April 11, 2025...League1 Ontario...Alliance United vs Cambridge United game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Friday April 11, 2025 League1 Ontario Men's L1 Cup game between Alliance United
and Cambridge United played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 7:30pm.

Alliance United (white socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)

...................0 Liam Janicki-Zeballos
36 Quinton Chung...40 Alexi Ivanov...41 Jordy Sindjui-Sibopa...37 Nirun Sivananthan (cpt)
30 Thomas Tome...25 Colin Pate...38 Atchu Sivananthan...32 Michael Osorio
.................39 Kingsley Belele...27 Adrian Panaite

Subs:...1 Liam Glas (gk)...24 Jacob Prested...26 Andy Zhang...28 Kato Tapalaga
...29 Matthew Glalvanov...31 Russell Stewart...33 Isa Abulaj
team officials:...head coach Eric Nelson...team manager Ilya Orlov...physiotherapist Daniel Dalla Rosa
...other official Goran Stakic

Cambridge United (all navy uniforms, pink numbers)

...................1 Sam Schafer
......5 Harvey Marchant (cpt)...13 Saab Kohar...9 Tristan Greenidge
2 Matteo Grant...15 Nikolas Antolcic...6 Marko Lesic...8 Alex Amaral...7 Colin Gander
............21 Luca Romano...10 Christian Ferraro

Subs:...23 Taras Obelnicki (gk)...3 Gamtessa Berehe...4 Evan Antolcic...11 Jon Elezi
...12 Gregor McKeon...14 Calum Heimbecker...16 Landon Paton...17 Denilson Clamp...19 Dylan Mun
team officials:...head coach Jon Morgan...assistant coaches Mickael Rougette, Andrew Agyare-Tabbi, and Neil Wilson
...physio Anna Leuenberger...kitman Phoenix Stone

Game officials:...referee Yura Fedorak...referee's assistants Farzan Mirazazadeh and Martin Harrison
...fourth official Ryan Schwenger...(chartreuse shirts and socks, black shorts)...match commissioner Bryan George

First Half:...starts 7:28pm...AU defends east end on this cold and wet night.
2 min...AU Osorio cornerkick from right is high and over to left side of box and headed up in crowd of players by AU player
but ball is cleared.
3 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan 55 yard freekick has goalie run to edge of box to push ball away. AU Atchu Sivananthan
shoots 25 yard loose ball wide left of net.
8 min...AU Osorio, AU Panaite, and AU Belele involved in set of passes from left centering ball but Belele is called offside
on his 22 yard shot.
10 min...Cambridge Christian Ferraro GOAL...AU goalie Liam Janicki-Zeballos picks up CU forward pass sent too far
ahead but throws clearance directly to CU Ferraro who steps around goalie and sends low shot up middle from 18 yards
to low left corner of empty net.
15 min...CU defender heads ball away to prevent AU Belele beating goalie to ball on right edge of box.
16 min...CU goalie makes overhead catch on near post on high AU cross from far right.
17 min...AU Nirun SSivananthan 40 yard freekick from right has goalie punch away in crowd of players in 6 yard box.
19 min...CU goalie picks up deflection into left side of box.
20 min...AU Chung chips ball forward from 30 yards but goalie is out to 15 yards to beat AU Atchu Sivananthan to breakaway.
21 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan gets pass on right and 28 yard blast hits football bar 2 feet above the soccer bar.
22 min...CU goalie beats AU Panaite to through ball pass on right.
23 min...CU Grant chips 35 yarder from right sideline that goalie beat CU Romano to catch.
24 min...AU Osorio cornerkick from left has AU Pate blast partial clearance ball up middle well over net.
27 min...AU Belele blasts 33 yard freekick from slight left well over net.
28 min...CU Grant has 18 yard shot blocked by defender.
31 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan 33 yard freekick from right has goalile in crowd of players punch ball away at 8 yards. Play is
whistled down as players clear back downfield as AU Ssindjui-Sibopa is laying injured inside the net but gets up before trainer
runs onto field.
32 min...AU Sindjui-Sibopa 15 yard chip has goaie catch in 6 yard box.
32 min...AU Ivanov is injured by knee to the groin at AU 50 yard line.
33 min...CU Antolcic fans on bouncer at 18 yards missing good scoring chance.
35 min...CU Gander rolls ball from 20 yards on left trying to beat defender and is injured on the play.
37 min...CU sub...Paton replaces injured Gander who had left field behind AU net.
39 min...AU Osorio low 22 yard shot up middle has diving goalie push ball wide right of post.
40 min...AU player sends in high cornerkick from right that's cleared on left side of box.
42 min...CU 45 yard freekick from right has defenders clear in box.
43 min...CU goal is called back for offside.
44 min...AU Pate 20 yard shot in crowd of players pops up off defender and deflects over net.
44 min...AU Osorio cornerkick from right is headed away on right side of box.
47 min...CU player shoots over net from 30 yards on left.
48 min...half ends 8:16pm.

Halftime: Only the substitutes from Cambridge stay out during halftime to warm up (meaning practice).
Everyone else went back to the dressing rooms to literally 'warm up'.

Second Half:...starts 8:31pm.
HT sub:...AU Tapalaga replaces Panaite.
48 min...AU player chests cross from right downward at 8 yard but defender clears before he can get away shot.
50 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan 15 yard shot from far right has sliding defender deflect ball wide right.
51 min...AU Osorio cornerkick from right is cleared on right. AU Atchuy Sivananthan blasts 35 yard shot up middle
off target for goalkick.
53 min...AU goalie is out to 40 yards to clear through ball.
54 min...CU Paton 25 yard cross from far left drifts behind top left corner of net.
55 min...CU player's cornerkick from right has CU Romano pop up header on far left but can't keep ball in play.
55 min...AU Osorio chips 35 yard freekick from left into box. AU Nirun Sivananthan blasts 12 yarder deflecting ball off defender.
56 min...AU Osorio cornerkick from right is cleared.
57 min...AU sub...Glavanov replaces Pate.
.............AU sub...Abdulaj replaces Nirun Sivananthan. Ivanov becomes captain.
58 min...Cambridge Christian Ferraro GOAL...Ferraro blasts 22 yarder froom slight right that deflects off defender rising
into top left corner of net.
60 min...CU sub...McKeon replaces injured Romano.
64 min...CU Ferraro cornerkick from right iss high over players in box and out left for cornerkick.
65 min...AU YELLOW card...Atchu Sivananthan earns it for bump on leaping CU player at CU 50 yard line.
66 min...CU Paton 25 yard shot from middle has diving goalie make save. CU McKeon recovers rebound and rolls 18 yard shot
wide left of post of open net.
66 min...CU McKeon is given pass up middle alone and rolls shot wide left of net.
67 min...CU Grant low 25 yard blast has diving goalie pushes wide right of post.
68 min...CU player's cornerkick from left has defenders block and clear on near post.
69 min...CU Ferraro earns a Penalty kick for a tackle just inside the box.
70 min...Cambridge Christian Ferraro GOAL...Ferraro shoots low Penalty kick to left side of net as goalie slides right.
71 min...AU sub...Stewart replaces Osorio.
71 min...CU defender does break up the forming of a 2 on 1 rush at 30 yard line.
73 min...CU goalie slides out to 15 yards to clear through ball.
74 min...CU player spins and shoots mid-air 20 yarder high and wide left of net.
75 min...CU Paton chipss 40 yarder wide right of net.
77 min...CU sub...Elezi replaces Ferraro.
...........AU sub...Prested replaces Atchu Sivananthan.
80 min...CU sub...Evan Antolcic replaces Nikolas Antolcic.
81 min...AU Chung leads rush up right and crosses to center where AU Belele can't get away 20 yard shot.
82 min...CU defender gives up cornerkick to break up AU rush.
82 min...AU Stewart cornerkick from right has two AU players tip headers across the box but not towards net.
83 min...CU defender makes key clearance with crowd of players inside CU box.
84 min...AU Tome cros from far right has defender make key clearance up the middle.
87 min...AU Prested dribbles up middle and low 18 yarder hits right post and defender clears rebound.
87 min...CU sub...Berehe replaces Grant.
88 min...CU YELLOW card...Kohar earns it for collision in which AU Prested is injured at CU 35 yard line.
89 min...AU Stewart low 35 yard freekick from left is cleared.
93 min...AU Stewart cornerkick from right is cleared from box.
93 min...game ends 9:19pm.

Final Score:...Alliance United.....0.....Cambridge United.....3.......

Attendance was about 40 on this cold and wet night on the rain slicked, slippery astroturf. It was snowing
earlier this morning at this late date! Also the game was scheduled to be played at this date and stadium
less than a week ago. That is often the problem with Cup games in past years either because it is so early in the season
or in later rounds when because of no guarantee that a team will advance, venues are often booked midweek
between league games on whatever places are available.

This was a stunning result as it was the first game of Cambridge United in the proper League1 Ontario. Previous seasons they
played in the Reserve Divisions. They are playing at the League2 level (third tier) this season. They are in the eight team Southwest Conference playing mostly against higher divisions' 'B' teams. With a rule that 'B' teams can't be promoted into the same division as their main team, that rules out out about four teams right there who are in the Championship Division (second tier). As I learned in an interview with Alliance's co-head coach Eric Nelson whose Alliance United 'B' team declined promotion last season because of the higher expenses to run a team in Championship Division, it may be that Cambridge need only beat out fellow newcomer Railway City FC of St Thomas.

I hadn't looked too close at the Cambridge United website except to see they have a full squad of players mostly from the nearby area of Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo but when I saw the lineups I recognized Harvey Merchant and Colin Gander who both played for Guelph United last season. Guelph were relegated from Premier to Championship after losing a promotion/relegation playoff game against St Catharines Roma Wolves who took their place in the top division. Gander played with CPL HFX Wanderers a few seasons ago.

Cambridge has been running youth programs since 1973 but the people of the city have roots dating back to the Galt Football Club who went down to St Louis in 1904 and won the Gold Medal in the Olympics...a record that still stands for Men's soccer.

This is now the second year of the League1 Canada app and they kept last year's player's stats. The name seemed familiar but after I got home I looked up tonight's three goal scorer Christian Ferraro and found out he played for Premier Division Burlington SC last season. So did assistant coach Neil Wilson who I interviewed last season when he was with Burlington in a game they beat Alliance 6-4.

Alliance United plays in the top tier Premier Division and have a lot of players with University of Toronto and its alumni. Long time Alliance coach Ilya Orlov was at tonight's game as the team manager but he's not the head coach anymore. He has kept his role as head coach of the University of Toronto. Co-head coaches have been named for this year. Eric Nelson was an assistant last season and head coach of the Alliance 'B' team. The other head coach is Nikola Stakic who I was told was away tonight helping coach the Toronto FC Academy's entries in the 'Generation adidas (GA) Cup' down in Florida. Very appropriate because he played on Toronto FC II over the years and just last season was still a player for Alliance. His father Goran Stakic was here tonight as a coach.

Some of the Alliance players are busy taking exams which brought to mind a Tony Curtis movie I saw as a child on TV where he was a college basketball player who couldn't play in their big game until he wrote and passed some exam. He finished it during the first half or so I remember and rushed to the stadium in time to sub in during the second half and help the college come from behind and beat the Russians(!). I thought something was up when I saw the visiting team had more subs available than the home team.

Alliance started the game dominant in possession but their shooting accuracy was poor and their goalie gifted Cambridge a goal at only ten minutes. The second half Cambridge looked much better when Alliance had to open up. Maybe the rain and wet field were the great equalizer but I felt as the game wore on that Alliance could have have played all night and they weren't going to score.

I was looking down in my notebook when the first goal was scored. I remember only missing about two goals all last season from the hundreds of goals I see between the matches I attended last year. I got a description of what happened from photographer Martin Bazyl who is always at the 'big games' of anything.

Sam Schafer earned the shutout for Cambridge. I have no criticism of him for punching away a lot of balls rather than trying to catch them with how wet it was.

The win means Cambridge moves on to the second round of the L1 Cup where their opponent will be Simcoe County Rovers who earned a bye into the second round after being a finalist in last year's revived tournament. Rovers are gunning for the Cup this year going so far as to recruit last year's leading scorer Reshaun Walkes from the winners Vaughan Azzurri. I read an article that Rovers have ambitions to become a CPL team (usually there's at least one article each year). The game will be in Barrie and Rovers are another Premier Division team so this could get ugly. Maybe rain could be the great equalizer?

Referee Yura Fedorak gave out only two Yellow cards tonight (one to each team) on a game that was mostly cleanly played. I only saw one sliding tacklethrown all game and more of that could have been dangerous. I see that he will be the referee at the York United Academy vs Sudbury Cyclones L1 Cup match on Sunday taking place after the CPL York United FC vs HFX Wanderers FC game so there's a good chance I'll see him again.

On our side of the field (players' benches) we thought the game wasn't being recorded but later we found out the game was cammed by having the camera up in the ultra small press box. The league films every game and puts them up on their YouTube channel but only the 'Game of the Week' has commentators. I expect this one will be up in a few days. I will get a chance to see the goal I missed.

Only thing about Cambridge I didn't like were their kits as the numbers were too small to see clearly and once it got dark in this dimly lit stadium it was even harder.

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com

Allied United co-head coach Eric Nelson (on right). Team official Goran Stakic is beside him.

Post game interview with Eric Nelson (5 min, 22 sec)
What happened for this stunning result?
Are a lot of players from University of Toronto or alumni?
What vibe are you expecting with even more games being held in downtown Toronto this season?
What are your ambitions for this season?
Why did you turn down automatic promotion for your Reserve team rising up from League 2 to the Championship Division?

Cambridge United head coach Jon Morgan

Post game interview with Jon Morgan (7 min, 56 sec)
What are your thoughts on tonight's game and result?
How did you fill this team with a full roster of players?
How did you convince L1O experienced stalwarts Harvey Merchant and Colin Gander to join your team?
What are you hoping to achieve this season starting in League 2?
Has any descendants from the 1904 Men's Gold Medal Olympic team spoke to your team?
(Note Cambridge is a city formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of three cities including Galt)

Allied United starters