August 5, 2023 League1 Ontario...Woodbridge Strikers vs Windsor City FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday August 6, 2023 League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game between
Woodbridge Strikers vs Windsor City FC played at Vaughan Grove in Woodbridge at 5:00pm.

Woodbridge Strikers (all blue uniforms, white numbers)

......................76 Daniel Clark
15 Elijah Viet Le...4 Isaiah Noel (cpt)...12 Carmine Fiore...27 Luca Rao
23 Uday Arora...9 Ronaldo Marshall...8 Navid Rahman...18 Paolo Migotto
..............20 Exosse Kadiebue...21 Aidan Hugo

Subs:...1 David Carano (gk)...3 Gianluca Condello...10 Ignazio Muccilli...11 Isaac Emmanuel
...19 Dante Ruddock...22 Matthew Carano
team officials:...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...assistant coach Fabio Panetta...manager John Scarlato
...equipment manager Kelvin Friseiro...therapists David Lisi and Furkan Demir
Suspended players: Luca Pinto, Frando Digiovanni, and Luka Vasic

Windsor City FC (all white uniforms, red numbers)

......................1 Joshua Savoni
.........3 Riley Drkulec...5 Bastian Aguilera (cpt)...8 Andrii Amonov
2 Marc David Siegel...16 Cailan Loebel...11 Owen Antoniuk...7 Braden Stevanovic
.........10 Jonathan Agapito...9 Jose Pabon...17 Marcos Quiroga

Subs:...12 Denys Cuevas (gk)...6 Nikola Krndija...13 Zachary Thomas...14 Jakub Laskowski
...15 Fabian Francis...20 Melein Keflay
team officials:...team head coach Valter Consenza...assistant coach Rob Arce...manager Janice Wyer
...equipment managers Paulo Parreira and Shane Topalovic...therapist Samantha Myers
Suspended players: none

Game officials:...referee Kevin McEleney...referee's assistants Liam Tremblay and Mariusz Buczkowski
...fourth official Nivin Raizada...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

I didn't see anyone here camming this game for the L1O nor team website. There are cammers out there who are not frightened
by threatening rain storms who protect their equipment with a simple plastic bag and an elastic band! Hard core types
will just have to wait until I get time to write a more play-by-play report in the weeks* to come. *turned into 3 months!

First Half:...game starts 5:02pm...Woodbridge defends north end on this overcast late afternoon with a wind from the east.
There are rain drops just between the warm up and the start of the game.
1 min...City player at 20 yard taps pass back and City Quiroga chips 22 yarder over net.
2 min...City Pabon run down left and 22 yard roller is smothered by goalie.
3 min...Strikers Hugo runs ball over end line on left on rush.
7 min...Windsor Braden Stevanovic GOAL...WC Jonathan Agapito after run takes a 20 yard shot from the right that goalie
Daniel Clark pushes wide left. Stevanovic at tough angle on left shoots 7 yarder past goalie into right side of net
that looked like the goalie got a piece of but couldn't keep out.
9 min...Strikers Kadiebue low 12 yard shot from left is into outside left webbing of net.
10 min...Strikers Hugo is injured and needs trainer near center line.
12 min...City Agapito has 15 yard shot blocked.
13 min...City goalie is out to top left of box to pick up ball beating Strikers Migotto.
15 min...City Agapito wins freekick at top right of box on hip check by Strikers Migotto.
16 min...City Antoniuk 22 yard freekick from top right has Strikers Marshall head wide left on jump up at 5 yards.
17 min...City Antoniuk chips 25 yard freekick from left has goalie trap ball low at 1 yard line.
19 min...Strikers Migotto dribbles to left end line and cross to right side of box that Strikers Hugo chests down and eventually
gets away 8 yard shot along line that goalie drives forward to stop and defender clears out of box.
20 min...City Antoniuk cornerkick from right has goalie catch in crowd of players on left post.
23 min...Strikers Hugo cornerkick from right has defender pop header on lelft out of box.
24 min...Strikers Rahman cornerkick from left has City Pabon heads away on near side.
24 min...Strikers Kadiebue gets to high chip but City Aguilera gets back to prevent shot.
25 min...Strikers Kadiebue cornerkick from right has defender head ball wide left for another cornerkick.
25 min...Strikers Rahman cornerkick from left has defenders clear.
It's now raining harder now...a light rain.
28 min...Strikers Kadiebue can't win Penalty kick on bump on left side of box as he was called offside.
30 min...Strikers Hugo rolls through ball on left to Strikers Migotto who wins cornerkick on blocked cross.
31 min...Strikers Rahman cornerkick on left has defender head ball out middle of box.
33 min...Strikers Hugo gets away blast between two sliding defenders up middle at 18 yards but shot is well wide right.
34 min...City Stevanovic hits left post on 15 yard shot that goalie got piece of earning City a cornerkick.
35 min...City Antoniuk from cornerkick left is headed away.
35 min...City Antoniuk chips 30 yarder is over players that goalie catches.
36 min...City player 22 yard blast deflects off two defenders and stays out.
37 min...Strikers Rahman cornerkick from left over leaping goalie but deflected for cornerkick on right.
38 min...Strikers Hugo cornerkick on right has Strikers Fiore head 10 yarder that goalie stops on fall and play is whistled
down with players crashing together.
42 min...City Agapito passes forward for City Stevanovic on left and low shot is smotherd by goalie on near post.
45 min...City Agapito ends long possession with pass on right that rolls to goalie wide right of net.
46 min...Strikers player wins freekick by not giving up on ball rolling wide right and shielded by defender.
47 min...Strikers players waste freekick on right end line with pass out of box and eventually only a chipped ball from 30 yards
to edge of box.
47 min...half ends 7:49pm.

Halftime: Both teams stay at their benches rather than make their way through the 300 yard maze to get back to the dressing rooms
as construction on the new Vaughan Grove pitch and now the paving and concrete forms on the next door Vaughan volleyball dome parking lot.
Not going back means no twisted ankle risks.

Strikers had won four cornerkicks in three minutes on their best pressure in the first half.

Second Half:...starts 6:01pm.
Halftime subs:...Strikers Condello replaces Rahman.
...................Strikers Emmanuel replaces Migotto.
47 min...Strikers Kadiebue is bumped getting by two defender running up right but rolls ball over end line.
48 min...City Stevanovic and City Pabon on give and go up left and cross is cleared in box. City Antoniuk blasts shot off defender
at 20 yards and blasts low 20 yard rebound wide left.
51 min...Woodbridge Issac Emmanuel GOAL...WS Aidan Hugo at 70 yards on right runs to left before getting to center
line then feeds through ball pass to Emmanuel as a sliding defender misses ball at 22 yards and Emmanuel gets by
and shoots 18 yard roller past goalie Joshua Savoni to just inside the left corner of the net.
53 min...Strikers YELLOW card...Rao earns it for injurying City Antoniuk at Strikers 50 yard line.
54 min...Strikers Hugo cornerkick from right has defender clear on near post.
55 min...Strikers scoring play up middle is called offside.
59 min...City YELLOW card...Stevanovic earns it for bashing into Strikers Arora at Strikers 35 yard line.
60 min...Strikers Hugo 40 yard chip is caught by goalie. City Siegel is injured at Strikers 45 yard line earlier in play and needs trainer.
62 min...Strikers Marshall receives pass up right and partially eludes defender to get away 15 yard roller that goalie picks up.
64 min...Strikers Hugo 33 yard freekick from right bounces to goalie on short side.
64 min...Strikers Rao is injured in collision with player at City 45 yard line.
............City YELLOW card...Pabon earns it for kicking ball away after last play.
65 min...Strikers player's 28 yard roller from left is wide right of net.
66 min...Strikers Noel makes key headed clearance on City Antoniuk cross from left.
67 min...City sub...Thomas replaces Quiroga.
68 min...City Antoniuk 40 yard freekick from left has defender head away.
68 min...Strikers Hugo 25 yard low freekick from far right has goalie dive to bat down and crawl to smother ball on near post.
69 min...City Antoniuk 35 yard shot is chipped down middle and goalie catches. City Pabon is injured in Strikers box and can't
win Penalty kick. Pabon probably would have been offside.
70 min...Strikers sub...Muccilli replaces Marshall before play resumes.
The wind gusts are picking up from the west.
71 min...Strikers Rao chips pass up left and Strikers Kadiebue chips 20 yarder from near left end line over box.
72 min...Stikers Emmanuel bicycle kick attempt doesn't connect at 10 yards.
74 min...Strikers Hugo blasts 30 yard shot from left well over net and back fence.
75 min...Strikers Rao long throw-in from right has defender head ball away on edge of box.
76 min...Strikers Hugo 35 yard freekick from left has Strikers Noel in crowd of players pop up header on left side of box
at 12 yards and defenders clear.
77 min...Strikers Rao can't get by City Aguilera on run to left cornerflag and along end line.
79 min...Strikers Noel makes huge play on City Pabon to break up his run from 40 yards up left on edge of box.
81 min...Strikers Hugo wins cornerkick on right in duel with City Aguilera.
82 min...Strikers Emmanuel has City Siegel block 15 yard shot but wins cornerkick.
82 min...Strikers Emmauel cornerkick from left drops in box but wins another cornerkick.
83 min...Strikers Emmanuel cornerkick from left has two players make headers including City Leobel make popping header
and defenders clear ball.
84 min...Strikers YELLOW card...Condello earns it for grabbing City Anoniuk to cuts off his crossfield run from left.
85 min...City Anoniuk 33 yard freekick up middle has goalie dive left to save on post. City Aguilera blasts 7 yard rebound
off bar and Strikers players recover and make a fast break out.
85 min...Strikers Hugo on fast break passes to Strikers Kadiebue for clear shot from 18 yards on right that he sends wide right.
86 min...City Pabon receives pass in Strikers box but he's offside.
88 min...City Stevanovicc rush to right endline but pushes ball over end line before he can cut towards goal.
90 min...Strikers Hugo bends 22 yard shot from slight right that flying goalie pushes wide left of top corner.
91 min...Strikers Muccilli 28 yard freekick on left has defender clear with two headers.
92 min...Strikers Muccilli 25 yard freekick from right is chip that's over head of jumping Strikers Kadiebue. Strikers Condello
can't keep it in play on end line.
94 min...game ends 6:50pm.

Final Score:.....Woodbridge Strikers.........1.........Windsor City FC..........1.........

Attendance eventually climbed to about 50 by halftime. Some of the fans sat in their opened car trunks in the parking lot as a shield from the light rain that fell off and on during the game starting just after the warm ups. The heavy rain that was promised later in the evening did start well after the game had finished just like the night before.

Late game action as both teams were looking for a winner included at 85 minutes Windsor Owen Antoniuk taking a 33 yard freekick up the middle that the goalie dove left to make the save on the post and Bastian Aguilera blasted the 7 yard rebound off the bar and the Woodbridge players then got a fast break out with WS Aidan Hugo passing to Exosse Kadiebue for a clear shot from 18 yards that he sent wide right. 90 minutes had Hugo bending a 22 yard shot from the slight right that the flying goalie pushed wide left of the top corner of the net.

Referee Kevin McEleney gave out two Yellow cards to each team all in the second half to keep control of the game.

Both teams had 17 players listed but subs were kept to a minimum. Woodbridge made two at halftime to shake things up and one one more at 70 minutes. Windsor made only one and that was at 67 minutes. It looked like they were avoiding their teenage players as this game was in doubt until the last kick. It's a 3 1/2 drive from Windsor (across the river from Detroit USA) but in the parking lot it looked like they had been able to charter the St Clair College team bus which was a comfortable Greyhound calibre coach.

By the time I got home all the Sunday games had finished. The result moves Woodbridge's record to 6 wins, 6 losses, 6 ties for 24 points. That's good for eleventh place. Windsor's record now is 6 wins, 9 losses, 2 ties for 20 points. That puts them in fifteenth place in the twenty-one team division. Neither team can make the top six places for a playoff place which currently is 33 points with only two and three games to go respectively.

What is the more serious race they are in is the weighted combined standings compiled between 2022 and 2023 results. Windsor is doomed to play in the lower tier 'Championship Division' next season with no chance of placing in the Top 12 positions and staying in the Premier Division. Woodbridge holds a precarious position at twelfth place! There are currently three teams fighting for the eleventh and twelfth spot. Woodbridge's result adds one point to their total which is now at 45.75 points. They had started the day in eleventh. Another game was taking place in Burlington one hour after the game at Vaughan Grove started. Both Burlington SC and Hamilton United started the day with 44.25 points. Burlington ended up beating Hamilton 3-1 and jumping to 47.25 points and taking over eleventh place. Hamilton stays at 44.25 but have three games to play while both Woodbridge and Burlington have only two to go.

Woodbridge has only a tough away game against probable playoff bound team Guelph United and finish their schedule with a final home game against Hamilton United. Their grounds right now look like even more of an obstacle course than the last time I was here. Not only has their main field (which was natural grass) been dug up, but some concrete has been poured in bases to be the outline of the permanent stands that are to be built. The new pitch will be field-turf to enable the facility to have a longer season. I say obstacle course right now as the pitch construction area is fenced off but also the property next door which housed a bubble dome for the Vaughan Volleyball Club. They are doing some construction to their parking lot. It looked easy to twist an ankle or step on a loose nail on the way to a second field-turf field the Strikers are using again this season, about 300 yards away from the change rooms. OK a crowd of 50 people today waiting for the sky to open up is not a reason to build a new stadium but their women's teams are some of the best and I'm reading the club's tweets that looks like every few weeks one of their boys teams are winning some tourney or are having some player signed to a U-Sport or NCAA school. More pressure to have the Men's team stay in the L1O top division and earn some revenue from ticket sales.

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Ok just dropping this news from yesterday here. I arrived to watch the L1O Women's Final at Ontario Soccer Centre yesterday (hey just 500 yards away from Vaughan Grove!) and saw people in the parking lot with team jackets. There had been a L1O Men's game scheduled to be played last night that was moved up to the afternoon. It was between also-rans Master's FA hosting Unionville Milliken SC. (Master's plays most of their home games at L'Amoreaux Park in Scarborough...Unionville has had to play all of their home games at OSC this season). Master's won 3-2 for only their second win of the season. An outburst for them as they'd only scored 9 goals in 16 games up until today! Unionville recovered from their 13-1 drubbing against Alliance United last Saturday. I asked a team official if they had more players than last week as I checked the linescore on the L1O website that showed only fourteen players taking the field. “Yes, two more” she said. Unionville has only one win officially this season (an early season win was later reversed for fielding an ineligible player). These teams will be battling each other in the second tier next season.

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Alright one more news feature because with League1 Canada president Dino Rossi being the PA announcer 
for the L1O Women's Final last night, it was too good an opportunity to pass asking him to summarize 
what is planned for next season.  Some of this is old news and some newer:

2024 L1O Men's setup: 

Premier Division               12 teams.  

Championship Division          10 teams*   Yes there are 21 teams right now because Pickering FC 
dropped out before the 2023 season began, that tenth position will be filled...could be a foreign owner, 
could be Toronto FC Academy rejoining the league.  

Second Divisison     # of teams being worked out.   The division will be comprised of the current L1O  
'Reserves' teams and their U-21 teams plus all the new teams/investors queuing up to join. 

The Reserve League will now be the L1O Under-19 teams. 

What is still being worked out in promotion and relegation is between '1 up, 1 down' or '2 up, 2 down' 
or a mix between these divisions.  

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Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01

Woodbridge Strikers starters