July 14, 2023 CPL York United FC vs Pacific FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Friday July 14, 2023 Canadian Premier League game between York United FC
and Pacific FC played at York Lions Stadium in North York at 7:30pm ET.

York United FC (green socks and shirts, blue shorts, white names and numbers)

....................1 Niko Giantopoulos
16 Max Ferrari...6 Roger Thompson (cpt)...3 Tass Moudoukoutas...2 Paris Gee
........33 Matthew Baldisimo...32 Brem Soumaoro...10 Oussama Alou
........12 Clement Bayihya...24 Osaze De Rosario...11 Kevin Santos

Subs:...67 Eleias Himaras (gk)...8 Elijah Adekugbe (mid)...9 Brian Wright (fwd)...14 Theo Afework (fwd)
...28 Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare (mid)...37 Trivine Esprit (mid)...47 Camilo Vasconcelos (mid)
team officials:...head coach Martin Nash...assistant coach Mauro Eustaquio...goalkeeper coach Camilo Benzi
...doctors Jim Niu and Hrishov Sarker...kitman John Townsend...athletic trainers Michael Higbee and Laura Ozoria
...other Nolan Gilmour

Pacific FC (turquoise socks and shirts, white shorts, gold names and numbers)

.........................1 Emil Gazdov
2 Georges Mukumbilwa...4 Paul Amedume...26 Thomas Meilleur-Giguere...3 Eric Lajeunesse
.......34 Manuel Aparicio...7 Steffen Yeates...28 Cedric Toussaint
.......11 Jjosh Heard (cpt)...10 Adonijah Reid...31 Kekuta Manneh

Subs:...12 Kieran Baskett (gk)...5 Bradley Vliet (def)...8 Pierre Lamouthe (mid)...9 Easton Ongaro (fwd)
...13 Kunle Dada-Luke (fwd)...21 Ayman Sellouf (fwd)...23 Djenairo Daniels (fwd)
team officials:...head coach James Merriman...assistant coach Armando Sa...goalkeeper coach Pedro Guerreiro
...phuysiotherapist Julian Micolta...kitman Cliff Glendale...other Victor Da Costa Ferreira and Jamar Dixon

Game officials:...referee Carly Shaw-MacLaren...referee's assistants Melissa Snedden and Mehmet Sen
...fourth official Fabrizio Stasolla...(all black uniforms)...referee asssessor Gord Arrowsmith

First Half:...game starts 7:37pm...York defends south end on this mild evening with a hazy sky casting
no shadows. As soon as the whistle blew, the supporters section in the endzone released blue smoke.
20 sec...Pac goalie dives to left to smother roller into box.
45 sec...York De Rosario low shot from 15 yards on left is wide left of net.
2 min...York De Rosario is checked off ball at 12 yards before he can take shot.
3 min...York Bayiha cuts in along right end line and wins cornerkick.
3 min...York Alou cornekrick from left has York Mourdoukoutas leap and 6 yard header in middle is popped over net.
5 min...York Alou and York Santos give and go on left and Alou crosses to center of box is headed away by defender.
8 min...York Ferrari is injured making a clearance at York 28 yard line by Pac Aparicio.
9 min...York Santos and York Alou on give and go in on left Pac box and Santos shoots wide right from 8 yards.
10 min...Pac Manneh high cross from 30 yards on left lands wide right over end line.
12 min...Pac Yeates low shot down middle from 18 yards has goalie dive left to push ball away.
13 min...Pac Reid cornerkick from left is cleared from box.
15 min...Pac Heard is injured at Pac 25 yard line near left sideline by York Santos.
16 min...Pac Reid is surrounded on left end line in 6 yard box and passes out and Pac Toussaint blasts 22 yarder well over net.
17 min...Pac Yeates is injured at center line and needs trainer. Another face injury is the third to Pac so far.
19 min...York Soumaoro makes key sliding check to prevent Pac Heard getting to ball on right edge of box giving up throw-in.
20 min...Pac Lajeuness is checked off ball by York Ferrari on left side of box.
21 min...Pac Mukumbilwa ends Pac pressure with cross from right over left side of box.
23 min...Pac Aparicio blasts 23 yard freekick down middle that hits bar near top left corner and deflects back out. A Pac player
heads ball back into box but play is whistled down as the ball is knocked off its moorings. Wow that was one powerful shot!
29 min...Pac Manneh 20 yard shot up middle is blocked.
31 min...York Bayiha cross from 20 yards along right end line has defender on right side of 6 yard box pop header so York Santos
can't get to it and send over to left side. York Gee chips ball back into 6 yard box and Pac Lajeunesse head ball away.
32 min...York YELLOW card...Gee earns it for tackle on Pac Heard at Pac 50 yard line.
35 min...York De Rosario slides to redirect 8 yarder that tips off defender wide left.
36 min...York Alou cornerkick from left is headed away by nearest guy on left post. Alou eventual recross is headed away
on pop up header by defender out right side of box.
40 min...York Bayiha wins cornerkick on rush down left.
40 min...York Alou cornerkick from left is high and over players landing on right and over end line.
43 min...York Alou taps ball forward to York Bayiha on left in box is deflecgted by Pac Mukumbilwa behind endline but is flagged offside.
45 min...half ends at 8:22pm with no extra time added.

Halftime: Bot teams' subs warm up.

Second Half:...starts 8:39pm.
Halftime subs:...Pac Sellouf replaces Yeates.
..................Pac Dada-Luke replaces Mukumbilwa.
45 min...Pac Heard can't get to through ball pass up right side and out for goalkick.
47 min...York YELLOW card...Moudoukoutas earns it for tripping up Pac Manneh at York 40 yard line near left left sideline.
49 min...Pac Dada-Luke is tipped up on sliding tackle by York Gee on right edge of box for freekick.
50 min...Pac Reid freekick from 10 yard line near right edge of box is instead passed out to Pac Toussaint who skies 23 yarder
well over net.
52 min...York Alou blasts 25 yarder on right over net after receiving short pass from far right.
54 min...Pac Heard fast rush up right side after quick freekick pass but his cross is over box and wide left.
55 min...York Ferrari low cross from 25 yards on right has defender clear at 12 yards on right side of box.
58 min...Pac Alou freekick from 35 yard line sideline has goalie punch ball away up middle to 25 yards.
59 min...Pac YELLOW card...Toussaint earns it for trip of York Santos rushing up middle at Pac 40 yard line.
60 min...York Alou cross from 22 yards on far right is cleared from box.
61 min...Pac sub...Daniels replaces Manneh.
62 min...Pac Aparicio receives quick throw-in from left, turns and fires 20 yarder wide right.
63 min...York Ferrari cross from right is cleared in box.
63 min...York Alou 20 yard shot from right is well wide left.
64 min...Pac Toussaint blasts 20 yarder well over net as he runs into York Baldisimo after receiving cross.
65 min...Pac YELLOW card...Daniels earns it for complaining about a freekick call that he wasn't involved in.
66 min...Pac Sellouf pushes pass too far forward for Pac Reid at 22 yards and it rolls to goalie.
68 min...Pac Sellouf shoots 12 yarder from left that goalie dives to save.
68 min...York defender slides to clear at 5 yards.
69 min...Pac Reid has 12 yarrd shot that goalie palms over bar. Pac Daniels had tapped him pass.
70 min...Pac Sellouf cornerkick from right has Pac Lajeunesse leaps to head 12 yarder over bar in crowd of players.
72 min...York sub...Adekugbe replaces Baldisimo.
............York sub...Wright replaces Alou.
73 min...Pac YELLOW ard...Lajeunesse earns it for shirt grab on York Ferrari at Pac 33 yard line on right.
74 min...York Santos 35 yard freekick from right has defender clear out left for throw-in.
76 min...Pac Dada-Luke runs ball over end line on right after poor touch to get by defender.
77 min...Pac Sellouf on left crosses from 30 yards and defender on right heads away.
78 min...Pac Reid passes by three defender to give ball to Pac Sellouf for a long runs up the middle. Pac Daniels slides
and kicks 8 yarder over net.
78 min...Pac sub...Lamouthe replaces Reid.
80 min...York Thompson makes key header to clear ball in York box.
81 min...York Bayiha stops and cuts 25 yarder on left well over net.
81 min...Pac Sellouf cross to middle so Pac Aparicio takes shot that goalie saves in top left corner.
82 min...York sub...Esprit replaces Bayiha.
83 min...Pac Aparicio cross from left end line has defender head away in 6 yard box.
86 min...York Santos low 22 yard shot from left is stopped and cleared by defender on side of box.
86 min...York Santos 30 yard shot up middle is well over net.
87 min...Pac sub...Ongaro replaces Heard.
............York sub...Gagnon-Lapare replaces De Rosario.
89 min...York YELLOW card...Ferrari earns it for bump at Pac 50 yard line preventing breakout.
90 min...York defenders gather into a big mob preventing a Pac shot down the middle.
90 min...York Gee is injured at Pac 35 yard line and needs trainer.
92 min...play resumes with York playing short.
93 min...York Mourdoukoutas blasts away clearance of Pac Sellouf cross from left into box.
94 min...Pac player is injured at Pac 45 yard line.
95 min...game ends 9:29pm.

Final Score:...York United.........0..........Pacific FC..........0..........

Attendance was not announced but it later showed up on the league website as 1464. The crowd did look larger than the early season crowds. The supporters were trying to impress potential buyers of the team. The investors are the '777' group and what I was told immediately but some is that that means they're American and they have purchased other teams around the world but have been accused of selling off the valuable Pacific for a quick buck and leaving the clubs in debt. The club is currently owned by the league but at least has not been run like the FC Edmonton team their last years where they were completely manned by players 'on loan' from the other teams in the league.

It was 'Latin Night' tonight with with a DJ set up on the concourse playing Latino music. That music isn't really strange to the fans here as Bad Bunny and Pitbull tunes are no strangers to every other game.

York needed a good game to recover from the 4-0 loss here last Sunday. They played a lot better but it was so close to being a loss. Not many chances for York on the offence as they were getting by without the suspended striker Austin Ricci and midfielder Molham Babouli. Osaze De Rosario was really the only forward for York. Brian Wright came into the game at 72 minutes and wasn't able to score--0 goals all season.

One lesson learned from the last game was to have some young players on the bench. When York was getting blown out by Forge, there was no young players to bring off the bench to use some of their U-21 players to make the 2000 minute required to make the quota and penalty for missing it is to be disqualified from making the playoffs.

Tonight they had backup goalie Eleias Himaras who wasn't used. Forward Theo Afework and midfielder Camilo Vasconcelos who didn't get into the game. Midfielder Trivine Esprit was put in at 82 minutes so York counts all of 8 minutes to the 2000 as they had no U-21 starters. The game was in doubt until the end so there weren't any U-21s put in and risk losing the points. York head coach Martin Nash said that Vasconcelos will be allowed to go back and play for L1O Guelph United in their Sunday game so he will get some playing time.

Marki Voytsekhovskyy will miss the rest of the season with a broken foot. He was the last U-21 player to be a starter and earned all of 9 minutes before needing to be replaced with this injury. He injured it during the June 21st game here on June 21st against HFX Wanderers but it took until this week to establish that he would not return at all this season. Before the game U-21 Noah Abatneh was walking around the hallways with his arm in a sling. He broke his hand during training with the team earlier in the week. Nash said U-21 reinforcements are on the way. Some site had stats that York needs to average 128 U-21 minutes per game to meet the 2000 before the season ends.

Niko Giantosopoulos earned the shutout for York and was named the player of the game for all the work he needed to do to earn York a point. The defensive four of Max Ferrari, Roger Thompson, Tass Mourdoukoutas, and Paris Geel limited the shots. Pacific played much better in the second half and looked more dangerous. 19 year old Emil Gazdov earned the shutout for Pacific. He was rotated into the squad to give regular goalie Kieran Baskett a rest. He didn't have too much to do tonight as York only had one shot on net. His backline of Georges Mukumbilwa, Paul Amedume, Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, and Eric Lajeunesse provided protection.

This was the third game between these teams this season. Pacific won the first one 4-1 and their last one was decided in the last minutes with Pacific winning 1-0...both games out in Victoria. Final regular season game will be September 17th at York Lions Stadium. Maybe York can win it?

York have earned only eight points in eight home matches and have four home losses.

York's record improves to 6 wins, 7 losses, 3 ties for 21 points. That keeps them in fourth place at the moment but there are three more games this weekend so they may drop another position or two. The most important thing was to get a result to recover from the 4-0 loss they suffered at home here to Forge FC last Sunday. They have the most losses of every team except last place Vancouver FC who have 8. Their 6 wins is tied for second only behind first place Pacific. What's boosting them is they are tied with the fewest ties in the league. So many games involving other teams ended in ties early in the season helped York in their win one/lose one game pattern.

Pacific's record improves to 7 wins, 2 losses, 5 ties for 26 points. They still hold on to first place but as their coach said after the game, it was a tough week for them. They started last Saturday with a 2-1 home loss to Cavalry FC then flew to Halifax where they suffered a 2-1 loss against HFX Wanderers before tonight's game. Three games in 7 days is tiring but it does get two road games out of the way. I wonder if the league will make the schedule more like the NHL with longer road trips to cut down on travel?

Next game for York will be next Sunday away in Winnipeg to play Valour FC and they will be back in Toronto on Sunday July 30th against HFX Wanderers who came here and tied York 2-2. This won't be a midweek game so there will be more travelling fans than that Wednesday night game.

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

York United FC starters

Pacific FC starters

Supporters show off for the '777' group as potential team buyers.

York Clement Bayiha (12) takes opening kickoff

York Brem Soumaoro (32) dribbles in midfield.

Pacific Steffen Yeates (7) is looking to pass deep in the York end.

Pacific Georges Mukumbilwa (2) gets ready to cross into York box.

York Paris Gee (2) chips ball forward.

Pacific Adonijah Reid (10) takes second half kickoff.

Pacific player crosses in from right.

Handshakes after the game.

Game stats (from canpl.ca)
 
                      York United FC    Pacific FC  
Possession                   55.9%          44.1%   
Duels success rate           48.6%          51.4%
Aerial duels won             55.0%          45.0%
Interceptions                 6              8
Offsides                      4              0
Corners won                   3              2
Passes                      552            433
Long passes                  49             43
Passing accuracy             88.4%          86.6%
Passing acc in opp half (%)  78.3%          75.8%
Crosses                      16             14
Crossing accuracy            12.5%          14.3%
Goals                         0              0
Shots                        11             12
Shots on target               1              4
Blocked shots                 1              1
Shots outside the box         7              7
Shots inside the box          4              5
Shooting accuracy             9.1%          33.3%
Tackles                      16             20
Tackles success rate         31.3%          70.0%
Clearances                   13             17
Fouls conceded               15             16
Yellow cards                  3              3
Red cards                     0              0

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