Astros upbeat despite 8-0 home opener loss
Soccer
Sam
Laskaris, Mirror Sports
Jun. 19, 2002
It was a home opener that the
North York Astros would rather soon forget.
The local Canadian
Professional Soccer League (CPSL) club was hammered 8-0 by the Mississauga
Olympians in their home opener Sunday at Esther Shiner Stadium.
"It was
one game," said Bruno Ierullo, Astros longtime general manager who is also part
of the club's three-man coaching committee this season. "I wouldn't say we have
a lot of work to do."
Though they didn't pick up a victory, the Astros
did fare considerably better in their first two road matches this year. North
York was beaten 3-1 by London City May 31. The Astros then played to a 0-0 draw
with the Brampton Hitmen June 9.
Ierullo, who is sharing the club's
coaching duties with Dejan Gluscevic and Pavel Zaslavski, said his side was
upset with the officiating in Sunday's match.
"The ref made a few
mistakes that cost us a few goals," said Ierullo, whose side was trailing 3-0 at
halftime.
Ierullo added the Astros had their share of scoring
opportunities but were unable to convert any of them. North York also got itself
into more trouble defensively when its repeated risky attempts to mount
offensive attacks failed.
Despite Sunday's lopsided loss, Ierullo said
the Astros will be a competitive squad this season.
"We encourage the
fans to come out," he said. "We're not putting our heads into the ground because
we lost this game."
Ierullo said there will be plenty of one-sided
scores in the CPSL this season. He said he's hoping his club won't be on the
short end of another one-sided affair.
"I'm sure our players and
ourselves (the coaching staff) do not want to be involved with that again, not
in front of our home fans and not away from our fans either," he said.
The Astro roster this season features 12 returning players. But Ierullo
is disappointed an almost identical number -- 11 -- are no longer with the club.
"It seems every year we have to start over again," he said. "It's
getting very difficult to have good players now because there are so many teams
in the league now."
The CPSL has grown by two additional franchises this
season and now has 14 teams.
North York's next game is this Sunday at
home versus the Oshawa-based Durham Flames. The opening kickoff is set for 7
p.m.
The Astros will also play host to the league's Final Four
tournament this October. If North York does not place among the top four regular
season finishers, it will still have an opportunity to participate in the
playoffs.
As the hosts, the Astros would receive a wildcard spot. They
would then meet the fourth-place finishers to determine which squad advances to
the Final Four tourney.
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