CSL 2011--Week 19

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Friday September 9, 2011 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Montreal Impact Academy played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

20 min...Tor Croatia Tihimor Maletic GOAL...TC goalie Antonio Ilic boots goalkick to MIA 45 yards where TC Bozenko Lesina heads the ball forward on left side and MIA Francesco Augustin gets foot to it on mid air kick it but kicks it further downfield for charging TC Hayden Fitzwilliams at 25 yards and he on 2 on 1 with Maletic centers rolling pass to him at 15 yards and he shoots low left past goalie Maxime Crepeau diving at 6 yards.

22 min...TC Ainsley Deer threads through pass from MIA 45 yards on left to charging TC Bozenko Lesina who gets to it on edge of box who is tripped up by diving goalie who gets hand to grab his foot at 12 yards on left side of box as Lesina ran past him. Goalie Maxime Crepeau is shown a Yellow card and a Penalty kick is awarded.

23 min...TC Croatia Tihimor Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick under bar down middle as goalie crumples in center of net.

29 min...MIA Alessandro Riggi receives pass at 20 yards on far left and tries to dribble by TC Halburto Harris as he cut into box but Harris grabbed him as Harris was falling and pulled him down. Riggi is awarded a Penalty kick.

30 min...MIA Alessandro Riggi blasts low Penalty kick into right corner of net as goalie Antonio Ilic dives right.

56 min...MIA Wandrille Lefevre GOAL...MIA Alessandro Riggi on rush on left sends in low cross which two well covered MIA players let get by them in box and open Lefevre blasts 15 yarder from right into top left corner of net.

60 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...TC Marin Vucemilovic-Grgic cornerkick from left hits MIA Dominique Morin in the face at 5 yards on left. The ball is cleared to MIA 40 yards and MIA players wave for the ball to be put out of play because of Morin who'd been injured. TC defender one-touch boots ball back up middle to 22 yards where TC Hayden Fitzwilliams kicks ball off MIA player and Maletic gets to ball and MIA Amine Meftouh tries to clear and deflects off Maletic's arm at 20 yards. Ball bounces forward and Maletic kicks 15 yarder forward into left side of net.

60 min...MIA RED card...Wandrille Lefevre is shown his second Yellow card and is ejected from the match by referee Sylviu Petrescu for shoving Maletic who was celebrating his goal. The MIA players were incensed that TC didn't put the ball out of play for the injury on the last play. Lefevre had picked up his first at 45 minutes of the first half.

92 min...TC Hugo Herrera wins Penalty kick when he backs into MIA Kevin Ouidio Luarca-Echeverria for bouncing pass and the ball hits Herrera's hand. Luarca had one arm around Herrera.

93 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic's Penalty kick down center is blocked by goalie in center of net diving right and Maletic takes low 12 yard rebound to center of net under goalie flipping over to left.

93 min...MIA RED card...Maxim Tissot gets straight Red card and is ejected from the match for dissent after this goal.

95 min...TC Tonci Piraja GOAL...Piraja on a give and go with Bozenko Lesina gets pass back from him at 40 yards on left and now is on a 3 on 0 rush with TC Hayden Fitzwilliams and TC Halburto Harris and he charges in from left and shoots 15 yard shot over sliding goalie at 10 yards and ball sails into center of net just under bar.

Final Score:.......Toronto Croatia.........5.........Montreal Impact Academy..........2..........

Attendance was about 120 on this mild night with the game in twilight when it started.

Tihomir Maletic scored four goals for Toronto Croatia including one Penalty kick goal and one rebound of another Penalty kick. This gives him 14 for the year and ties him for second with Stefan Vukovic from TFC Academy and both are two goals behind Richard West of Brampton City United.

The scoreline was deceptive (think Canada vs St Lucia) as this game was in doubt until injury time. At 76 minutes Kevin Ouidio Luarca-Echeverria broke through on the left and TC Halburto Harris hurried him into a 15 yard shot that the goalie came out to slide to make a point blank save. The TC goalie had to charge out at 79 minutes to break up a play just outside the box.

Toronto Croatia clinches a playoff spot with eight games until the end of the season. The win keeps them in second place with a 14-2-4 record and four points behind SC Toronto. Montreal Impact Academy stay in a tie for fourth with a 10-7-5 record.

An MIA official said after the game this was the first game back for goalie Maxim Crepeau after his knee injury playing in the first game of the U-17 World Cup for Canada against Uruguay on June 19th in a knee-on-knee collision. He couldn't be faulted on any of tonight's goals. Toronto Croatia's goalie Antonio Ilic fumbled a few high crosses but made a few good saves.

Montreal moves on to play York Region Shooters on Saturday at 5:00pm. I wonder how they'll cope with two of their players now Red carded? Toronto Croatia next plays on Sunday at 7:00pm against North York Astros.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Saturday September 10, 2011 CSL game between York Region Shooters and Montreal Impact Academy played at St Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Maple at 5:00pm.

27 min...YRS Dino Gardener GOAL...YRS Kadian Lecky on left rolls cross from 25 yards on extreme left near end line and defender stops ball at 8 yards. Gardener takes ball in middle and fires low to inside right corner of net.

35 min...YRS Desmond Humphrey GOAL...Humphrey stops cross from left at 20 yards (sent in by YRS Kadian Lecky) and turns and blasts shot from there that flying goalie Samuel Benomar gets a hand to on left but deflects ball into top left corner of net.

36 min...YRS Kadian Lecky GOAL...Lecky gets to pass sent in from YRS Mario Orestano and shoots low 12 yard shot under flying goalie into middle of net.

66 min...MIA Felix Cardin is tripped on left side of box by YRS Mario Orestano and referee Justin Tasev awards a Penalty kick.

67 min...MIA Felix Cardin blasts Penalty kick down middle and diving goalie Camilo Benzi puts his hand up and palms it over the bar. Ball hit his hand which was only about four feet off the ground as he was falling.

Final Score:........York Region Shooters..........3...........Montreal Impact Academy...........0...........

Attendance was about 100 on this warm sunny late afternoon. There were actually just about the same number of fans for the CSL Reserve League game between the Shooters 'B' and the Serbian White Eagles 'B' just held just before this game and almost the same coming in to watch the next game between Prospect FC vs SC Toronto 'B' of the Reserve League. The fans rotated out after they saw the game they wanted to see.

Montreal were in a deep hole by bringing six subs including an extra goalie for this weekend road trip to the Toronto area and then having two players Red carded (Wandrille Lefevre and Maxim Tissot both for dissent) in the game they'd played at 8:00pm against Toronto Croatia and another (Francesco Augustin) who was Yellow carded last night and the accumulation must have made him also listed on the game sheet as serving a one game suspension.

I was surprised that while the Shooters were still celebrating Dino Gardener's goal, Gardener was immediately subbed out. Desmond Humphrey was subbed in and scored within 8 minutes. Genius in coaching? Nope—I asked at halftime and it was because he had played in the Reserve League game that had just ended ten minutes before this game started.

This was defender/midfielder Taylor Lord's second game for the Shooters. He scored in last week's game against St Catharines Wolves. He returned to the CSL after being in Germany playing for the SV Morlautern 1912 team during their season which just ended. They were the champions in their league and move up a division but they're still one league away from becoming professional. They play in the town of Morlautern which is just outside Kaiserslauten. Lord wants to maintain his amateur status in the CSL at this time and had offers from five teams that respected that whereas the directors of Serbian White Eagles which was the team where he played last year wanted him to lock him up with a three year pro contract. Lord was invited for his second call up for tryouts held in Los Angeles for the Canadian Olympic team (U-23s) coached by Tony Fonseca which begins qualifying next year. The team has not been picked yet. Lord enjoys the way the Shooters are run very professionally in training.

Camilo Benzi played the best game of his season today to earn the shootout and that wasn't just because he stopped a Penalty kick.

Best non-scoring chances were at 6 minutes when YRS Chris Turner chipped in a 40 yard ball from the right and a diving YRS Kadian Lecky headed a 10 yarder on the left that the flying goalie caught on the left post. At 34 minutes YRS Jason DeThomasis charged to a ball on the left and the goalie charged out of the box and DeThomasis's 25 yard shot from the left hit the goalie in the forehead and deflected out of bounds for a throw-in. At 42 minutes MIA Kevin Luarca blasted a shot that the retreating goalie stopped point blank at 6 yards after MIA Alessandro Riggi had outjumped the goalie to head the ball loose at 10 yards. At 44 minutes YRS Desmond Humphrey sends in a low cross from the near left end line is through sliding YRS player at 2 yards and YRS Ricky Herron shoots from 12 yards on right that a defender saves on the line. At 57 minutes a ball was crossed in from the right and YRS Turner charged to head an 8 yarder down the middle that the goalie caught. A minute later YRS Lecky on a through ball on the left blasted a 12 yard shot high and wide left of the net. At 74 minutes MIA Luarca got to a cross from the left and took a 12 yard blast to the left corner of the net but the flying goalie got a hand to the ball and YRS Rick Titus scissor kicked a clearance from the box. At 78 minutes DeThomasis blasted a 40 yard freekick from the left that the goalie palmed over the net.

Shooters pull away from a tie they had in the standings with Montreal until today. YRS climb to fourth with a record of 11-5-5 for 38 points and MIA are now fifth with a record of 10-8-5 for 35 points which means they've played two more games then YRS. That would be a first round playoff match up if they started today but Serbian White Eagles, Mississauga Eagles, and Brampton City United could all catch MIA just by winning their games in hand.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Sunday September 11, 2011 CSL game between Brampton City United and London City played at Victoria Park Stadium in Brampton at 3:00pm.

2 min...BCU Judah Hernandez GOAL...Hernandez gets low pass from the left by BCU Richard West
and from 20 yards down middle takes low shot to left side of net.

26 min...London Eris Tafaj GOAL...Tafaj blasts 28 yard freekick down the middle that's into top left corner of net.

60 min...BCU Judah Hernandez GOAL...BCU Richard West rush on right passes to BCU Jeremy Shepherd who passes through to Hernandez who rolls 15 yarder under sliding goalie Fabian Knezevic at 10 yards. LC defender Erald Pope was injured at beginning of this play and was replaced by Omar Brani.

72 min...London Omar Brani GOAL...LC Christopher Harrington keeps ball in play on right sideline at 35 yards and pass forward to LC Michael Marcoccia who crosses to Brani on left who shoots 5 yarder that squeezes between post and goalie Roy Blanche.

74 min...BCU Jeremy Shepherd GOAL...BCU Richard West surrounded taps over to Shepherd at 10 yards and he shoots low from right that diving goalie gets hand to but ball rolls into left corner just over the line.

77 min...BCU Richard West GOAL...BCU Andy Garcia crosses from 12 yards on right near end line and West heads 6 yarder down middle into net over flying goalie.

81 min...BCU Richard West gets through pass from BCU Nikola Miodrag and charges in from 40 yards on left. West has goalie slide and trip him up on the left of the box. Referee Steve Senderovich gives goalie Yellow card and awards BCU a Penalty kick. West is injured and needs to be replaced.

83 min...BCU Denny Velastegui GOAL...Velastegui blasts Penalty kick to top left corner as goalie shuffles right.

Final Score:........Brampton City United........5...........London City........2..........

Attendance was about 80 people on this warm sunny day. The game was not broadcast on television and the league will be disappointed by this small crowd. There were few children here. I notice that fact every year once school starts in September which means the parents don't come either.

The scoreline was deceptive (think Canada vs St Lucia) as this game was in doubt until at least 74 minutes when BCU scored the winning goal to break a 2-2 tie and pulled away after that.

BCU started strong and had the run of play until the first London goal which came 16 minutes after their last chance before that. There was more even play after that but London would keep pumping up long balls which would be called back offside while BCU were better at passing in all directions to work their way upfield.

Richard West scored once today to bring his league leading goal total up to 17 for the season. I was asking him to help me fill in assists for the goals and he had a big ice pack on his knee. I told him on the game I saw on Friday night, Toronto Croatia's Tihomir Maletic had scored four goals. West said he wanted to take the Penalty kick on the foul that injured him but the referee told him he'd already been signalled to be subbed off.

BCU goalie today was Roy Blanche who missed the last month signing for a futsal team in Qatar but their season ended.

Best non-scoring chances were at 4 minutes when BCU Richard West blasts 22 yard shot down the middle that the goalie batted down under the bar. 11 minutes had West pass over to BCU Judah Hernandez wile both were on the rush and took a low 18 yard shot that was stopped by the sliding goalie at 10 yards tipping it for a cornerkick. At 23 minutes BCU Jeremy Shepard got past a defender's block of his shot and his 12 yard shot was saved point blank by the goalie. A minute later West leapt for a ball sent forward from 30 yards and he headed a 12 yarder over the net. The next minute had BCU Andy Garcia take a cornerkick from the right that had three BCU players jump at 5 yards near the left post and the header bounced to the goalie. 36 minutes found Shepherd take a cornerkick from the right that had Hernandez in the middle from 8 yards in crowd of players head the ball wide left. That same minute then had Garcia bend a 28 yard shot that was just wide left of the post. 46 minutes had BCU Marcus Nunes get to a ball at 10 yards and chip a shot that the goalie catches over his head. 63 minute had Hernandez cornerkick from the left be short rolled upfield to Garcia who crossed from 22 yards and the charging Shepherd head wide left from 5 yards. Injury time had LC Genti Buzali take a 30 yard freekick from the left that had the goalie able to push the ball wide right of the net.

Before the game what I thought I heard was there was to be a moment of silence to mark the tenth anniversary of 9-11. OK. People were standing and then the DJ started playing the song “I'll Be Missing You”. What? From 1997. Young people don't remember. By Puff Daddy who became P. Diddy who became Diddy. Sung with Faith Evans who is the widow of The Notorious B.I.G who the song is really dedicated to. Hmm now old folks don't remember...it contains the riff and some of the lyrics of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. Well not exactly a moment of silence. My mind was racing but it was about music as the trivia buff that I am.

Seeing London City today means that I've now seen all fourteen of the league teams at least four times.
Some of the GTA area teams I've seen between eight to eleven times already. I'll post something next month on my choice for MVP, Rookie of the Year, best team/worst team etc like I answered on a survey last year.

BCU's win today makes their record improve to 10-7-3 which means they hop over Mississauga Eagles into seventh place. London's record drops to 2-15-4 and leaves them in thirteenth out of the fourteen teams.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Sunday September 11, 2011 CSL game between North York Astros and Toronto Croatia played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 7:00pm.

25 min...Astros defender Anthony Valentine slides and trips up TC Halburto Harris on right side of box. Referee Rich Oliviera calls a Penalty kick.

26 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick low to right corner of net beyond dive of goalie Enea Perego who guessed correctly.

28 min...Astros Diego Benzi GOAL...Astros Diego Maradona cornerkick from the left has defenders clear from box. Benzi blasts the partial clearance from 40 yards on right that bends into top left corner of net beyond goalie Antonio Ilic.

35 min...Astros RED card...Goalie Enea Perego earns a direct ejection from referee Rich Oliveira when he ran out of his box to try to clear a through ball and hip checked TC Bozenko Lesina who poked the ball by him. Lesina is injured on the play. The result is only a 22 yard freekick. Astros sub off defender Brown Konguavi so back up goalie Damon Naghavi can come into the game.

53 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic GOAL...Grgic scores directly from a cornerkick on left as it bends over crowd of players to right side of net.

76 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic cross near right end line has Astros Diego Benzi have ball hit his hand at 5 yards. This infraction was signalled by the referee's assistant as it was from a tough angle.

77 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick to right side of net halfway up beyond goalie.

85 min...TC Hugo Herrera GOAL...TC Niko Pesa passes to Herrera who taps in 8 yarder into open net after goalie was out of position making a previous play.

91 min...TC Hugo Herrera GOAL...Herrera dribbling zig zag down the middle and chips 22 yarder
over the goalie in crowd of players at 15 yards and into the middle of the open net.

Final Score:........North York Astros........1.........Toronto Croatia.........5............

Attendance was about 70 on this mild evening but the temperature was dropping rapidly in the night air. Fans—it's time to put those summer shorts away and bring a jacket for these night games in September.

The scoreline was deceptive (think Canada vs St Lucia) as this game was in doubt until the late second half when Croatia pulled away. [I know. It's the third time this weekend I've used the same comparison between the World Cup qualifier but scoreline surfers just look at the linescores and think teams win in the first ten minutes.] Of course knowing that the Astros haven't won a game this season in 19 tries until tonight, their first win looked in doubt from the moment their goalie was Red carded.

Tihomir Maletic scores two goals although both on Penalty kicks to go with the four he earned on Friday's game. Richard West had scored one game earlier in the day for Brampton City United to bring his total up to 17 for the season. Maletic moves up to 16 with tonight's effort.

Diego Benzi scores a Goal-of-the-Year candidate with his 40 yard strike for the Astros. I don't think anyone could duplicate it. I watched teammate Diego Maradona line up for two freekicks from closer distance and sail them well over the net. Actually this weekend I saw Eris Tafaj take one of the best freekicks of the year in a goal for London City earlier today and Camilo Benzi (he's Diego Benzi's brother) had the best Penalty kick save-of-the-year for York Region Shooters yesterday.

Playing a man up for the last hour of the game it wasn't noticeable if Toronto Croatia were tired after a hard fought victory over Montreal Impact Academy on Friday night. Tonight's win lifts their record to
15-2-4 and second place four points behind SC Toronto who also won tonight against Mississauga Eagles. They gain ground on Capital City FC who were 'held' to a 0-0 tie game against St Catharines Wolves and nature as the game was called at halftime because of a thunderstorm. Croatia is four points ahead of the team from Ottawa and have two games in hand. Astros record falls to 0-14-6.

Note: Earlier in the day a special tribute game was played in memory of Jason Arnone at St Joan of Arc Field in Maple. From the flyer I read “Play for Jay—A soccer tribute in memory of Jason Arnone—We invite you to attend a soccer memorial fundraiser being held in honour of Jason and his passion for soccer, as we approach the first anniversary. Since Jason was called to heaven we feel a void in our lives, but will never forget. The day will consist of an opening ceremony, and a soccer match made up of Jason and Matthew's (Jason brother) teammates. The group consists of ex TFC academy players, current TFC players, and Canadian National Team players. Through this event, as Jason's friend's and family gather we are keeping his memory alive and hope that he is smiling down on us. All proceeds from the entry fee, BBQ , and raffles will be donated to Sunnybrook's Trauma Emergency and Critical Care foundation.....Entry Fee: Minimum $7.00 donation per person (Jason's jersey #) Family of 4-$20.00, Children under 12-free....”.

The letter paper size flyer had a small picture of Jason in the top right corner and the Sunnybrook (hospital) logo at the bottom.

Now I only mention this as CSL PA announcer Ennio says he's never seen St Joan of Arc so packed and estimates there were 1000 people there. I don't know much about the man except he died of injuries in an auto accident and was on Seneca (College) Sting soccer team and that his brother went through TFC Academy and York Region Shooters. I realize that most people were there because of the event not the level of play or the soccer game itself but that's the biggest GTA crowd I've seen this year at a CSL game. Now after today being to games with 100 and 70 fans and never seeing any outside-the-website advertising for the CSL, I wonder if the league could do something publicity wise (let's not be ghoulish) to tap into the casual soccer fan.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca