October 29, 2021 USL League One--Toronto FC II vs New England Revolution II game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Friday October 29, 2021 USL League One game between Toronto FC II and New England Revolution II
played at BMO Training Grounds in Downsview at 3:00pm.

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

........................40 Caleb Patterson-Sewell
58 Kobe Franklin...34 Jon-Talen Maples...64 Kevin Politz (cpt)...38 Luca Petrasso
82 Julian Altobelli...72 Steffen Yeates...85 Antonio Carlini...62 Rohan Goulbourne
...........73 Paul Rothrock...49 Garrett McLaughlin

Subs:...70 Andreas Vailkla (gk)...35 Mehdi Essoussi (mid)...48 Dante Campbell (def)...52 Kosi Thompson (fwd)
...65 Antony Curic (mid)...81 Themi Antonoglou (mid)...83 Hugo Mbongue (mid)
team officials:...head coach Mike Munoz

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

.....................51 Joseph Rice
40 Sean O'Hearn...35 Collin Verfurth...23 Jonathan Bell...34 Ryan Spaulding
6 Maciel...32 Jake Rozhansky (cpt)...61 Noel Buck...12 Justin Rennicks
............72 Damian Rivera...19 Edward Kizza

Subs:...70 min...Yannik Oetti (gk)...37 Dennis Ramirez (mid)...41 Colby Quinones (def)...47 Esmir Bajraktarevic (mid)
...53 Hikaru Fujiwara (mid)...54 Tyler Freitas (def)...60 Francois Dulysse (def)
team officials:...manager Clint Peay

Game officials:...referee Michael Mund...referee's assistants Peter Pendli and Marouane Mouthadi
...fourth official David Barrie...(aqua shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 3:08pm...TFC defends north end on this cold afternoon with a strong wind from the east.
3 min...TFC McLaughlin is tapped pass on charge and he one-touches 12 yard shot blocked by sprawling goalie.
3 min...Rev Rivera low cross from 15 yards on right end line is smothered by goalie.
5 min...Rev Rozhansky cornerkick from left bounces through box and is eventually cleared.
6 min...Petrasso on 2 on 2 rush shoots 20 yarder from left high and wide left of net. TFC Altobelli was hurt well upfield.
7 min...Rev Kizza high cross from left is caught in wind but TFC defender heads it away.
12 min...Rev player rolls centering pass to Rev Buck who blasts 22 yarder that's blocked by TFC Maples who's injured
and needs trainer.
14 min...TFC Franklin long run up right but is checked off ball at top of Rev box.
15 min...Rev Spaulding rolls 30 yarder from left that's tipped on net but called offside.
19 min...Rev Rennicks long run on left and wins cornerkick on deflection.
20 min...Rev Rozhansky high cornerkick from left is caught by goalie after it's caught in the wind.
20 min...Rev Rivera shot/cross from left is wide left just a step ahead of charging Rev player.
22 min...TFC Rothrock trailing on play but a pass back meant for him is intercepted at 15 yards.
22 min...TFC players have pressure inside Rev box but no shot is taken.
24 min...Rev O'Hearn cross from 35 yards on right is over left end line on bounce.
28 min...TFC Petrasso low 15 yard shot is pushed wide left of net. Rev defender clears off TFC Rothrock to clear out of box.
30 min...TFC Petrasso 25 yards on left crosses into box has Rev Spaulding head away at 12 yards out right side.
32 min...TFC Rothrock long run on right and 18 yard shot has goalie make sliding foot save at 10 yards.
33 min...Rev Rivera 15 yard low shot is into outside webbing of right side of net.
35 min...Rev players work out short cornerkick from left that's eventually crossed in and defenders clear.
35 min...Rev YELLOW card...Maciel earns it for pulling down TFC player at 50 yard line after Rev shot deflects off TFC defender
that starts a breakout.
37 min...Rev O'Hearn cross from 30 yards on left is wide left with wind blowing it for goalkick.
39 min...Rev Spaulding shot from 25 yards on left is well high wide left of net.
40 min...TFC Petrasso 28 yard freekick from right is low and cleared at 15 yards.
43 min...TFC Altobelli is tapped short pass from TFC Yeates and low 15 yard shot is between players that's saved by diving goalie
pushing ball wide and defenders clear.
46 min...half ends 3:54pm.

Halftime:...The winds get even stronger!

Second Half:...starts 4:10pm.
Halftime sub:...TFC Curic replaces Politz.
47 min...Rev Buck corne3rkick from right is short and not crossed in at all but eventually lost.
48 min...Rev Rivera blasts 25 yarder up middle that's blocked. Rev Spaulding receives deflection and 22 yard cross is high and wide
right over end line.
51 min...Rev Verfurth makes big sliding block at 8 yards on left.
51 min...A TFC players cross from 30 yards is called offside.
52 min...Rev Kizza cross from right end line is high and wide left of net.
53 min...TFC Altobelli short run to middle and 25 yard shot is rolled wide left.
55 min...Rev Rivera blasts 22 yarder down middle well over net.
56 min...Rev Kizza blasts 20 yarer from left that goalie flies to push wide left of net. [This was the Rev only shot on net the entire game!]
57 min...Rev Rozhansky cornerkick from left is through box unplayed.
57 min...TFC Franklin rolls 25 yarder from right is though 6 yard box just wide left and wins cornerkick.
58 min...TFC Franklin cornerkick from left has TFC Petrasso on right high and wins cornerkick on deflected cross.
58 min...TFC Petrasso cornerkrick from right is headed forward by TFC player but goalie picks up ball.
61 min...TFC II Paul Rothrock GOAL...TFC Julian Altobelli rolls pass forward down left for TFC Luca Petrasso who runs to end line
holding off NER Sean O'Hearn and sending in high cross. Rothrock one-touches 12 yard midair shot from right into top center of net
over goalie Joseph Rice.
63 min...Rev player's cornerkick from right evemtually wins a freekick.
64 min...Rev Buck 30 yard freekick up middle bounces to goaie near left post.
64 min...Rev YELLOW card for knock down of TFC player at Rev 50 yard line.
67 min...Rev Bell cross from TFC 30 yard line on right in wind and bounces out right for throw-in.
69 min...TFC Maples concedes cornerkick heading ball behind end line as four Rev players wait for cross from right.
70 min...Rev O'Hearn deflects shot off TFC Petrasso on right.
71 min...Rev player's chip lands on top of TFC net.
72 min...Rev Spaulding holds two guys off rush along left end line but passes to Rev player shot has shot blocked at 10 yards.
75 min...TFC Franklin cornerkick from left has Rev Bell head into box and another Rev players heads away.
77 min...Rev Buck cornerkick from right is short again and not crossed into box.
78 min...TFC goalie is out to 25 yards to clear through ball.
79 min...TFC Goulbourne rush on left and rolls 20 yarder wide right.
79 min...Rev Rivera rush on left and low cross throug box is out right side.
81 min...Rev Spaulding low shot from 18 yards between two defenders and goalie dives to smother at 6 yards.
82 min...TFC sub...Thompson replaces McLaughlin.
83 min...Rev sub...Bajraktarevic replacces Buck.
84 min...TFC Rothrock 22 yard shot down middle is deflected over net for cornerkick.
84 min...TFC player's cornerkick from left is worked out but knocked out for goalkick.
85 min...Rev Bell rusn on left but can't turn cross and ball is high and wide left of net.
86 min...Rev Kizza cross from right is high and wide right behind net.
86 min...TFC sub...Campbell replaces Altobelli.
90 min...TFC Goulbourne is injured at TFC 50 yard line.
91 min...TFC sub...Mbongue replaces injured Goulbourne.
92 min...Rev YELLOW card...Rozhansky earns it near sideline for time wasting.
93 min...Rev O'Hearn 55 yard freekick from right is well wide left as ball is caught in the wind.
94 min...NER RED card...goalie Joseph Rice earns it for clipping arm sweep to ankle of TFC Hugo Mbongue at 25 yards who kept
his footing but NER Ryan Spaulding rode him off to right. Referee Michael Mund sends Rice off. Yannik Oetti comes in to play goal
with outfield player Maciel leaving game. *FotMob lists that Rice was sent off for a hand ball which makes sense as Mbongue not falling
is sometimes enough for a referee to decide he wasn't interfered with so he must have connected with the ball.
96 min...Rev sub...Oetti replaces Maciel.
96 min...TFC players tap around freekick at 25 yards down middle to kill off the clock.
97 min...game ends 5:02pm.

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

Attendance was about 50 on this cold afternoon with a strong gusty crossfield wind from the east. The wind got
stronger in the second half and very appropriate it started to rain as the final whistle was blown. Most of their
games have a 4:00pm start but I checked just in time to see the game started one hour earlier than usual. Getting
the game over before the rain made me happy as writing in the rain is the worst part of pen and paper notetaking.
All fans stand or sit on the east side so the wind was at our backs for the whole game.

The PA announcer ended the game with “The dream is still alive.” TFC came into the game in eighth place--this being
the only game of the day--and passed the Revs who held sixth place into seventh.

TFC's record ends their regular season at 10 wins, 8 ties, 10 losses for 38 points. (one better than the Revs).
Tomorrow eighth place FC Tucson hosts fourth place Richmond Kickers. Tucson has 37 points and a win will leapfrog
them into sixth place. TFC wins in a tie because of a +2 goal difference.

TFC started six Canadians in today's game which is lower than usual but still comparable with many CPL teams.
All seven listed subs were Canadians.

Caleb Patterson-Sewell earned the shutout for TFC. In this game both sides had a preference to send in low shots
so the unpredictable wind would not be a factor. CP-S's only save was at 56 minutes when Edward Kizza blasted
a low 20 yarder from the left that he flew over to push wide left of the post. He bossed his defenders around like
a chess player spotting potential dangers before they occurred. He doubles as the goalkeeping coach and the team
wisely decided to insert him with his experience as the goalie in today's game.

The shutout this game were also helped along by the defence with Kobe Franklin, Jon-Talen Maples, Kevin Politz,
and Luca Petrasso anchoring the back four although Franklin and Petrasso still had permission to bomb up the wings.

Joseph Rice was the only standout for Revs with his play in net. He made two point blank saves in the first half
to keep the game scoreless. (Petrasso at 28 and Rothrock at 32).

Neither team was in a hurry to make substitutions. TFC subbed Kevin Politz with Antony Curic at halftime and no one
else on either team until 82 minutes. Interesting that the TFC captaincy had three holders. Garrett McLaughlin took
over the title at halftime until he was subbed off at 82 minutes by Kosi Thompson and Steffan Yeates took the armband.
Usual captain Dante Campbell was subbed on at 86 minutes but there was not a fourth armband swap.

This game had the same linescore as the one played here exactly three weeks ago. This game would have been played
in New England except there was some date trading earlier this season. Remember in the pandemic TFC had to play all
their games in the USA because of border crossing rules (well better than 2020 when they took the season off).
Schedule makers had TFC start the season late and play their first games on the road as is usual most seasons because
of the early spring weather in Toronto and that the dome is usually still up that early in the season. That meant
that the games of Friday July 9th and 23rd were played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough and the TFC 'home' games
were switched to Friday October 12th and 29th. All games ended with 1-0 scores with the Revs winning both their
home games. Not all teams were cooperatives and early TFC 'home' games were played in Arizona and Florida.

So the season at Downsview Park ended today for TFC II regardless if they make the playoffs or not. If they do they
are the sixth seed and would play the team with the third best record on the road in a one game quarterfinal then
if they advance they would play the first place team on the road in hopes of making the final to play on the road.
The league will be happy there will even be a championship as for 2020 they awarded it to Greenville Triumph without
the final because of a Covid outbreak.

Next year? I spoke to assistant coach Danny Dichio after the game and it does appear MLS vs USL will try to separate
all the MLS 'farm teams' from the independents playing in USL Championship and League One. Dichio thinks they'll
be twenty-one. League One has four including the two teams in today's game plus Fort Lauderdale CF (Inter Miami)
and South Texas SC (FC Dallas). Championship has such teams as Red Bulls and Galaxy who wouldn't agree to the 'drop'.

As long as they don't make it like the old days of the MLS Reserve League where teams would constantly skip out
on dates or reschedule and sometimes play after the main MLS games with roster spots often taken by subs who had
played less than 30 minutes of the main game so we'd get to see a bored TFC designated player Danny Koevermans
w-a-l-k back to his side of center when TFC lost possession, this new league could be a success.

I'll write a summary of the whole of my soccer watching season in a few weeks when League1 Ontario and the
York United FC season ends.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Toronto FC II starters