A-League game of Sunday August 10th, 1997.
Here are the results of the A-League game between Toronto Lynx and Connecticut Wolves played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto with a 7:00pm kickoff.
Toronto Lynx (white socks, shorts[! usually wear black] and shirts, purple numbers, yellow names)
.....................................................22 Joe Ciaravino
................17 Daryl Holmes..........4 Ian Carter.........16 Rick Titus
9 Elvis Thomas....2 Ralph Golen....6 Kevin Holness....18 Luca Centurione....14 Martin Dugas
........................15 Terry St Louis............21 Michele Gioia
Subs:...3 Franco Spadafina (def)...5 Peyvand Mossavat (def)...12 Lei Gong (mid)...13 Carmen D'Onofrio (fwd)...20 Danley Johnson (def)...24 Christian Lombardo (mid).....
Connecticut Wolves (white socks and numbers, black shorts and shirts, black and white striped sleeves)
............................................1 Bo Oshoniyi
19 Teddy Haley....4 Dave Kelly....5 Derek Sullivan....23 Steve Stokoe
7 Paulo Dos Santos....16 Johnny Vaughan....14 Jim Hesch....18 Anton Camaj
.......................15 Andrew Boyea.............20 Chris Mitchell
Subs:...10 Eric Barbieri (fwd)...11 Ben Hickey (fwd)...2 Chris Wright (mid)...25 David Clarke (def)....
Note: Of the subs listed on the roster, only Barbieri was dressed. Some players were held back at the Canadian border after the Wolves game against Rochester because of visa problems. 'Forward' Boyea is actually the backup goaltender and Stokoe is the coach.
Officials:...Referee Manuel Orellana, Referee's Assistants Jim Bainbridge and Steve DiPeiro, 4th official Steve Mortimer.
1st half: (Lynx defend North goal in 1st half)
5 min...Lynx goalie catches 35 yard shot from right side.
12 min...Wolves goalie catches long cross from left touch line by Lynx Titus.
15 min...Lynx St Louis blast from 10 yards covered by goalie. Opportunity was created after Holmes had run down right wing and pass to Thomas who ran towards box after beating one defender near right line, and from touchline on edge of goal, crosses through two defenders and deflects off a third right to St Louis.
19 min...Wolves goalie catches cross from Lynx Centurione stepping up to beat Lynx forward waiting for header.
22 min...Lynx goalie steps up to catch 30 yard shot from right wing in crowd of players.
28 min...Wolves Camaj blast ball wide right from 20 yards.
31 min...Lynx Gioia steals ball from defender in box then tries to fake goalie but he stops two yard shot by sprawling and deflects ball wide to right for corner.
36 min...Lynx Gioia long 35 yard freekick goalie pops up shot with hands but both Titus and Thomas miss headers.
37 min...Wolves Dos Santos steals ball near centre and passes from 35 yards out that's tipped by Lynx Golen to Wolves Hesch whose shot near edge of box is blocked wide by Lynx Holmes.
38 min...Lynx St Louis dribbles then gives late pass to Gioia whose shot tipped by goalie wide left for corner as it looked like Gioia tried to lob it over goalie.
38 min...Lynx Gioia heads ball over bar as corner kick finds him 7 yards out in box.
39 min...Wolves Sullivan hacked down on own touchline by Lynx Dugas.
40 min...Play whistled to recommence as about 5 players of each team are over by bench getting refreshments.
Halftime:
The Kick-To-Win contest is carried out as usual. The three contestants win a pizza as each of them hits the net with one of their two shots from either 35 or 25 yards.
2nd Half: (starts at 8:15pm).
Halftime subs:...Lynx Johnson replaces Centurione.
........................Lynx D'Onofrio replaces St Louis.
47 min...Wolves YELLOW card...Sullivan for handball as he makes sliding tackle. Lynx Gioia blasts ball over net on freekick from 30 yards.
50 min...Wolves YELLOW card...Hesch for pulling down Lynx Thomas.
51 min...Wolves goalie catches long floating 30 yard shot from Lynx Dugas.
52 min...Wolves goalie catches long cross from Lynx Dugas from left sideline.
53 min...Lynx Thomas tripped up in box but doesn't go down so doesn't draw penalty only corner kick.
53 min...Lynx Holmes takes long shot over net.
54 min...Lynx goalie saves low 20 yard shot from Wolves Sullivan who sidesteps two defenders.
59 min...Lynx Holmes crosses ball into box from left wing and defender almost puts it in off own hip but Wolves goalie covers up.
59 min...Lynx Gioia header over net from 15 yards after cross.
61 min...Lynx goalie blocks shot by Wolves Vaughan from 20 yards who picked up rebound off Lynx defender.
63 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Thomas and Wolves Kelly injured in the Wolves box as their ankles clash together. Thomas is blamed for late tackle when he's beaten to ball.
68 min...Lynx Titus shot rolls wide left of post from 15 yards.
69 min...Lynx Thomas turns and fires 15 yard shot over net.
71 min...Wolves sub...Barbieri replaces Stokoe.
..............Lynx sub...Mossavat replaces Gioia.
78 min...Wolves goalie tips ball over bar after Lynx Holness 30 yard blast created from give and go with D'Onofrio.
82 min...Wolves goalie catches Lynx Dugas cross from left wing.
85 min...Lynx Dugas crosses from right wing but floats ball in and Wolves goalie gets hand on it before contact with D'Onofrio results in whistle.
87 min...Lynx Thomas gets through pass and Wolves goalie traps 10 yard shot sliding to short left side giving up corner kick.
88 min...Lynx Holness blasts shot wide right of post from 20 yards in crowd.
90 min...Lynx D'Onofrio awarded freekick at 25 yards. Wolves waste time setting up wall only 7 yards away but ref lets time tick away and blows whistle after blast into wall.
Overtime:...(Lynx defend South goal for overtime period).
92 min...Lynx Holness header from 3 yards is wide left.
93 min...Lynx GOAL...Holness (assist Dugas)...Holness pounds in 5 yard shot from Dugas cross from right touch line. Ball was deflected off hand of Wolves goalie diving off line while protecting the near right post.
Final Score:.........Toronto Lynx.....(0) (0) 1........Connecticut Wolves.....(0) (0) 0.....
Attendance was not announced at the game but other sources give it as 1634 which is one of their better crowds.
The Lynx really had to win tonight when presented with an opportunity like this. The tired Wolves had beaten Rochester on Firday night but could only get 12 players over the Canadian border. The Lynx didn't look they would lose later in the game but a tie and overtime was possible and a shootout win only offered one point. The Lynx were without five starters through various injuries.
Wolves played defensively especially later in game when they were tiring out. Lynx used three subs to bring in fresh legs.
Rocket Robin
robing@clo.com
.
.