July 2, 2023 League1 Ontario...Woodbridge Strikers vs Electric City FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday July 2, 2023 League1 Ontario Men's Premier League game between Woodbridge Strikers
and Electric City FC held at Vaughan Grove in Vaughan at 7:00pm.

Woodbridge Strikers (all blue uniforms, shite numbers)

........................76 Daniel Clark
2 Luca Pinto...4 Isaiah Noel...15 Elijah Viet Le...25 Joseph Fini
............17 Gregory Moulopoulos...6 Jacob Spizzirri...18 Paolo Migotto
..........24 Franco Digiovanni...10 Ignazio Miccilli (cpt)...9 Ronaldo Marshall

Subs:...1 Alexander Pothemont (gk)...3 Gianluca Condello...5 Luka Vasic...8 Navid Rahman
...11 Issac Emmanuel...12 Carmine Fiore...13 Johnpaul Riqelme...16 Sean Costa...19 Dante Ruddock
team officials...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...assistant coach Fabio Panetta...manager John Scarlato
...equipment manager Kelvin Friseiro...therapists David Lisi and Furkan Demir
suspended players: Aidan Hugo, Exosse Kadiebue...team official John Scarlato

Electric City FC (all white uniforms, black names (!) and numbers, yellow right sleeve, black left sleeve)

............................18 Svyatoslav Artemenko
15 Abel Nesibu...4 Bradley Heath (cpt) 13 Max Bodurtha...5 Benjamin Fortuin
23 Connor Wilson...10 Daniel Oshana...11 Tomas Alvarez...6 Logan Rieck
..................19 Benjamin Vyfschaft...17 Elijah Seymour

Subs:...1 Owen Schultz (gk)...7 Nigel Buckley...12 Ben Creswick...21 Liam Vivian
27 Sebastian Cochrane...30 Isaiah Wisdom...77 Alex Lewis
team head coach Randy Ribeiro...assistant coaches Michael Marcoccia and Colin Hoey
...therapist Dan Calow
suspended player: Baldwin Gbinobaro

Game officials:...referee Ryan Schwenger...referee's assistants Joey Filipic and Daniel Jacob
...fourth oficial Petros Vasilos...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 7:03pm...Woodbridge defends north end.
1 min...EC Rieck cross on lefft side of box is blocked and cleared by defender.
3 min...Electric City Tomas Alvarez GOAL...Alvarez following up on a rush that had stopped on the right side
of the box blasts 10 yarder from right into top right corner of net past goalie Daniel Clark.
7 min...WS Moulopoulos 20 yard roller along right end line has defender clear from near post.
8 min...WS Digiovanni rolls 25 yarder up middle unplayed and out for goalkick on left.
9 min...EC Vyfschaft receives through ball pass up middle at 30 yards and low 20 yard shot is stopped point blank
by the sprawling goalie at 12 yards.
11 min...EC Vyfschaft can't control pass up middle and goalie clears away at 10 yards.
12 min...EC Fortuin low cross from 20 yards on left bends behind net.
13 min...WS Fini cross from left along 7 yard line has WS Digiovannni mid air kick from 7 yards on right that's shot wide right.
16 min...EC Vyfschaft 25 yard freekick blast up middle is wide left of net.
16 min...WS Digiovanni wins cornerkick on right when he slides for high cross from left over the EC box and it deflects
off defender.
17 min...WS Muccilli cornerkick from right bounces in box and through and when crossed back a defender outjumps a WS player
on right to clear.
21 min...EC Seymour run down left and low pass in box has WS player clear.
24 min...WS Fini chips pass from left upfield from 40 yards to WS Marshall who stops it then shoots 15 yarder up middle wide
left which goalie catches anyway.
25 min...EC players bumps WS Digiovanni off ball on right causing it to roll over end line for goalkick.
31 min...EC Alvarez dragged down on break in at WS 50 yard and is injured.
33 min...EC YELLOW card...Wilson earns it for kicking ball away up middle at center line after whistle.
36 min...EC Rieck on left at 15 yards on EC Seymour shoots low 12 yarder up middle that goalie saves but rebound pops left
and has time to pick it up.
38 min...WS Noel makes stops on two EC players on left side of box then dribbles out of box to start rush.
39 min...WS sub...Ruddock replaces Migotto.
40 min...EC Vyschaft low cross from 20 yards on right. EC Seymour dummies shot but lets ball get by in center. EC Rieck
blasts 15 yarder from left that goalie palms over bar.
41 min...EC cornerkick is wasted as the ball is cleared before worked into box.
42 min...WS Marshall gets blast blocked by defender on 8 yard kick and the shot pinballs around on deflection.
43 min...WS YELLOW card...Moulopoulos earns it for 'diving to draw a Penalty kick' when he trips on right on check with defender.
45 min...WS Pinto dribbles from right forward and passes to a WS player who passes to left as he's being crowded out.
WS Ruddock wins a cornerkick on his deflection off defender.
47 min...WS Muccilli cornerkick from left has EC Vyfschaft pop up header on right and goalie catches.
48 min...half ends 7:51pm.
Sometime in the half Fortuin (wearing #5) has to change his shirt to the unnamed #24 as he'd been bloodied.

Halftime: The subs on both teams warm up. Only the EC starters go back to the dressing room about 300 yards away with the detour.

Second Half:...starts 8:07pm.
halftime sub:...WS Vasic replaces Viet Le.
48 min...WS Moulopoulos chips from right to left side of box but defender gets to it first and clears.
50 min...EC player's cross is between players from right and EC Vyfschaft is in clear at 12 yards and shoots down middle
that goalie palms up and over bar then catches it on the way down.
51 min...EC Vyfschaft gets ball in clear at 10 yards for shot that goalie makes save on then smothers.
53 min...Electric City Connor Wilson GOAL...EC Logan Rieck chips ball between defenders at 8 yards to Wilson at 6 yards
even with with right post and he rolls shot into left corner of net.
54 min...WS Ruddock rush to left end line but pushes ball over the line trying to cross.
56 min...EC Wilson gets high through ball at 25 yards and midair 15 yard shot has goalie palm over bar.
57 min...WS sub...Emmanuel replaces Marshall.
...........WS sub...Condello replaces Pinto.
58 min...EC Rieck high cornerkick from right is caught by leaping goalie in crowd of players.
62 min...EC sub...Creswick replaces Rieck.
64 min...Woodbridge Franco Digiovanni RED card...Digiovanni earns a direct ejection from referee Ryan Schwenger for
flattening EC Connor Wilson at the EC 35 yard line. Wilson had to be helped from the field by the trainer and a teammate
to limp of the field and was replaced by Liam Vivian.
66 min...EC sub...Vivian replaces injured Wilson.
68 min...WS Moulopoulos rolls ball from 35 yards on left forward. WS Muccilli rolls 20 yard shot from left wide right of net.
69 min...WS Ruddock low cross from left into box has EC Fortuin clear.
70 min...WS Fini 35 yard freekick from left has goalie miss catch attempt but WS Emmanuel can't turn header on right end line.
72 min...EC sub...B uckley replaces Vyfschaft.
73 min...WS sub...Costa replaces Muccilli.
75 min...EC Seymour cornerkick from right has EC Heath in crowd in box hip bump ball popping it over bar.
76 min...WS Ruddock rushy on left has 25 yard shot on far left past goalie at 12 yards but wide right for goalkick.
77 min...Woodbridge Gregory Moulopoulos GOAL...Moulopoulos is tapped a ball and blasts 25 yarder between players
and into top left corner of net past goalie Svyatoslav Artemenko.
79 min...EC player's rush on right can't win Penalty kick on push in box near endline.
81 min...EC Fortuin at 40 yards on left sends low pass forward. EC Buckley spins around WS Noel to get away low 22 yarder
from left that goalie smothers.
82 min...EC Buckley holds back but finally takes 15 yard shot on right that's blocked by defender.
83 min...WS sub...Riqelme replaces Noel.
88 min...Electric City Nigel Buckley GOAL...EC Elijah Seymour gets pass up right and leads 3 on 1 rush and chips centering
pass to Buckley who shoots low 10 yarder that banks in off the right post.
89 min...WS sub...Rahman replaces Fini.
91 min...EC Creswick is injured in kicking own ankle and needs trainer.
92 min...EC sub...Wisdom replaces injured Creswick.
94 min...Electric City Isaiah Wisdom GOAL...EC Daniel Oshana's 60 yard chip finds Wisdom 1 on 1 with defender
at 25 yards who slips and Wisdom scores on 18 yard shot from slight left.
96 min...game ends 8:58pm.

Final Score:....Woodbridge Strikers.......1.......Electric City FC.........4......

When Electric City scored so early I thought I wasn't going to see a one-sided game but the game evened out with Woodbridge playing even but many rushes amounting to 3 v 6 as suits the Strikers defensive style. Even after tonight, their goals against is only 21 in 13 games. They've only scored 16 so in the standings are in the middle of the pack. Their goal was after they went down a man so there was a chance as Electric City gave up a 2-0 lead last Saturday to settle for a 2-2 tie against lowly FC London. I'd still give EC a 3-1 edge in good scoring chances.

91 minutes had EC's Ben Cheswick also needed help to limp off the field by a man on each side as he'd kicked his own ankle.

After each of the final two Electric City goals, the goalie punted the ball over the back fence into the parking lot. While the EC head coach said that should be a Yellow card for time wasting because his team drew a card for a player kicking a ball downfield after a whistle, the fourth official pointed out it was Woodbridge wasting their own time as the scoreboard closed in on 90 minutes and the 4 minutes added.

Woodbridge goalie Daniel Clark had to play outstanding to keep his team in the game.

Electric City's goalie Svyatoslav Artemenko has had a long journey from 2021 championship team Guelph United to a Ukrainian team to a stint in the Ukrainian army when they were invaded by Russia last year but has found a spot with Electric City this season. He didn't have much to do today (save wise) but has played every minute of every EC game this season. The back up is Owen Schultz who has found some playing time with their L1O U-21s Reserve league team.

Despite the direct Red card, referee Ryan Schwenger gave out only two Yellow cards (one to each team) and the Woodbridge one was for Gregory Montopoulos diving in the EC box to try to draw a Penalty kick. The EC Yellow was for kicking the ball away after a whistle but I wouldn't exactly call this game tame.

One complaint I had about Electric City last year was their away uniforms had yellow numbers on white which were about impossible to read from more than 20 yards away. (Nightmares of the old Sanjaxx Lions team and the year Masters FA wore red on graduated pink to red jersey). This year they use black numbers on white and now also have names on the back of their jerseys making them the only team I've seen season with this feature. That puts them in a class with CPL and MLS NEXT Pro for professionalism. Probably paid for by the sponsorship of the local Mercedes Benz dealer emblem on their chests.

Electric City now has the coaching tandem of Randy Ribeiro as head coach and Michael Marcoccia as one of the assistant coaches—their roles were reversed during their time with FC London. I was surprised they were both here because their L1O Women's team had a home game against Alliance United in the afternoon. Wee ha! 128 km away! Ribeiro answered me that it only took him an hour to get here. A good day for them as the afternoon game they won 1-0. Woodbridge's womens team had just finished playing when I arrived and had beaten Guelph 7-0.

Woodbridge is using their field turf field as they do for their L1O games. I was surprised that their grass field is razed and there were over 200 bags of cinders in a fenced off area. The plans are that this field too will be field turf and there will be permanent stands erected around it. Finishing time for the project originally, according to their media guy, was to be July 2023 but he says more likely it will be ready for the start of next season.

Woodbridge's record falls to 4 wins, 4 losses, 5 ties for 17 points which is good for twelfth place in the twenty-one team league. A let down after their three in a row results of 1-1 ties on the road against tough teams North Toronto, Pro Stars, Burlington, and their 2-1 home win last week against powerhouse club Sigma.

Ten teams have broken away from the pack by a now six point margin for the six playoff spots available. More important for Woodbridge is the combined (weighted 75% 2022, 100% 2023) points total that decides who survives the Top 12 split and stays in the Premier Division. They look like they've slipped to twelfth place at 38.75 points with Burlington winning earlier this week to take over eleventh and thirteenth place Hamilton United winning to close in at 38.25 points. There are now really only 13 teams competing for these Top 12 spots breaking away from the pack.

The win for Electric City improves their record to 7 wins, 3 losses, 3 ties for 24 points and are in ninth place only 1 point out of the 2023 playoffs. In the combo standings they are tenth with a comfortable 9 point buffer over the thirteenth place team. They need to stay in the Premier for any chance for the owner's plans to get into the Canadian Premier League.

My post game interview with Electric City head coach Randy Ribeiro: (6 minutes, 54 seconds)
Your thoughts on tonight's game?
Where are most of the player's from?
How many players have come over from FC London?
Do the players actually live in Peterborugh?
How did you acquire Guelph United's goalie Svyatoslav Artemenko?
What are your goals of surviving the Top 12 split and also making this year's top six for the playoffs?
Is your owner Greg Couch still interested in getting your city a CPL team?

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01

Woodbridge Strikers starters