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September 24, 2023 MLS NEXT Pro...Toronto FC vs Crown Legacy FC (game report by Rocket Robin)
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Result and details of the Sunday September 24, 2023 MLS NEXT Pro game between Toronto FC II and Crown Legacy FC
played at York Lions Stadium in North York at 2:00pm.
Toronto FC II (all red uniforms, white names and numbers)
........................40 Adisa De Rosario
33 Reshaun Walkes...51 Adam Pearlman (cpt)...89 Matthew Medeiros...62 Rohan Goulbourne...73 Jesus Batiz
..............68 Lukcas Olguin...85 Marko Stojandinovic...94 Myles Morgan
.......................70 Matthew Catavolo...83 Hugo Mbongue
Subs:...49 Baj Maan (gk)...54 Kelsey Egwu (def)...74 Kundai Mawoko (def)...78 Adamo Pantaleo (def)
...75 Luca Accettola (mid)...72 Jordan Faria (mid)...82 Julian Altobelli (mid)...86 Alec Diaz (fwd)
...91 Dekwon Barrow (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Gianni Cimini...assistant coaches Marco Casalinuovo and Yianni Michelis
goalkeeping coach David Monsalve
Crown Legacy FC (all white uniforms, black names and numbers)
..........................39 Isaac Walker
35 Nick Scardina...37 Jack Neeley...44 Joao Pedro...75 Jacob Williams
.................66 Philip Mayaka...60 Nikola Petkovic
.............36 Brandon Cambridge...58 David Poreba (cpt)...27 Nimfasha Berchimas
..........................79 Iuri Tavares
Subs:...26 Chituru Odunze (gk)...32 Hamady Diop (def)...48 Aron John (mid)...61 Gurman Sangha (mid)
...71 Josue (Rodrigues) (fwd)...72 Kimami Smith (fwd)...88 Thiago (mid)...91 Brando Bedolla (fwd)
...92 Ivan Mata (def)
team officials:...head coach Jose Ravares...assistant coaches Kevin Sawchak and Pedro Mane...goalkeeping coach Brian Edwards
Game officials:...referee Mario Al-Ayass...referee's assistants Brad Doubrough and Joey Filipic
...fourth official Ryan Schwenger...(all black uniforms)
First Half:...game starts 2:02pm...TFC defends south end on this mild afternoon with a bright sun in the south west
and a strong breeze from the south.
1 min...Crown player's cross from 25 yards on right has TFC Medeiros head ball over net from 8 yards.
1 min...Crown Petkovic cornerkick from right has TFC Mbongue head away on near post.
3 min...TFC goalie catches ball over head of Crown Poreba at 12 yards.
4 min...Crown Berchimas 22 yard shot from left is deflected wide left of net for cornerkick.
4 min...Crown Pedro cornerkick from lelfft is over players in box.
6 min...Crown Scardina cross from 28 yards on far right has goalie out to 5 yards to punch ball through box out left side.
9 min...TFC Mbongue on break from 55 yards but Crown Scardina holds him off and he doesn't get away shot in box.
12 min...TFC Batiz rolls pass behind TFC Morgan at 15 yards to break up play as defenders recover.
14 min...Crown Jacob Williams GOAL...TFC Lucas Olguin makes an overhead clearance at 15 yards while facing goal.
Williams recovers ball at 25 yards on left and steps forward and blasts low screened shot under jumping Olguin
and between two defenders that has the ball one-bounce between near post and kneeling goalie Adisa De Rosario.
17 min...Crown Cambridge cross from 25 yards near right end line is over head of leaping Crown Berchimas and partially cleared.
Crown Poreba takes 25 yard shot up middle that's caught by goalie.
19 min...TFC Mbongue receives short pass from left and bends 25 yard shot from slight left that goalie catches low on right side
of box.
21 min...Crown Cambridge low chip of 30 yards on right towards goal has Crown Poreba cut in to stop at 8 yards but ball is cleared.
23 min...TFC Walkes blasts low 25 yard shot from right and well wide left of net.
23 min...TFC goalie is out to TFC 35 yards to clear through ball pass before Crown Scardina can get to it and sends it into the stands
for a throw-in.
26 min...TFC Mbongue is checked off pass on edge of 18 yard box without controlling and getting shot.
27 min...Crown Berchimas cuts in from right into 6 yard box and pass through ahead of two players waiting at 5 yards on left post.
30 min...Crown Pedro chips from 55 yards has TFC goallie jump over Crown Poreba at 17 yards and make catch and hang on
and he wins freekick.
31 min...TFC Medeiros gets back to poke away pass to open Crown player at 6 yards giving up cornerkick on right.
31 min...Crown Petkovic cornerkick from right is low and cleared by nearest defender.
37 min...Crown Berchimas is given pass up left sideline at 50 yards and cuts to goal. TFC Goulbourne gets back to poke check
at 15 yards on right but goaie picks up ball with no back pass call.
39 min...Crown YELLOW card...Poreba earns it for tripping TFC Batiz at Crown 50 yard line.
39 min...Crown YELLOW card...An assistant coach earns it for complaining about last card.
41 min...Ccrown Cambridge bnds in ball from 20 yards on right and TFC Pearlman heads away in 6 yard box on left.
42 min...TFC players can't get away shot on multi-pass play into right side of Crown box.
43 min...Crown Berchimas races down left sideline from 50 yards and cutting in crosses along 15 yard line and Crown Petkovic
heads 10 yarder wide right.
45 min...Crown Berchimas checks TFC Walkes off ball on left side of TFC box and rolls 12 yarder for TFC goalie to pick up.
46 min...half ends 2:48pm.
Halftime Entertainment: There's a soccer skittle ball roll of gently kicking a soccer ball into different coloured hoops.
Two adults were given three shots each with the winner getting two tickets for the MLS team's game against FC Cincinnati
next Saturday.
Only the TFC subs stayed on the field to warm up.
Second Half:...starts 3:04pm.
Halftime sub:...TFC Faria replaces Morgan.
47 min...Crown Poreba is injured at TFC 30 yard line right sideline and wins freekick.
48 min...Crown Pedro freekick from right has TFC Goulbourne head away on left side of box.
48 min...TFC goalie catches 30 yard shot up middle.
49 min...TFC Faria rushes up left and low cross has TFC Walkes one-touch low 15 yarder from right that goalie smothers
on right post.
50 min...TFC Faria after run into box and shot is deflected off defender wide right for cornerkick.
51 min...TFC Catavolo cornerkick from left has goalie leap in crowd of players and punch away.
52 min...TFC Catavolo 30 yard freekick from right has goalie punch away on left side of box in crowd of players.
53 min...Crown players cross from 25 yards on right is over players in box. Crown Petkovic has 10 yard shot deflect
for cornerkick.
56 min...TFC Batiz slides and knocks ball for cornerkick.
57 min...Crown Petkovic cornerkick from right is shot upfield but then rolled over end line without getting away a shot.
57 min...Crown Cambridge on rush has 18 yard shot over bar after play on signal given by referee when Crown player
was injured at center line.
59 min...TFC Batiz has 18 yard shot blocked by defender.
60 min...TFC YELLOW card...Pearlman earns it for shirt grab on Crown player at TFC 33 yard line.
60 min...Crown Tavares 33 yard freekick down middle is just over bar.
61 min...TFC sub...Diaz replaces Walkes.
............TFC sub...Pantaleo replaces Batiz.
64 min...Crown Poreba can't win Penalty kick cann when Crown Tavares taps him pass on right side of box and he's checked over.
65 min...Crown Jacob Williams GOAL...Crown Nikola Petkovic takes high cornerkick from right has leaping
Crown Iuri Tavares pop up header in crowd of players on right side of box at 8 yards over to left and Williams steps
forward and blasts low 15 yarder from left past diving goalie to short corner.
69 min...Crown YELLOW card...Berchimas earns it for kicking ball out at TFC Olguin after he was knocked over to near left
corner flag in TFC end.
70 min...Crown Williams heads ball in Crown box at 5 yards through and out right side in defensive play.
74 min...TFC sub...Barrow replaces Mbongue. TFC Medeiros was down injured in the TFC box at the time.
77 min...Crown Nikola Petkovic GOAL...Crown Brandon Cambridge on run down far right sends low cross
along 7 yard line between crowd of players for charging Petkovic on slight right to blast low 10 yarder to left side of net.
78 min...TFC sub...Accettola replaces Catavolo.
78 min...Crown YELLOW card...Petkovic earns it for delaying TFC freekick.
80 min...TFC DiaZ gets pass at 10 yards on right and shoots 7 yarder hitting outside webbing of net.
81 min...Crown Tavares is held back by TFC Pearlman from getting shot on run to end line and ball is cleared.
82 min...Crown Cambridge and Crown Petovic miss great chances intise TFC box.
83 min...Crown Iuri Tavares GOAL...A TFC clearance from right end line has a Crown player pop up a header forward
from 10 yards to Crown Nick Scardina who volleys centering pass over charging goalie across to Tavares who steps back
and pops header from 7 yards which drops into open left side of open net.
83 min...Crown sub...Thiago replaces Poreba.
.............Crown sub...Josue replaces Petkovic.
.............Crown sub...John replaces Williams.
.............Crown sub...Diop replaces Berchimas.
85 min...TFC Faria 35 yard freekick from slight right is stopped by defenders at 20 yards.
86 min...Crown Bedolla replaces Tavares.
88 min...TFC Medeiros is injured in center circle and play continues as Crown players work their way into TFC box
but can't get away shot on multi-pass play.
...Medeiros needs the trainer with a leg injury and eventually the EMS workers are brought in and he's wheeled off
the field in a hospital gurney.
94 min...Play resumes.
95 min...Crown Neeley catches TFC Diaz at 20 yards and runs him to cornerflag without giving him a shot.
96 min...game ends 3:54pm.
Final Score:......Toronto FC II......0.........Crown Legacy FC.......4.......
Attendance was only about 350 on this mild and sunny afternoon. If it wasn't for the youth club from some team with an 'R' logo bringing enough kids to escort each player and hold the flags stretched out for the anthems with almost as many parents, this would have been brutal. Crowd size would have been down for a number of reasons. TFC were eliminated from playoff contention about three weeks ago. Also in an MLS fluke, the Toronto FC match against New York City FC was postponed from last night as a pipe burst preventing the game being played at Red Bull Arena (which is the home of the New York Red Bulls) but the MLB baseball team was playing at NYCFC home of Yankee Stadium this weekend so the soccer team moved. The postponed match was played with a starting time of 1:00pm so it was one half ahead of our game and people may have stayed home to watch it or NFL Football. With the MLS taking place at the same time TFC II couldn't bring in any unused subs to today's game. TFC II's regular goalie Luka Gavran was called up and made his first MLS start and saved a Penalty kick with his trailing leg. He got a lot of Penalty kick practice in all those NEXT Pro PK shootouts to decide 'a bonus point' after a tie game. Today's stop was in a losing cause as TFC were beaten 3-0. Frequent TFC/TFC II loanee Themi Antonoglou was a halftime sub and was credited with their first shot on net at 69 minutes (well that answered the reason the highlight package did not show any TFC offensive plays until then). Interesting two weeks of goaltending moves involving TFC II. Usual starter Luka Gavran moved up to the MLS team to back up Tomas Romero as two of their goalies are injured. TFC II recalled the loan of Adisa De Rosario from CPL York United FC (who groundshare this stadium) to be their starter. Backup Nathaniel Abraham is away at the Canadian U-17 National team training camp. For the short term (translation one game) the team signed Baj Maan who was coming off a League1 Ontario championship backstopping Simcoe County Rovers. This was the last game of the regular season for all teams in the league and the league set up a Decision Day of having all the Eastern Conference teams kick off at the same time. TFC II usually plays on Friday nights. An odd number of teams in the East meant New England Revolution II who were in second place didn't play. Fans at the beginning of the game were told to stay until the end for a special surprise. What that turned out to be is the game crew opened up a large box of TFC II logo small sponge balls and players were given a sharpie to autograph and throw them into the crowd. Well there were enough that it didn't cause a stampede. I caught one standing behind all the kids and parents and had another pinball to me off a seat and roll down my empty row. I asked the autograph collector guy if he could verify them but they were smudged. I think it was Luca Accettola for the #78 and Reshaun Walkes as I saw him throw one my direction. Game stats had Crown outshooting TFC 15 to 5 with shots on goal 6 to 1. Yeah that seems to be about right. TFC played these guys hard their other two games. June 30 they were here and Crown won 2-1 with their winner goal coming in second half injury time. August 25 at Matthews North Carolina, Crown scored in injury time to get the tie then won in a shootout. Today the game was only in doubt until Crown's second goal as a lucky shot could have tied it until that point. Isaac Walker earned the shutout with a minimum amount of work. This time he came with more relatives to take cell phone pictures post game as I remembered the last time they were here I offered to take a picture of him and his mother as it looked like he was almost going to fall over the railing onto the concrete below as he tried to fit both of them into a selfie. The team also formed a circle after the game for a team talk. Last game I thought they were descendants of the Charlotte Eagles team who would come up in the 1990s and play the Toronto Lynx in the A-League and were a Christian sports ministry and this was a prayer meeting. Nope not related! Referee Mario Al-Ayass from Laval gave out five Yellow cards (four to Crown) including a rapid fire showing to Crown captain David Poreba at 39 minutes for tripping Jesus Batiz at the CL 50 yard line then an assistant coach on the bench for complaining about the call. Al-Ayass was also the referee here on May 21 for the Chicago Fire FC II game. No complaints today from the crowd as it was a game of non-contact keep away for long periods. Worst moment was at 88 minutes when TFC defender Matthew Medeiros was injured in the center circle as he jumped for a ball and play continued for Crown upfield all the way to the TFC box where a multi pass play didn't get away a shot. If they'd noticed play could have been stopped earlier. Medeiros needed the trainer but after four minutes the EMS wheeled in a gurney and he was strapped on and wheeled off with a leg injury. It look like it twisted on his landing. He looked like their best defender today with at least two headed clearances to end Crown pressure. Crown Legacy who had already clinched first place improve their record to 19 wins, 4 losses, 5 ties, and 4 shoot-out wins (winning a Penalty kick contest after a tie game to earn a bonus point) for 66 points. That's ten points more than the second place team and so much better than their MLS team Charlotte FC who are struggling well below the playoff line. TFC II finish their season at 6 wins, 14 losses, 8 ties, 3 SOW, for 29 points and finish in eleventh place out of the thirteen teams in the conference, 13 points out of the final playoff spot (seventh). This is much worse than 2022 when they (24 game season) had a record of 12 wins, 9 losses, 3 ties, and 2 SOW for 41 points and finished second and had a playoff run to the Eastern final. I have a few ideas for the drop in form which I'll outline in a later post.Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01
Toronto FC II starters
Crown Legacy FC starters
Crown Iuri Tavares (79) takes the opening kickoff.
TFC goalie Adisa De Rosario charges to edge of box to break up rush.
TFC Rohan Goulbourne (62) takes throw-in.
Crown Brandon Cambridge (36) cuts in from sideline.
TFCC Hugo Mbongue (83) has just taken the second half kickoff.
TFC Matthew Catavolo (70) sends freekick into Crown box.
Crown Iuri Tavares (79) puts freekick up the middle into TFC box.
Crown Nikola Petkovic (60) cornerkick is sent in from right.
Crown is ready to make a quadruple substitution.
TFC Matthew Medeiros (89) is down injured and EMS staff has already brought in a gurney.
TFC Matthew Medeiros (89) is wheeled off the field.
TFC II players autographing mini balls to throw into the crowd.
Stats (from MLS NEXT Pro website)
TFC II Crown Legacy
Possession % 43.9 56.1
Shots 5 14
Shots on Goal 1 6
Blocked Shots 2 3
Total Passes 454 567
Passing Accuracy % 86.8 88.7
Corners 1 6
Crosses 3 17
Offsides 0 3
Duels Won 42 37
Tackles Won 12 15
Saves 2 1
Clearances 19 5
Fouls 10 17
Yellow Cards 1 3
Red Cards 0 0
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