but thinking back over the seasons,
TFC II would play some of their worst games when MLS players would be parachuted in pushing the regulars
off the field. One player not coming back is 18 year old Ralph Priso-Mbongue who was traded
to MLS Colorado Rapids as part of the deal to return Mark-Anthony Kaye to Toronto.

A Neil Davidson CP story about TFC lists the MLS club as having twelve players 22 and under including
four teenagers and all are Canadian. OK!

Crew 2 were the first place team in the Eastern Conference and the two teams looked very even
in their play. This should be a huge boost of confidence to TFC II moving into the last half
of the season.

Three shots on goal and six blocked shots by both teams per the league website. Each goalie played
aggressive enough to beat opponents to through ball either by smothering them of coming right out
of the box to clear.

Best non-scoring chances in regulation time were at 15 minutes when Crew Mo Farsi and Noah Fuson worked
a give and go and Farsi rolled a 10 yarder up the middle that the goalie stopped going through his legs
by sitting on the ball! 54 minutes had TFC Paul Rothrock send in a low cross from the right side of the
box that Crew Justin Malou kicked over his own net from only 5 yards. 70 minutes had TFC Julien Altobelli
finish a long period of TFC possession with a 15 yard shot deflected over the bar. The resulting
cornerkick by TFC Themi Antonglou had a TFC player pop a header forward and the goalie outjumped Rothrock
to catch on the right post. Two minutes later Rothrock had a 12 yard shot from the right that the goalie
caught. 81 minutes had Crew Michael Vang deke a defender while cutting along the 6 yard line from
the left and he put in a low cross that had Crew Noah Fusin fall and have his 10 yard shot blocked.
86 minutes had Crew Abdirizak Mohamed send a low cross from the right and Crew Ryan Telfer tipped
the ball at 8 yards and the goalie caught on the near post. 90 minutes had TFC Luca Accettola run down
the left and send in a ball that TFC Reshaun Walkes had a 10 yard shot that the goalie pushed wide left.

Referee Scott Decker (he was the fourth official in last week's game) gave out two Yellow cards both
to TFC players one of which was to Antonio Carlini for dissent in complaining that Decker didn't award
a Penalty kick to Steffan Yeates at 58 minutes. At least he was consistant as Decker ignored Crew requests
as well and there were a lot of play-ons. Just to complete the Yellows, he gave one to TFC head coach
Gianni Cimini just four minutes earlier for his constant complaining.

TFC were getting burned on a lot of offside calls (6-1 per the league website). No water breaks needed
tonight as the temperature had cooled a lot by game time but players took one at 18 minutes when
Crew Alexandru Irinel Matan was injured and the trainer was called in and he was eventually replaced
by Michael Vang.

There is some Canadian connections with the Crew 2. Mohamed 'Mo' Farsi born in Montreal played for CPL
Cavalry FC in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Ryan Telfer from Mississauga played in the CPL for York 9 FC
in 2019 and 2020 and Atletico Ottawa in 2021. He plays internationally for Trinidad & Tobago. We just
missed our chance to see Jacen Russell-Rowe who worked his way through the TFC Academy as he moved up
to the Crew MLS team less than two weeks ago. He had scored 11 goals in 11 games this season before
signing with the big club.

Tough night for Telfer as it was his Penalty kick being stopped that ended the game. He was a late sub
at 85 minutes. Telfer also went to York University and played for the school team and is credited with
scoring the first ever CPL goal for York 9 FC when they played Forge FC in the inaugral game in Hamilton
back in 2019. He had some relatives here tonight. Jake Morris had some fans in replica Morris jerseys
and t-shirts cheering for him. I asked one of them about Jake and Aidan Morris listed on the website
as both being born in Fort Lauderdale. Yes they are brothers said yet another brother in the stands.

The Shoot-Out-Win for two points improves TFC II's record to 5 wins, 6 losses, 3 ties, 2 SOW
for 20 points in 14 games. Ties and SOW are good for a point each but SOW has already been counted
in the games played column. TFC remains in sixth place and are 6 points out of the fourth place playoff
spot in the Eastern Conference. They actually lost ground this weekend as fourth place Rochester won
in regulation time.

Crew 2's tie tonight improves their record to 10 wins, 2 losses, 2 ties, 0 SOW for 32 points and are
still in first place by 4 points.

Toronto FC II now has two road games to finish out July and won't be home again until Sunday August 7
at 7:00pm when they play Orlando City B, a team they used to play when both were in the USL League One.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Toronto FC II starters