.................

Result of the Friday October 8th, 2010 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and York Region Shooters played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)

..................12 Antonio Ilic
7 Halburto Harris...6 Ante Zurak...4 Sven Arapovic...15 Ainsley Deer
14 Diego Gonzalez...23 Tonci Pirija (cpt)...5 Jonathan Bustamante...25 Lukas Pesa
.............8 Hayden Fitzwilliams...19 Niko Pesa

Subs:...1 Sandi Matika (gk)...3 Robert Fran (def)...11 Ivan Zgela (mid)...21 Braeden Krampert (mid)...30 Tomislav Leko (mid)...16 Tomislav Pavicic (fwd)
team officials:...manager Ivan Kulis...head coach Alen Vukobrad...manager Perica Arapovic...physio Rachel Leroux...club offical Ivan Kulis

York Region Shooters (blue socks, shorts, and numbers, yellow shirts)

....................1 Camilo Benzi
13 Aundrae Rollins (cpt)...4 Marcelo Capazolo...8 Chris Turner...99 Ryan Dummett
7 Cam Medwin...17 Matthew O'Connor...15 Alex Trujillo...77 Desmond Humphrey
............5 Nicolas Martinez...10 Mario Orestano

Subs:...00 Yosuto Hoshiko (gk)...2 Rick Titus (def)...9 Jason DeThomasis (fwd)...14 Mahamad Mahmoud Habib (fwd)...5 Nicolas Martinez (mid)...6 Fitzroy Christey (def)...19 Julio Garcia (mid)...20 Matthew Groves (mid)
team officials:...head coach Tony DeThomasis...coaches Alex Sikov and Hubert Groves...physio Eric Yuill...club officials John Pacione

Game officials:...referee Alain Ruch...referee's assistants Matt Arduini and Gianni Facchini...fourth official Ljubisa Vrljes...(all black uniforms, yellow trim)

1st Half:...game starts 8:07pm...TC defend south end on this mild night.
1 min...TC Niko Pesa gets ball on left and 15 yard shot hits the right post. TC Gonzalez rolls 7 yarder wide left of post.
7 min...TC Niko Pesa squeezes through defenders to get to ball at 20 yards on right and shot is wide right.
13 min...YRS Trujillo kicks 30 yarder down middle well high and wide left of net.
14 min...TC Niko Pesa rush from 50 yards through three guys and his 10 yard shot on left has goalie get hand to wide left of net and push ball for cornerkick on right.
15 min...TC Gonzalez cornerkick from left has goalie swat ball forward in crowd and defender clears.
16 min...YRS Rollins(?) 30 yard cross from right is too far forward for players and wide left for goalkick.
18 min...TC goalie rusn up to grab bouncer ahead of YRS Medwin at 15 yards up middle.
20 min...TC Gonzalez cornerkick from right has defender pop up header at 7 yards and goalie catches on right but behind end line for another cornerkick.
21 min...YRS Orestano partial bicycle kick from 20 yards down middle is over net.
27 min...YRS Desmond Humphrey GOAL...Humphrey gives ball up middle to YRS Nicolas Martinez who taps ball from 35 yards to Humphrey through middle at 25 yards who dekes diving goalie Antonio Ilic at 12 yards and taps 7 yarder into open net.
30 min...TC Harris cross from 40 yards on right has ball bounce through box and goalie catch wide left of net.
31 min...YRS Martinez gets low pass at 25 yards and low quick shot up middle is saved by diving goalie.
34 min...YRS Turner gets foot in to break up cross at 8 yards but tips it over end line for cornerkick.
34 min...TC Gonzalez cornerkick from right has charging TC Arapovic sidefoot 15 yarder up middle off bar and the ball is cleared.
38 min...YRS Humphrey rush down left and rolls ball back to center and YRS Martinez shoots 25 yarder down middle wide right.
38 min...TC YELLOW card...Arapovic earns this delayed call from last play when YRS Orestano was hurt on the rush by a tackle at YRS 35 yards.
41 min...TC Gonzalez cross from 25 yards on right near sideline and TC Martinez heads weak shot from 15 yards to goalie.
42 min...YRS Medwin cornerkick from left has YRS Orestano head 20 yarder that's cleared.
43 min...YRS Alex Trujillo GOAL...YRS Desmond Humphrey in middle at 30 yards rolls pass forward to left and Trujillo on break shoots low 15 yard shot into right corner of net beyond sliding goalie 6 yards out.
45 min...TC Lukas Pesa kicks low 15 yard shot from far left past two defenders but goalie smothers on left post when he gets cross trickling through players from the right.
47 min...half ends 8:54pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:09pm.
halftime subs:...YRS Groves replaces Humphrey
.................YRS Christey replaces O'Connor
.................YRS Titus replaces Capazolo
.................TC Fran replaces Zurak
47 min...TC Gonzalez 22 yard freekick from right edge of box has goalie catch ball overhead in front of crowd of players.
55 min...TC Sven Arapovic GOAL...TC Jonathan Bustamante 40 yard freekick down middle chips bouncer at 15 yards and charging Arapovic heads down at 12 yards past defender Aundrae Rollins and kicks 5 yard flick just under bar on left with goalie Camilo Benzi stuck on line in center of net.
58 min...TC sub...Krampert replaces Fitzwilliams.
58 min...TC Gonzalez 30 yard freekick from right sideline has defender head away from edge of box.
62 min...TC Lukas Pesa low 18 yard shot up middle hits left goalpost and is cleared after he receives short pass from left.
64 min...YRS Medwin 25 yard freekick fromright edge of box is tapped over to YRS Orestano after faking kick and Orestano rolls 20 yard shot up kmiddle just wide right of net.
66 min...TC Martinez holds off defender and 30 yard shot up middle is well over net.
68 min...TC Lukas Pesa bends 30 yarder from left over players but ball is caught by goalie.
69 min...YRS Medwin gets pass at 30 yards but first touch pushes ball too far for goalie to grab.
72 min...TC Krampert cross from near left corner deflects for cornerkick.
72 min...YRS sub...DeThomasis replaces Trujillo.
73 min...TC player's cornerkick from left is eventually cleared.
77 min...TC Martinez has good possession up middle and 25 yard shot is high and wide right.
78 min...YRS sub...Garcia replaces somebody.
79 min...YRS Rollins 30 yard chip on right is caught by goalie.
82 min...TC player's low 25 yard blast has goalie smother.
83 min...YRS YELLOW card...Titus earns it for something.
84 min...TC Martinez 50 yard freekick from right sideline is cleared on edge of box.
84 min...TC Niko Pesa GOAL...TC Diego Gonzalez takes ball off defender Fitzroy Christey (who'd received pass back from Rick Titus) for a 3 on 0 rush at 20 yards on right and his pass is centered to Pesa who taps 7 yarder into open net with goalie guarding right side.
86 min...YRS Rollins gets tap over pass and takes 25 yard chip that's caught by goalie under bar.
88 min...TC Krampert rolls pass forward for TC Niko Pesa from 30 yards but goalie slides out to dive on ball at edge of box before TC Niko Pesa can touch it.
89 min...TC Niko Pesa 20 yard blast down right has goalie push into right side webbing of net for cornerkick. YRS Christey is injured on the play.
91 min...TC Niko Pesa cornerkick from right has defenders clear.
93:20 min...game ends 9:57pm.

Final Score:......Toronto Croatia..........2..............York Region Shooters.........2.............

Attendance was about 120 people with about 40 of them soccer referees. They were in town because Toronto is hosting the Canadian Under 17 national championships and had been in training earlier in the day. Last year officials got to take in an MLS Toronto FC game but the team is not in town this weekend. The officials were quiet except for some "ooohs" and laughter when this game's referee Alain Ruch was hit by a ball on a short cross. Well if that's entertainment for you...enjoy.

Tonight's game had both teams loading their teams with young players and backups to avoid injuries and not give away too many secrets before their likely playoff series. Only worrying thing for the Shooters at the start of the second half they brought in three of their usual starters and couldn't hold the lead. Also on the last goal TC made a full court press on the last defender back Fitzroy Christie to steal the ball and score. Certainly the comeback is a confidence booster to Toronto Croatia who had a two goal comeback in their last game against Brampton Lions to clinch the final playoff spot.

Toronto Croatia had some other close chances. At the 1 minute mark TC Niko Pesa got the ball on the left and his 15 yard shot hit the right post and the rebound had TC Diego Gonzalez rolls 7 yarder wide left of the post. At 14 minutes Niko Pesa (his younger brother Lukas Pesa was also in the starting lineup) rushed in from 50 yards through three defender and his 10 yard shot on the left and goalie Camilo Benzi get a hand to the shot and push it wide left of the net for a cornerkick. At 34 minutes Gonzalez took a cornerkick from the right and the charging Sven Arapovic sidefooted a 15 yarder up the middle off that bar and had the rebound cleared.

This was a match of the first and eighth place teams in the league and the match up should be a tune up for the playoff draw. Tonight's result and the surprise loss by seventh place team Brantford Galaxy against last place St Catharines Wolves may trip that up though as not the league is forced into a tough decision of whether they should play the final league game of Toronto Croatia and London City because a TC win would have them leap to seventh and set up a quarterfinal series with second place Serbian White Eagles. That game has been postponed twice this season for field and weather conditions. Toronto Croatia have played at a twice a week pace for the last month to get all their games in and London City were out of a playoff position months ago although they could move up one spot with a win. A decision about that game will be made Saturday said a posting on the league web site.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca


Toronto Croatia starters


Shooters starters


Toronto Croatia kickoff (8) Hayden Fitzwilliams and Niko Pesa.


ball is popped up


YRS Desmond Humphreys holds up ball.


Toronto Croatia cornerkick


YRS Matthew O'Connor and TC Lukas Pesa fight for ball.


TC on rush

back to 2010 CSL menu

.

.