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September 11, 2022...MLSNEXTPro Toronto FC II vs Rochester NY FC game report (by Rocket Robin)
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Result and details of the Sunday September 11, 2022 MLSNEXTPro league game between Toronto FC II
and RNY FC played at York Lions Stadium at 3:00pm.
Toronto FC II (gray socks, red shorts and shirts, white names and numbers)
....................90 Luka Gavran
........51 Adam Pearlman...65 Antony Curic..62 Rohan Goulbourne
58 Kobe Franklin...52 Alonso Coello (cpt)...72 Steffen Yeates...81 Themi Antonoglou
........86 Alex Dias...83 Hugo Mbongue...73 Stefan Karajovanovic
Subs:...50 Andrew Romano (gk)...12 Kadin Chung (def)...33 Reshaun Walkes (fwd)...34 Klaidi Cela (def)
...71 Markus Cimermancic (mid)...77 Jordan Perruzza (fwd)...82 Julian Altobelli (mid)...84 Joshua Gordon (def)
...85 Antonio Carlini (mid)
team official:...head coach Gianni Cimini
Rochester NY FC (green socks and shorts, white shirts with gray stripes on chests, gray names and numbers)
......................97 Caique Luiz Santos da Purificacao
21 Joacob Akanyirige...2 Gerardo Lopoez...15 Lamar Batista...3 Christian Wood
18 Opanin Edwards...5 Pedro Dolabella...8 Edward Williams (cpt)...6 Bubacar Bol Djalo
..............9 Wilterlynd Inalien...11 Jesus Batiz
Subs:...1 Phillip Ejimadu (gk)...31 Matheus Muniz Franca (gk)...4 Ian Garrett (def)...7 Paulo Soares (mid)
...10 Gabriel Costa (fwd)...12 Dante Brigida (fwd)...14 Michael Smith (def)...20 Davis Smith (fwd)...88 Preston Popp (fwd)
team official:...head coach Bruno Baltazar
Game officials:...referee Mario Alayass...referee's assistants Mehmet Sen and Twayne Anderson
...fourth official Fabrizio Stasolla (mauve shirts, black shorts and socks)
First Half:...game starts 3:08pm...TFC defend south end on this mild, overcast afternoon.
1 min...RNY Edwards rush down right and high cross near end line is over the box.
3 min...RNY Bol Djalo steals ball at 30 yards in middle and dribbles towards goal.
4 min...RNY Akanyirige pokes ball from TFC Karajovanovic for TFC cornerkick.
4 min...TFC Antonoglou crosses in cornerkick pass from 33 yards on left that's headed away.
6 min...RNY Inalien short pass forward on right to RNY Williams for 12 yard roller that goalie smothers.
8 min...RNY Edwards charges to 10 yards for one-touch shot up middle wide left but offside flag was up.
9 min...RNY goalie clears ball at 15 yards on bump with TFC Mbongue.
10 min...TFC Karajovanovic rush to left end line and low cross into 6 yard box has defender clear. Karajovanovic falls
untouched with leg injury and needs trainer but referee only notices him one minute later.
12 min...RNY Williams low cornerkick from right has RNY Dolabella tip ball at 7 yards and goalie dives to smother.
16 min...RNY FC Jesus Batiz GOAL...RNY Bubacar Bol Djalo at 45 yards in middle rolls ball forward.
RNY Edward Williams flicks ball with foot over to charging Batiz at 25 yards. Batiz rushes forward to 15 yards
on slight right with TFC Antony Curic in front of him. Batiz shoots 12 yarder around sliding Curic down middle
to right side of net with goalie Luka Gavran at 5 yards standing and reaching down for ball as he had to watch
for an RNY player on left side of box.
16 min...TFC sub...Perruzza replaces injured Karajovanovic.
18 min...RNY sub...Garrett replaces injured Edwards after he was down for only about 10 seconds.
20 min...TFC Dias receives pass at 28 yards in middle and he ran to right and 15 yard shot has goalie push ball wide right of post.
20 min...TFC Antonoglou rolls cornerkick from right upfield and TFC Franklin cross from 28 yards is well high and wide left.
24 min...RNY player's 40 yard freekick from left is chipped and TFC player clears.
25 min...TFC Perruzza run down left for pass and his 25 yard shot has sliding goalie block outside of box then rush back
into box for possible cross.
30 min...TFC Franklin 33 yard shot up middle is deflected over net.
30 min...TFC Antonoglou cornerkick from right is partially cleared. TFC Yeates is tapped back pass and his low 30 yard roller
is between players wide left of net.
33 min...RNY Wood has 25 yard shot from left tipped by TFC Pearlman wide left.
34 min...RNY player's cornerkick from left is cleared and RNY Williams rolls 25 yard shot through crowd of players that's saved
by goalie in center of net.
36 min...TFC Goulbourne heads ball back to goalie to break up play down right.
36 min...RNY Inallen wins cornerkick on tip of his cross near right end line.
37 min...RNY Garrett ornerkick from right is caught by goalie on right side of box.
40 min...TFC Perruzza pass from middle to left for TFC Antonoglou and 25 yard cross into box has jumping defender kick ball
away at 10 yards.
47 min...half ends 3:55pm.
Halftime: Both teams' subs warm up avoiding the motorized cart that's watering the field. I see TFC Kota Sakarai who was not
in today's lineup posing for pictures with relatives. That's probably not quite as fun as the selfie posted on his twitter account
of him posing with Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham last week. TFC II had gone down to Florida to play Inter Miami CF II
and will be playing them here this Wednesday.
Second Half:...starts 4:11pm...The weather is still overcast and mild, maybe one of the last t-shirt weekends of the summer.
45 min...RNY Williams 22 yard shot from right is caught by goalie on near post.
46 min...RNY Wood cross from left has TFC Curic head ball away at 10 yards in middle.
50 min...RNY Batiz rush on left slides to rolls in cross and sliding TFC Curic clears for a cornerkick.
51 min...RNY Garrett cornerkick from left is whistled down in box as RNY Batista leaps for header at 12 yards.
51 min...RNY Williams at 18 yards taps pass to RNY Batiz whose on right and his 6 yard low shot is saved by goalie. A defender
clears the rebound.
52 min...TFC Franklin cornerkick from left is caught by goalie in center of box.
52 min...RNY Batista rides off TFC Diaz to check him off ball.
53 min...RNY YELLOW card...Inalien earns it for knock down of TFC Coello at center line.
54 min...TFC Dias short centering cross from right is stopped by TFC Perruzza in middle who turns and lofts 15 yarder that flying
goalie catches on left post.
55 min...TFC Franklin cornerkick from left to TFC Antonoglou has shot from 25 yards on left is pushed wide left by flying goalie.
56 min...RNY Garrett 30 yard shot from right is over net.
57 min...RNY Batiz rush down left and cross/shot misses high on top right corner of net.
61 min...TFC Diaz can't get away short cross but wins cornerkick on deflection.
61 min...TFC Diaz cornerkick from right is headed away and chipped back into box but play is called offside.
63 min...TFC Yeates chips 30 yard freekick has defender at 5 yards on left concede cornerkick.
64 min...TFC Coello 35 yard cross from right has goalie punch ball away.
66 min...TFC sub...Altobelli replaces Dias.
...........TFC sub...Walkes replaces Mbongue.
...........TFC sub...Cimermancic replaces Yeates.
68 min...RNY sub...Brigida replaces Batiz.
75 min...TFC sub...Chung replaces Goulbourne who exits behind the net.
75 min...RNY Inalien has 18 yard shot blocked by defender.
77 min...TFC Perruzza has 20 yard shot blocked by defender. RNY Wood is injured and needs trainer.
79 min...RNY Brigida is checked off ball on 1 v 4 rush into right side of box.
80 min...TFC Altobelli steps to center and rolls 18 yarder that goalie smothers in center of net.
81 min...RNY sub...Costa replaces Inalien.
...........RNY sub...Michael Smith replaces injured Wood who was already off the field.
82 min...RNY Costa low 30 yard freekick from near left end line is through crowd of players and RNY Dolabella heads
from edge of 6 yard box and caught by goalie on left side of box.
83 min...RNY Williams shoots 10 yarder into left webbing of net after referee ignored shoulder knock down of ball
by TFC defender.
84 min...TFC YELLOW card...Antonoglou earns it for knock down of player at RNY 50 yard line.
86 min...TFC YELLOW card...Perruzza earns it for dissent after giving up a freekick.
86 min...RNY Brigida 10 yard shot into net is ruled offside.
88 min...TFC goalie dribbles to TFC 25 yards and boots ball upfield where TFC Antonoglou is checked off ball
at RNY 25 yard line and is injured.
91 min...TFC Franklin threads through ball pass that has TFC Altobelli shoot over net from 10 yards.
92 min...RNY YELLOW card...Goalie Santos earns it for timewasting taking goalkick.
94 min...game ends 5:00pm.
Final Score:......Toronto FC II......0.......Rochester New York FC........1......
**TFC were playing with ten men when the goal was scored (ignore what the commentators say in their
truncated 2 minute highlight package). 10 minutes had TFC Stefan Karajovanovic rush to the left end line
and send a low cross into the 6 yard box and a defender cleared. Karajovanovic with the cut in to get
the kick before it rolled over the end line must have twisted his leg and eventually needed the trainer
but play had moved upfield and the referee didn't notice the problem. Even the RNY goalie came over
which could have been dangerous if play had broken the other way. Play was finally whistled down before
a RNY cornerkick at the other end of the field. The trainer had worked his way down the sideline
to the endzone while play carried on. An announcement was made over the PA system about MLSNEXTPro
league protocol. I caught the part of the injured player having to be off three minutes after the
restart before he could return to the field. OK. It got worse as just as the three minutes was almost
over Karajovanovic/the trainer/the coaching staff must have changed their mind about about him returning
to the game and they decided Jordan Perruzza would take his place but now they'd have to wait until
the next break in play. And RNY scored!
After the game I went down to the front row and asked a game day staff member about the rule saving me
having to read a maybe 100 page online rulebook if I could even find one. If a player is down injured
for more than 15 seconds and needs a trainer, the player will be out of the game for three minutes
before coming back into the game. It does not have to be a head injury. Yes that will cut down
on the 'faking' injuries. Now later in the game a RNY player was limping around then went down maybe
even stalling for time but because RNY made a substitution the play never got restarted until the player
was helped off and the new guy came on. I had never seen this call made in the home games I've seen
this season. So minute 10 to 16 they were down a man...and if Perruzza was going to come on anyway
(yes he was cold)...maybe they could have worked this out better.
Attendance was about 400 on this mild mostly overcast afternoon with a slight breeze. I was waved
through the gates about an hour before the game for my earliest time ever and for the first time
brought my binoculars inside. There were bees right from the start (no concession stands open
at these games) and fans brought in their own food so it made it worthwhile for the insects to stick
around. There were about eight to ten fans for the visitors who sang the whole game. I've seen
visiting fans at these games but none had organized songs. They changed the lyrics of Supertramp's
'The Logical Song' and must have ad libbed “Give us our drum back” which must have meant that
the security crew does have some restrictions.
The game started with a moment of silence...OK for Queen Elizabeth's passing like Friday night's
York United game at this stadium? No. For the anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attack.
Referee Mario Alayass who I've seen referee a TFC II game earlier this season gave out four Yellow
cards, two to each team including a time wasting call in injury time to the RNY goalie and
a TFC player for dissent at 86 minutes. The game wasn't really hard checking but more like
multi-passing plays to set something up.
Caique Luiz Santos da Purificacao ('Caique Santos') earned the shutout for Rochester with a few key saves.
He was aggressive coming out for balls even making a point blank sliding save just outside the top left
side of the box. He flew over to either catch some shots near the post or push them wide. He was similar
in style to TFC Luka Gavron. They are both tall. Santos is 6'6” while Gavron (had to check Wikipedia
as he doesn't have a profile on the league site). is 6'5”. I would give Gavron a good chance of moving
up to the main team next season with the troubles in the last month with Alex Bono. Gavran had another
good game today.
TFC stirred things up with a triple substitution at 66 minutes bringing on forwards Reshaun Walkes
and midfielders Markus Cimermancic and Julian Altobelli but even the strategy of fresh legs fizzled out.
I wasn't expecting this result. TFC II had just come off a nine game winning streak and were starting
another one. They had beaten RNY in Rochester just one month ago. TFC just looked 'off' today.
They were called offside five times but there were some plays where RNY defenders were just waiting
to intercept crosses by stepping in the way.
The win has Rochester jump over Toronto into second place. RNY's record improves to 10 wins, 5 ties,
8 losses for 39 points in 23 games. One advantage Toronto has is one game in hand as they are 11 wins,
3 ties, 8 losses for 38 points. Top four teams in the ten team Eastern Conference make the playoffs.
Toronto plays that game on Wednesday night at 7:00pm here at York Lions Stadium against Inter Miami CF II.
That game was postponed from Friday June 24. I know at the time I made a joke about another of Beckham's
sons getting married (Brooklyn had married just a few weeks before and Romeo plays for this team).
No the reason for postponing the game was because TFC requested that all their security guards be
in Little Italy in downtown Toronto that night to keep order for the “Welcome Lorenzo Insigne Party”
they were holding.
They may have lucked in as Inter Miami II is the only team that can squeeze into the playoffs as they
have three games to play although they have to win out and they are playing first place Columbus Crew 2
tonight. Miami may be demoralized if they lose tonight and TFC II can flip back into second place with
one game to go for each team next weekend.
Rochester is the only indie team in the MLSNEXT Pro league. All the MLS teams are supposed to move
their 'II' or 'B' teams into this new league by 2023...there are still some in USL Championship league.
It must be a soccer politic fight. Rochester would most likely fit better into the USL where they
played until they folded. The supporters I mentioned earlier snuck in a 'Go Rhinos Go' into one
of their chants.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
Toronto FC II starters
Rochester NY FC starters
TFC Hugo Mbongue (83) takes opening kickoff.
TFC defenders try to keep RNY out of box.
Rochester Ian Garrett (4) holds up TFC Jordan Perruzza (77).
TFC Hugo Mbongue (83) tries to rolls pass to TFC Steffen Yeates (72)
Rochester Ian Garrett cornerkick has players leap for header.
Rochester Edward Williams (8) takes second half kickoff.
TFC Adam Pearlman (51) rolls pass forward to TFC Alec Dias (86).
TFC Steffan Yeates (72) chips freekick into box.
TFC Antony Curic (65) works ball out of box.
Rochester players and staff salute their travelling fans after the game.
Game statistics from MLS NEXT Pro website:
TFC II RNY FC
Statistics
Possession % 61% 39%
Shots 9 10
Shots on goal 4 6
Blocked shots 3 1
Total passes 566 360
passing accuracy % 85.3% 79.4%
Corners 8 4
Crosses 6 10
Offsides 5 3
Duels won 35 38
Tackles won 11 15
Saves 5 4
Clearances 6 16
Fouls 12 19
Yellow cards 2 2
Red cards 0 0
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