October 8, 2021 USL--Toronto FC II vs New England Revolution II game report by Rocket Robin

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October 8, 2021 USL League One--Toronto FC II vs New England Revolution II (game report by Rocket Robin)

Result and details of the Friday October 8, 2021 USL League One game between Toronto FC II and New England Revolution II
played at BMO Training Centre in Downsview at 4:00pm.

Toronto FC II (all red uniforms, white names and numbers)

......................70 Andreas Vaikla
58 Kobe Franklin...34 Jon-Talen Maples...64 Kevin Politz...38 Luca Petrasso
.......52 Kosi Thompson...48 Dante Campbell (cpt)...62 Rohan Goulbourne
.......73 Paul Rothrock...82 Julian Altobelli...85 Antonio Carlini

Subs:...40 Caleb Patterson-Sewell (gk)...49 Garrett McLaughlin...51 Nicolas Ovalle...65 Antony Curic
...72 Steffen Yeates...81 Themi Antonoglou...83 Hugo Mbongue
team head coach Mike Munoz

New England Revolution II (all white, navy names and numbers)

.....................51 Joseph Rice
35 Collin Verfurth (cpt)...54 Tyler Freitas...44 Pierre Cayet...34 Ryan Spaulding
41 Colby Quinones...47 Esmir Bajraktarevic...61 Noel Buck...32 Jake Rozhansky
...............12 Justin Rennicks...72 Damian Rivera

Subs:...70 Yannik Oetti (gk)...60 Francois Dulysse...40 Sean O'Hearn...53 Hikaru Fujiwara
...37 Dennis Ramirez
team head coach Clint Peay

Game officials:...referee Mihael Venne...referee's assistance Peter Pendli and Twayne Anderson
...fourth official Yusri Rudolf...(aqua shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 4:08pm...TFC defends south end on this mild, mostly overcast afternoon
with the wind from the east.
1 min...NE Spaulding cross from 25 yards near left end line has defender head ball out right side of box.
2 min...NE Bajraktarevic taps pass to NE Buck low 25 yard shot around defenders and up middle is just wide right of net.
3 min...TFC YELLOW card...Maples earns it for grab on NE player running up left.
3 min...NE Rozhansky 30 yard freekick from right is whistled down in box.
4 min...TFC goalie catches cross from 35 yards and throws ball to begin fast breakout.
10 min...NE Spaulding pushes ball over end line while curling in from left.
12 min...TFC Thompson can't draw Penalty kick on right side of NE box.
17 min...TFC Thompson rush up right and wins cornerkick after beating two guys.
18 min...TFC Petrasso and Franklin work out short cornerkick from right and cross hits charging TFC Thompson and over
end line from 6 yards on near post.
20 min...TFC goalie is out to edge of box to gather up ball.
20 min...NE Spaulding centers pass to TFC Rivera who shoots low and diving goalie pushes wide left of post.
21 min...NE Rozhansky ocrnerkick from left has Verfurth pop up header that's well wide right of goal.
21 min...TFC Rothrock receives pass forward on left from TFC Franklin and shoots low 10 yarder from sharp angle
wide right of post.
22 min...TFC Franklin long punt up right and TFC Rothrock is behind defenders and chip goalie who gets hand to it
overhead at 10 yards but ball is knocked behind end line by retreating defender NE Verfurth.
23 min...TFC Kevin Politz GOAL...TFC Luca Petrasso sends in cornerkick from the right that has Politzin in a crowd
of players on the edge of the 6 yard box head a 6 yarder from the middle into the left corner of the net with goalie
Joseph Rice stuck in the center of net.
24 min...TFC Thompson cross into box has defender clear.
26 min...TFC Rothrock rush down right and chips cross that goalie catches ahead of TFC Franklin.
27 min...NE Bajraktarevic is tapped back pass and his 25 yard shot is well high and wide left of net.
34 min...TFC Franklin rolls pass to TFC Carlini who shoots 20 yarder that diving goalie saves in middle of net.
36 min...NE Rozhansky cornerkick from left has goalie punch ball out right side of box.
37 min...NE Buck cornerkick from right has NE Cayet head in 7 yarder over goalie on as Cayet was being pulled down.
The referee disallowed the goal as he judged Cayet was the aggressor.
.........NE YELLOW card...Fritas earns it for complaining about the last play.
38 min...TFC Franklin 35 yard cross from right has goalie drift left for overhead catch.
41 min...NE Rennicks is injured at TFC 45 yard line well away from the play.
43 min...NE Cayet cross from 35 yard line on left is over players in box and out for goalkick on bounce.
46 min...half ends 4:54pm.

Second Half:...starts 5:09pm. The wind is now blowing harder.
45 min...NE Rennicks turns and blasts 22 yarder from left well high and wide right of net.
48 min...NE Spaulding chips cross from left end line has goalie make overhead catch on line with wind against him.
52 min...TFC Franklin can't get to through ball pass on right and ball rolls over end line.
54 min...NE Freitas chips 30 yarder fro right that flies over end line wide left.
55 min...NE Cayet makes sliding save then NE verfurth heads away a cross in box.
57 min...TFC goalie at 5 yards outjumps NE Rennicks to slap away cross.
58 min...NE YELLOW card...Buck earns it for tackle on TFC Campbell injurying him at NE 50 yard line.
59 min...TFC Rothrock cross from right end line is ruled already over the line.
61 min...NE sub...Fujiwara replaces Freitas.
...........NE sub...O'Hearn replaces Rozhansky.
63 min...TFC Campbell at center line sends low pass diagonally to left for TFC Goulbourne to blast 28 yarder
from slight left that goalie guarding near post palms over the bar.
64 min...TFC players work out short cornerkick from right and goalie catches the eventual cross.
65 min...NE Rennicks low 25 yard shot up middle is caught by goalie in center of net.
67 min...NE Fujiwara cross from 28 yards on far right has leaping NE player not able to turn on left post.
69 min...NE goalie out to edge of box to beat TFC Goulbourne to through ball bouncer.
72 min...NE O'Hearn chips pass from 25 yards through players in box and nE cross from right end line is cleared.
74 min...NE Rivera ends NE pressure with 25 yard shot from left that gaolie catches under no pressure.
75 min...NE Cayet gets great sliding tackle on TFC Rothrock to poke ball away.
76 min...TFC sub...McLaughlin replaces Thompson.
77 min...TFC work out short cornerkick on right is wasted when not crossed into box.
78 min...TFC Campbell cross from 22 yards on left has defender head away.
83 min...NE Buck cornerkick from right bounces through box unplayed.
84 min...TFC sub...Yeates replaces Carlini.
85 min...NE YELLOW card...the goalie Rice earns it after coming out to clear through ball on left sideline
and blasts it over the side fencing. He then held back a TFC player grabbing another ball for a quick throw-in
which would leave the net open and him caught 40 yards upfield.
86 min...NE Quinones chips 35 yarder up middle that goalie catches.
87 min...NE Fujiwara wins cornerkick on cross deflected by TFC player behind end line.
87 min...NE Fujiwara cornerkick then cross from left can't reach inside the box.
88 min...NE YELLOW card...Quinones earns it for pushing over TFC Rothrock at TFC 50 yard line breaking out.
89 min...TFC goalie catches cross from right.
92 min...TFC Campbell is injured with hand in face chasing NE player at center line.
93 min...TFC sub...Curic replaces Altobelli.
94 min...TFC kill enough time that a cornerkick from the right is not neccessary.
94 min...game ends 5:58pm.

Final Score: Toronto FC II......1......New England Revolution II.......0........

Attendance climbed to about 60 on this warm late afternoon with a wind picking up from the south giving
the Revs an advantage in the second half. It was mostly overcast with a breeze pregame coming from
the east. No problem getting in today even though I am not a 'family member' nor 'friend' but maybe
because I got here so early, security was not fully set up or maybe they've silently changed the rule
from their first few home games.

Kevin Politz played a defender but moved up for the cornerkick and that was the only goal of the game.
It was Politz's first of the season as he's missed a long period of time with an injury.

I didn't think this game would end with such a low scoreline when it began with New England starting
strong in the first ten minutes but only credited with two shots on target the entire game.
Andreas Vaikla earned the shutout for TFC. His biggest moment was at 20 minutes when Revs Ryan Spaulding
centered a short pass from the left to Damian Rivera who shot low from 20 yards and Vaikla dove to push
the ball wide left of the post. Three minutes later TFC scored and were on their way to the win.

TFC formed a ring around any threat getting near their box with Kobe Franklin, Jan-Talen Maples, Politz,
and Luca Petrasso anchoring the defence with midfielders often breaking up plays before they got that far.

TFC were credited with four shots on target but a goal by forwards Paul Rothrock or Kosi Thompson
as an insurance strike could have made thing less nailbiting.

Referee Michael Venne gave out a Yellow card to TFC Maples at 3 minutes then eventually four to the Revs.
The Revs were complaining about the number of times their players were fouled but won no more than
a few freekicks.

This game had a huge implication for the playoffs. There are nine teams between 3rd and 10th in the
standings fighting for the last four playoff spots (top six make the playoffs).

TFC improves to 8 wins, 9 losses, 8 ties for 32 points and moves up one spot to eighth in the standings
passing South Georgia Tormenta. The problem with always playing the first game of the weekend,
is now tonight, Saturday, and Sunday the other teams play and can knock them back down.

The Revs fall to 10 wins, 10 losses, 4 ties for 34 points and hold onto fourth at the moment.

The Revolution MLS team leads the Eastern Conference by a wide margin while TFC is second from the
bottom but neither team looked like they had any MLS calibre players at the moment on their farm team.
A giveaway (although less so in recent years) is usually their jersey numbers. Neither team had
a player wearing anything lower that the thirties except the Revs forward Justin Rennicks who wore
#12 and was about the only threat for the visitors. Revs only brought five subs including a back
up goalie—what makes our Customs officials give visiting teams such a problem getting players across
the border? They're not going to defect!

TFC started eight Canadians today which is better than most CPL teams—York United FC being an exception.

Once the game ended I left immediately and drove to the York University campus to watch that CPL team
York United play Atletico Ottawa. Luca Petrasso's older brother Michael Petrasso plays for York.
There's probably a reason the brothers will never be teammates. They both play the same position
in similar style. They take cornerkicks and bomb up and down the wings.

Three more games for TFC II. Next game is away at Chattanooga on Saturday, then finishing with
two home games, Friday the 22nd against Fort Lauderdale and Friday the 29th against Revs II (again!).
Both the New England home games had been rescheduled from earlier in the season as Toronto was trying
to play their road games in the hope of loading home games at the end when the pandemic conditions
eased for border crossings. If they don't make the playoffs this season, the reason will be traced
back to playing 'home' games the first half of the season in Arizona and Florida. All the Canadian
MLS teams can also say that this season. TFC II sat out the 2020 season when cross border
travelling with quarantine rules made scheduling impossible.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Twitter @RocketRobin01

Toronto FC II starters