May 15, 2016 League 1 Ontario--Woodbridge Strikers vs Kingston Clippers (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the League 1 Ontario game between Woodbridge Strikers and Kingston Clippers played Sunday May 15, 2016 at Vaughan Grove in Vaughan at 7:00pm.

Woodbridge Strikers (all blue, white numbers)

.................23 Matt George
.......8 Gabriel Sosa...5 Cameron Brooks...3 Kyle Watson
4 Brandon Wellington...11 Stephen Almeida...6 Andrew Derayeh...21 Joshua Portillo...7 Nicholas Chiarot
............10 Christian Cavallini...9 Oscar Cordon

Subs:...1 Rocco Strazzella (gk)...2 Vincenzo Sasso...12 Zulfikar Karimi...14 Mikateko Zwane
...16 Dylan Carreiro...18 Emmanuel Issac...19 Stefano Voci
team officials:...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...assistant coach Damion Scott...manager John Scarlato
...equipment manager Eric Mokri...therapist Justin Miranda

Kingston Clippers (yellow socks and shirts, blue shorts and numbers, white shoulders)

....................1 Dustin Kemp
5 Eric Koskins...4 Oliver Coren...7 Mackenzie Roach...3 Julian Piccioli
16 Kristian Zanette...11 Chris Wellsman...6 Joey Pineo...10 Ryan McCurdy...15 Andrew Martin
....................9 Patrick Van Belleghem

Subs:...12 Andrew Whiteman (gk)...8 Jeremy Arnold...14 Lucas Blain...18 Jeff Borges
...17 Joel Zelt...2 Taylor Nelson...13 Brevin Mackay
team officials:...head coach Christian Hoefler...assistant coach Christ Eveleigh...team manager Rebecca Cowan
...physio Stacee Smith...team official Rory McParland

1st Half:...game starts 7:07pm...Strikers defend south end on this mainly overcast evening with a strong gusty wind from the west and a bright sun in the north west when it's not covered by clouds.
1 min...WS goalie calls for ball and gets to bounce to catch before KC Van Belleghem can get to it at 15 yards.
5 min...WS Portillo 28 yard freekick from right sideline has nearest defender clear. Portillo rebound cross is cleared out left side.
7 min...WS Portillo pushes pass forward on left from 30 yards and WS Cordon races to near left end line and crosses behind net.
9 min...KC goalie bobbles then catches on right post when WS Chirarot crosses from 22 yards from far right.
10 min...KC McCurdy pushes pass up middle where KC player one touch shot low from 15 yards smothered by goalie.
11 min...KC Roach cornerkick from left is caught by goalie on right post.
13 min...KC McCurdy is tapped pass and low 30 yard shot up middle is just wide right of net.
14 min...WS Cordon chips short pass on left from 20 yards, WS Cavallini can't get a way shot at 10 yards.
16 min...KC Zanette 45 yard freekick from right between players and defender concedes cornerkick.
16 min...KC Roach cornerkick from left has defender head away on left post.
20 min...WS Portillo 15 yard shot from left end line deflects over defender and goalie catches on left post.
21 min...KC Piccioli 35 yard freekick from left has goalie fly to palm ball over net.
22 min...KC Piccioli cornerkick from left has defender in box head away.
24 min...KC Wellsman heads ball forward trying to elude defender at 30 yards but goalie picks up on edge of box.
26 min...WS Watson long chip from 60 yards has KC goalie beat WS Portillo to pick up in left side of net.
27 min...WS Portillo long charge up line to get to loose ball and he continues from 30 yards to end line on left and he crosses over box.
30 min...KC Piccioli 25 yard freekick from left cornerflag has defender head ball away on right side of box after a deflection.
33 min...KC Roach and then KC Wellsman have shots blocked on edge of box.
34 min...KC Piccioli lofts 22 yard freekick down middle over bar.
35 min...WS Portillo 30 yard freekick from right sideline has WS Wellington head ball down on left side but defender kicks it away.
36 min...WC goalie slides to edge of box to beat KC Van Belleghem to through ball.
37 min...WS Sosa 22 yard freekick from left is blasted well high and right of net.
39 min...KC Coren 55 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie charging to 15 yards.
40 min...KC Van Belleghem 20 yard shot on run deflects off defender shadowing him for cornerkick.
43 min...WS Wellington is pushed pass forward in middle and he shoots around defender from 12 yards wide left of net.
44 min...WS Portillo 25 yard freekick has defender head away.
45 min...half ends 7:52pm.

2nd Half:...starts 8:10pm.
47 min...KC player run down right and cross near endline is stopped by defender.
49 min...WS Almeida low 28 yard shot up middle between players is smothered by goalie.
50 min...Strikers Oscar Cordon GOAL...WS Stephen Almeida rolls centering pass from 12 yards on right and Cordon in middle shoots low 10 yarder into left corner of net.
51 min...WS Portillo 30 yard freekick from near right sideline has first defender whiff clearance but another defender clears.
59 min...WS sub...Carreiro replaces Cordon.
60 min...KC Roach wins cornerkick on cross from left end line on deflection off WS Sosa.
60 min...KC Piccioli cornerkick from left has defender head ball out right side of box.
61 min...KC sub...Blain replaces Wellsman.
61 min...KC player long throw-in from right has defender head away on right edge of box.
63 min...WS sub...Voci replaces Portillo.
65 min...KC Roach rush to left end line and 15 yard cross is caught by goalie on left post.
68 min...KC sub...Mackay replaces Roach.
.........KC sub...Zelt replaces Van Belleghem.
69 min...WS Almeida rush down right and high cross drifts high and left for goalkick.
72 min...WS sub...Issac replaces Cavallini.
73 min...KC goalie picks up bouncer on deflection on cross from left endline.
73 min...KC goalie catches cross from 18 yards along left end line.
74 min...WS Carreiro passes forward up right to WS Issac who pushes ball too far forward and goalie dribbles away.
75 min...WS Carreiro on rush kicks 18 yard shot in crowd of players over net.
76 min...KC sub...Arnold replaces Koskins.
78 min...WS sub...Zwane replaces Almeida.
79 min...WS Voci cornerkick from left has WS Watson pop up header but defender start fast breakout.
81 min...WS Issac gets short pass in middle but 15 yard shot blocked by defender.
83 min...KC Zanette long throw-in from left deflects off defender and goalie prevents cornerkick with pick up.
87 min...Strikers Stefano Voci GOAL...WS goalie Matt George punts ball from edge of box that finds charging Voci at 35 yards on left. Voci who is suddenly on a 2 on 1 break and at 25 yards chips goalie Dustin Kemp who is out at 15 yards to cut angle and ball lands in right side of net.
89 min...KC sub...Nelson replaces Piccioli.
90 min...KC Arnold 25 yard freekick from right has goalie dive to catch on right post.
92 min...WS Issac 22 yard shot after run caught by goalie.
93 min...WS YELLOW card...Watson earns it for timewasting.
93 min...game ends 8:58pm.

Final Score:...Woodbridge Strikers........2......Kingston Clippers......0....

Attendance was about 40 on this extremely cold evening with a strong wind from the west. Really unfortunate for Strikers home opener. The temperature had dropped from this afternoon but there was no snow or hail as happened earlier. I was at The KIA Training Centre in Downsview for the TFC Academy vs Windsor Stars game but this locale had hosted the women's teams Strikers vs Kingston which ended 4-4 but was assured by a team official they had the same weather as I went through. The wind blew my mitts off the bench a few times when I took them off to take pictures then my pen when I put that down to pick them up.

Referee David Barrie only gave out one Yellow card today and that wasn't until second half added time when Strikers earned one for time-wasting. The game was wide open except both teams had trouble getting inside the other team's 20 yard line.

Other non-scoring chances were few and far between because of defenders blocking shots and the weather conditions playing tricks with the ball however the best was at 21 minutes when Clippers Julian Piccioli took a freekick from 35 yards that the goalie had to fly to palm the ball over the net.

Oscar Cordon returns to Woodbridge after a year away playing for the CSL league's Toronto Croatia. He scored the winning/only goal in the championship game.

That may be the last game ever played by Toronto Croatia as the team has dropped out of that league in the off season. Ironically even the MLS Toronto FC (who held the attitude that "soccer in Toronto started in 2007") will be saluting the Toronto Metros Croatia 1976 NASL championship team later this summer.

Someone in the crowd looked familiar to me from somewhere other than the regulars I see over the years. It was broadcaster/author Michael Coren who said he was here to watch his younger son Oliver play defence for Kingston. He like a few players on their roster attend and play for Queen's University's team. He said he also followed Toronto Lynx in the Varsity Stadium days when I first noticed him. The third person who was there in those days is current Woodbridge head coach Peter Pinizzotto who was the coach of the Lynx back then.

Strikers were especially good defensively which continues on from last year when they led the league by only conceding 16 goals in 22 league games. They also scored at the rate of exactly two goals a game.

Strikers have opened their season with a perfect 3 wins in 3 games. They share first place in the Eastern Conference with Vaughan Azzurri and conveniently those two teams square off next weekend.

Kingston's record falls to 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie in their first road game of the season.

In the parking lot on the way out was a nice coach (IE. Bus) to take the players back to Kingston. Certainly a move up from the yellow school bus they used last year to take the four hour journey to the Toronto area. Assistant coach Chris Eveleigh answered me though with the answer "sometimes" for how often they may get a charter.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Woodbridge Strikers starters