Result of the Monday September 5th, 2005 USL game between Toronto Lynx and Minnesota Thunder played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 4:00pm.
Toronto Lynx (black socks, shorts, names and numbers, yellow shirts, white trim)
...........................22 Theo Zagar
17 Chris Williams...26 Abraham Francois...6 Andres Arango...21 Robin Hart
13 Jamie Dodds...4 Joe Mattacchione (cpt)...20 Robbie Aristodemo...24 Huffman Eja-Tabe
.................14 Sita-Taty Matondo...19 Said Ali
Subs:...1 Richard Goddard (gk)...2 Rick Titus (def/mid)...8 Rumba Munthali (mid)...11 Sean Fraser (mid)...15 David Simpson (fwd)...16 Niels Dekker (mid)...33 Desmond Tachie (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Hubert Busby Jr...assistant coach Lyndon Hooper...goalkeeper coach Paolo Silva...medical co-ordinator Dr Robert Gringmuth...equipment manager Tony Flammia
Minnesota Thunder (all white, black names and numbers)
.........................1 Nicolas Platter
13 Chris Brunt...3 Freddy Juarez...4 Nathan Knox...17 Chad Dombrowski
12 Jay Alberts...21 Matt Schmidt...7 Jeff Matteo...3 Freddy Juarez
.................10 John Menyongar (cpt)...11 Godfrey Tenoff
Subs:...23 Joe Warren (gk)...6 Kevin Friedland (def/mid)...9 Aaron Paye (fwd)...15 Tighe Dombrowski (mid/fwd)
team officials:...head coach Buzz Lagos...assistant coach Phil Nell and Amos Magee
Game officials:...referee Steve Cahoon...referee's assistants Amato Deluca and Zoran Kristo...fourth official Justin Tasev
1st Half:...game starts 4:08pm...Lynx defend south end on this hot sunny afternoon.
1 min...MT lara chips 12 yard shot from left is wide right.
2 min...Lynx Ali scores on 10 yard shot but play is flagged offside.
3 min...MT Alberts cross from 20 yards is drifted behind net.
6 min...Lynx Ali rush on left but cuts back and backpass to Lynx Eja-Tabe who has ball cleared away.
7 min...Lynx goalie charges out to head away through ball to MT Tenoff.
8 min...Lynx Hart checks away and clears ball from Lynx box.
9 min...Lynx Matondo lofts 30 yard shot well over net after receiving centering pass.
10 min...MT Brunt heads ball back to goalie to prevent Lynx 2 on 1 rush.
14 min...Lynx Williams 22 yard shot from right is well over net.
17 min...MT Alberts concedes cornerkick after cross from right end line.
20 min...MT Alberts 8 yard shot on loose ball blocked by defender.
21 min...MT Menyongar cuts back and forth along edge of box and defender blocks shot.
22 min...Lynx goalie punches away cross into box ahead of MT Menyongar charging in.
24 min...Lynx Williams nice run on right and rolls in cross. Lynx Ali passes to Lynx Aristodemo who passes out to Lynx Dodds who blasts 20 yard shot low and off outside right webbing of net.
26 min...MT Lara cross from left is ruled offside.
28 min...MT Tenoff rush on left and shot pinballs off goalie and defender on 15 yard shot.
31 min...Lynx Hart long throw-in from left has ball headed away by defender.
32 min...Lynx goalie beats MT Tenoff to through ball.
33 min...Lynx Mattacchione 22 yard freekick from left has Lynx Dodds head up partially cleared header (from 15 yards) and Lynx Aristodemo on ground swings second time at ball and pops it wide left from 4 yards.
37 min...Lynx Hart cross from 35 yards on left has Lynx Aristodemo one-touch 30 yard shot well over net.
38 min...MT Matteo 22 yard shot has Lynx goalie fly over and ball wide right.
39 min...Thunder Chad Dombrowski GOAL...MT player puts ball into box from 25 yards on the right, MT John Menyongar misses ball on play to middle and but charging Dombrowski puts 12 yarder from left under sliding, sprawling goalie Theo Zagar into middle of net.
40 min...MT Alberts retreats to boot away through ball ahead of Lynx Dodds.
41 min...Lynx Arango leaping header on Lynx Aristodemo's cornerkick from right is headed wide left from 8 yards.
42 min...MT Menyongar pushes through ball to MT Tenoff who has 10 yard shot stopped point blank by goalie.
42 min...MT Matteo 25 yard freekick from right is cleared left by defender.
43 min...MT Tenoff has pass off intercepted by defender in Lynx box.
44 min...MT goalie picks up through ball that had been kicked in from center line.
45 min...half ends 4:53pm.
2nd Half:...starts 5:10pm.
halftime subs:...Lynx Fraser replaces Ali.
................Lynx Titus replaces Francois.
...............Lynx Simpson replaces Hart.
46 min...Lynx Eja-Tabe cross from right has defender deflect ball over end line.
47 min...Lynx Aristodemo cornerkick from right has Lynx head ball on left that's knocked down but ball is cleared.
48 min...MT YELLOW card...Knox for grabbing Lynx Simpson on left just outside MT box.
49 min...Lynx Dodds freekick from 20 yards on left takes tap to middle and Lynx Mattacchione blasts 20 yarder wide of net.
50 min...Lynx Simpson gets about three header and ball through to Lynx Matondo who's tripped up/fell in MT box.
51 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Matondo for argueing call of not getting penalty kick call.
52 min...MT defenders block two shots on edge of MT box.
53 min...MT Menyongar two bicycle kicks; the second one while on his back that he knocks wide right of net.
55 min...Lynx Chad Dombrowski cross forward to right has Lynx Fraser called offside in box.
56 min...MT Matteo cornerkikc from left passed back by MT Menyongar and 20 yard cross bounces wide right of net.
57 min...Lynx Dodds 22 yard shot from left has goalie knock down and has enouugh time to pick up rebound.
59 min...Lynx sub...Munthali replaces Matondo.
59 min...MT sub...Tighe Dombrowski replaces Schmidt.
60 min...Lynx Mattacchione 25 yard cornerkick from near right side line and Lynx Titus leaping header from 12 yards hits top side of bar.
64 min...Lynx goalie has to come out of box to clear through ball.
64 min...Lynx Sean Fraser GOAL...Fraser charges in from left and although he's pushed out over end line he gets by the defender and back into play and banks shot off another defender from 7 yards and the ball bounces into net behind goalie Nicolas Platter. [Hmm. Who are they kidding? This should have been counted as an own goal because Fraser was trying to center it across the box].
65 min...Lynx Eja-Tabe has 12 yard shot stopped by defenders.
66 min...Lynx defenders clear MT cornerkick from right and start fast break.
67 min...Lynx Dodds ends botched 2 on 1 following up by booting 25 yarder well over net.
68 min...MT defender heads across for own goalie.
69 min...MT sub...Paye replaces Menyongar. MT Tenoff becomes the captain.
70 min...MT Paye gets away on break on left to through ball and Lynx goalie and while on ground, he takes off his feet.
71 min...MT Chad Dombrowski injured in crash with own player on edge of Lynx box.
72 min...Lynx Eja-Tabe has pass to him deflect off defender and right to goalie point blank at 10 yards.
73 min...Lynx Fraser 20 yard shot from left is well over net.
74 min...MT Lara rush on left and cross deflected by Lynx defender for cornerkick.
74 min...MT Matteo cornerkikck from left ahs Lynx Mattacchione as closest player boot away ball.
78 min...Thunder Aaron Paye GOAL...Paye rushes to through ball on left and he takes shot around Lynx Andres Arango who'd cut off his angle. He cuts back away from goal and shoots 15 yard shot that looks like it would be wide but he banana bends it and it curls inward to right corner of net.
78 min...MT sub...Friedland replaces Lara.
80 min...Lynx Munthali gets ball crossed from right and from left blasts 10 yarder well over net.
82 min...MT Tighe Dombrowski shoots 15 yarder over net.
82 min...Lynx sub...Dekker replaces Aristodemo.
83 min...Lynx player heads ball forward and Lynx Fraser flying header is wdie right from 6 yards.
84 min...MT Matteo 40 yard bouncer through players to goalie.
85 min...Lynx Eja-Tabe settles ball after cornerkick from left and boots 15 yarder over net.
86 min...Lynx Arango 40 yard shot from right has goalie leap to catch in front of two Lynx players on left post.
87 min...Lynx Dodds shot on partial clearance is blocked by defender on edge of box.
88 min...Lynx Titus slides in and pokes ball from MT Paye rushing in on left giving up cornerkick.
89 min...MT players work out 2 short cornerkick opportunities to waste time.
91 min...Lynx player rolls cross into MT box but Lynx players had run past it.
92 min...game ends 5:57pm.
Final Score:.........Toronto Lynx..........1..............Minnesota Thunder...........2..........
Attendance was given to the press box as 1480. So was the 2200 seat stadium half empty or half full? Slightly more that half empty so I'd say there might have been 1000 people here. This was obviously the lowest attendance of the season.
The Lynx actually had more chances than the Thunder who'd taken over from Virginia Beach Mariners as the second worse team in the league. The Lynx have had the worst record since near the beginning of the season.
Lynx started with the forward line of Said Ali and Sita-Taty Matondo. Ali must be afraid of taking shots and being criticized for shooting off target or too weak as he's been passing off to other players in the last few games. At 24 minutes, Chris Williams had a nice run on right and he rolled in a cross, Ali passed back to Robbie Aristodemo who passed it out to trailing Jamie Dodds who blasted a 20 yarder shot low and off outside right webbing of the net.
Lynx subbed in forwards Sean Fraser and Dave Simpson and defender Rick Titus for Said Ali, Robin Hart, and Abraham Francois. Titus almost tied the game in the 60th minute as Joe Mattacchione took a 25 yard free kick from near the right corner of the box and his leaping header from 12 yards hit the top side of the bar and went out of play.
Thunder started John Menyongar and Godfrey Tenoff as their forwards. Menyongar was the only player on the field who had trouble keeping his feet as he slipped around a few times in the night changing direction. Lynx goalie Theo Zagar had pulled the ball off the feet of Aaron Paye while he was on a breakaway and trying to deke him eight minutes before Paye did score.
At the end of the game, the Lynx players held up a banner which read "Thank You Fans". I said it looked like the same one as last year's. Someone in the press box said it actually dates from their Varsity Stadium days.
With excitement lacking, we speculated if the Thunder defender wearing the #5 shorts but the #13 shirt was Christ Brunt (yes) or Jonathan Hargis or some strange hybrid. The Thunder only listed four subs. Montreal Impact had effectively knocked the Thunder out of the playoffs earlier on the weekend with a last minute penalty kick win.
Before the game awards were given out to the Lynx players of the year:
Public Relations Award:...Rumba Munthali
Fan Favourite Award:...Chris Williams
Best Defender Award:...Andres Arango
Best Offensive Player Award:...Sean Fraser
Most Valuable Player (as selected by the Media):...Jamie Dodds...(well I got my choice, I wonder how many members of the media voted? By the time they gave us ballots, the media coverage had shrunk to about eight people!).
After the game, I asked coach Hubert Busby Jr if he was willing to come back for another year of coaching. Yes! It was their cohesion that just wasn't there earlier in the year. He agreed that the long six games on the road to start the season didn't help and injuries hurt them with Sean Faria not able to play all year and eventually being cut and Joe Mattacchione--both captains of the team in 2004). Joe Mattacchione reminded me that he wasn't actually injured until the second game of the regular season when he was hurt against Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Lynx season isn't quite over as they have two more road games next weekend against Puerto Rico Islanders. They have never lost against the Islanders in that team's two years of existence but it seems unlikely that the record will carry on much longer.
This marks the 9th season in a row that I haven't missed a regular or playoff game of the Lynx. Today in London Ontario, there was the final of the Open Canada Cup which would probably have been more exciting but I'd planned to be here today and settled for a long drive to see the semi-finals between CPSL teams yesterday.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
.
.