Hmm....likely Morgan & Spencer being tuned up to play Ottawa on Tuesday.
Hmm....likely Morgan & Spencer being tuned up to play Ottawa on Tuesday.
Watched the whole game, TFC was up 1-0 but gave up three second half goals and lost 3-1. Rowdies pushed hard in the second half and once they got the tying goal the floodgates opened.
Spencer's hold up play is decent but he needs to show me more in front of goal. Wasted a few chances today.
Camargo and Fraser were both pretty good. Camargo played the through ball assist on Uccello's goal. Morgan also did well and went 60 minutes, after going 45 last week. He's getting back up to game speed and should play in the Voyageurs Cup. He had a big smile on his face when he was subbed off, it was great to see. I'm sure he's pleased to finally be playing again.
Result and details of the Friday May 19, 2017 USL game between
Toronto FC II and Tampa Bay Rowdies played at the Ontario Soccer
Centre in Vaughan at 5:00pm.
9 min...TFC Luca Uccello GOAL...TFC Sergio Camargo sends high
chipped pass from 60 yards down middle which finds Uccello all
alone at 30 yards and he dribbles forward and shoots low 18 yarder
to left corner of net with goalie Matt Pickens sprawling at 14 yards.
67 min...Rowdies Joe Cole GOAL...Rowdies Darwin Jones eludes
TFC Ryan Telfer to get away low cross from 22 yards along right
end line through two defenders and one Rowdies forward
in the 6 yard box and Cole shoot 6 yarder up middle into center
of net under diving goalie Angelo Cavalluzzo who'd been
guarding right post.
79 min...Rowdies Martin Paterson GOAL...Rowdies Michael
Nanchoff takes 33 yard freekick down middle which has
Rowdies Neill Collins head ball at 12 yards on right across
box for Paterson at 6 yards in middle to head ball into right
side of net.
81 min...Rowdies Darwin Jones GOAL...Rowdies Joe Cole
recovers TFC Brandon Aubrey's high popped up header
at 25 yards in middle and he one-touch rolls pass to right
for Jones who steps forward on right and blasts 20 yarder
into top right corner beyond flying goalie. The ball tipped
off TFC Liam Fraser stepping forward at 17 yards.
Final Score:.....Toronto FC II......1......Tampa Bay Rowdies......3....
Attendance was announced as 551 which probably started
at barely 100 when the game started. I thought when I saw
the schedule at the beginning of the season that the starting
time was a glitch but it took me until last week to realize
it was to let the fans get home to see the MLS team play
New York Red Bulls in New Jersey at 7:30pm. It did take
less time to get home than here as the rush hour was
over but the TFC game had already started. Giveaway
at the gate tonight was a TFC II fridge magnet but they
were probably left over because of the small crowd
in their season opener against Rochester.
Referee Carol Ann Chenard led an all female officiating
crew. She only gave out six Yellow cards that I counted
(three to each team) and waved off at least one Penalty
kick call to each team when TFC Luca Uccello
at 35 minutes and Rowdies Georgi Hristov at 41 minutes
fell over too easily in the box. She also called each team
for an offensive handball in the other team's box.
TFC's early goal stopped their scoreless drought
at 519 minutes. It was only their third goal of the
season in nine games. Scoring has obviously been
the team's major problem. Defensively they've been
respectable with only nine goals allowed until today.
Four of those were against Tampa Bay in the second
game of the season when TFC was also shut out.
TFC had six Canadian starters in their lineup—Angelo
Cavalluzzo in goal, Sergio Camargo, Ashtone Morgan,
Luca Uccello, Liam Fraser in the midfield, and Shaan
Hundal up front. Ryan Telfer came on at 60 minutes
to replace Ashtone Morgan. TFC made the same switch
last weekend at their game at BMO Field but that was
Telfer for Morgan at halftime. Morgan has been
recovering from injury stretching back into last year.
If he does come back it will be likely as a winger. His years
with TFC Academy and time in the MLS were as a defender.
Last weekend I said there were three Canadian starters
but it was four.
I keep looking for forward Jordan Hamilton to make
an appearance as he hasn't seen a minute of MLS action
so far this season but he's not with TFC II. [Oops. Just saw
him get into the TFC game at the very end].
T&T defender Jelani Peters was transferred to TFC II earlier
today. He had been on loan from W-Connection until now.
He played the second half and made one key clearance
while they still held the lead.
Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell looked like a genius
as he brought in Martin Paterson during the stoppage in
play on the 79 minute freekick. Paterson took his place
then scored right after the kick was taken.
TFC II remains in fifteenth (last place) in the East with
a record of 1 win, 5 losses, 3 ties for 6 points.
The win moves the Rowdies into first place in the East
for now as it's the first game of the weekend. This is a
team that is putting a big effort into getting one of the
expansion franchises the MLS is offering over the next
few years. The Tampa Bay local government has just
approved a completely privately funded soccer specific
stadium which is a huge favourable point for the MLS
expansion committee.
Tampa's roster right now is a mix of MLS vets and
international pick ups. I could see them putting an
effort into going far in the US Open Cup to gather
more publicity. Captain Joe Cole is their most famous
player playing much of his career in England including
many internationals until 2010 and at the club level
until 2016 most recently with Coventry. Goalie Matt
Pickens played for MLS Colorado Rapids from 2009
to 2014.
TFC II's next home game starts at Noon
on Wednesday May 24 against Richmond Kickers
with what I expect will be a crowd of school kids.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
Result and details of the Saturday May 20, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between
Toronto FC III and North Mississauga Panthers held at KIA Training Centre
in Downsview at 1:00pm.
2 min...TFC Ethan Beckford GOAL...TFC Aidan Daniels on rush on left and
at 20 yards he feeds short cross to center for Beckford to shoot low and
past sliding goalie Anthony Whyte at 15 yards into left corner of net.
15 min...TFC Marko Mandekic GOAL...TFC Aidan Daniels sends low pass
from 30 yards on left over to Mandekic on right and he shoots low 20 yarder
to left corner of net.
74 min...N Miss Bradley Fenton GOAL...N Miss Anton Buretic sends
in throw-in that goes untouched over to Fenton who shoots in 10 yarder
past goalie Gianluca Catalano to top right corner of net.
Final Score:...Toronto FC III....2....North Mississauga Panthers.....1...
Attendance was about 40 on this mild but very windy day. Again something
about this location has the wind blow what seems like triple the speed
of the parking lot up the hill. This had an effect on crosses and freekicks
being flown or bounced out of play by both teams. The wind was from the
east so it did not give either team an advantage with the field's
north-south alignment.
When I saw TFC III rip open a 2-0 lead I thought the scoreline could
get ugly but those were the only goals they could muster. They had more
chances but couldn't put them away and Panthers got back into the game
for a very even contest and on the last kick of the game Mathew Monteiro
with a freekick from 35 yards had his shot fly just over the bar.
TFC almost put the game away at 63 minutes when Aidan Daniels took
a 22 yard shot up the middle that hit the bar. The rebound fell
to a TFC player who put in the rebound but who was at least five
yards offside.
Referee Tim Wong gave out two Yellow cards to each team. One of
them was to TFC Kota Sakurai at 85 minutes for a sliding tackle
at their 35 yard line. This brought one of the loudest reactions
from the N Miss bench as they wanted an advantage played as they
had a player get away on the right wing. The card could come later.
Interesting that it was Sakurai who was injured and had
to be subbed off before the freekick could be taken.
Ethan Beckford scored his fifth goal of the season in only
four games. He didn't look too pleased though being the first
TFC player subbed out today at 50 minutes. Five goals gives
him most in the league but the weekend's not over yet.
North Mississauga Panthers joined the league in 2016 but this
year I could also say they are an expansion team. Before the
game I was talking to head coach Sam Medeiros. He's replaced
Rick Titus this year. He said he replaced the entire team from
last year with 1998s and 1999s. I double checked after I got
home with the last time I saw the Panthers...October 2 last
year and that game was right here against TFC Academy and the
only player that was on that roster who is still here
is today's goalscorer Bradley Fenton. The game sheet checks
all the starting eleven as U 23s. (of course with the mandate
of TFC III, theirs is the same). The team was 1 win, 2 losses
coming into today's game.
I said I remembered Medeiros from the North York Astros. He was
a defender for them in 1999, assistant coach, head coach for
them and other CNSL/CPSL/CSL over the years and even
in League 1 Ontario he was an assistant coach for Woodbridge
Strikers in 2014.
TFC III's record climbs to 2 wins, 2 losses this season with
their next league game Sunday the 28th away in Monarch Park against
Sanjaxx Lions. That field was windy last week too. Before that
they play near here at the Downsview Dome right beside here
on Wednesday night against Sigma FC in a L1O Cup match at 8:00pm.
Reason for that? The KIA facility (well the one that artificial
turf that their Academy teams play on) has no stadium lights!
Their deep roster should get them through next week.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01
TFC II goes again in a few minutes. Luis Pereira's first action since signing on loan.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFCII/status/867399980478279680
Apparently Silviu Petrescu is reffing USL now.
what an odd start time, for school kids?
Originally Posted by notthesun
Last edited by C.Ronaldo; 05-24-2017 at 01:21 PM.
The Ottawa Fury are doing the same thing with a game in June with an 11am start time on a school day. Some of the Fury supporters aren't too happy about it, but we can understand the team wanting to snare the young future fanbase.
Result and details of the Wednesday May 24, 2017 USL game between
Toronto FC II and Richmond Kickers played at the Ontario Soccer
Centre in Vaughan at 12:00pm.
59 min...TFC II RED card...Anthony Osorio earns a direct ejection at RK 40 yard
line from referee Sylviu Petrescu. TFC Robert Boskovic makes a sliding tackle
which upends RK Oliver and rolls ball forward to Osorio who'd already fallen
on previous play. Osario pulls RK Alex Lee over him so he's out of way and
Boskovic can make run down line. The play carries on but Lee uses his hands
on ground to boost himself and puts foot on the back of Osorio. Osorio swings
like he was going to elbow Lee but misses as Lee is only on his knees but
Osorio also uses his foot to stamp on Lee's calf. The referee had turned
around to see this.
Final Score:.....Toronto FC II.......0......Richmond Kickers......0....
Attendance was announced as 1074 which was the largest crowd of the season
at Ontario Soccer Centre. The crowd was made up of school kids mostly
at the Grade 7 and 8 age group. They were given thunder-sticks to bang
together but mostly only screamed "TFC, TFC" when some game crew staff
member stood on the sideline to threw t-shirts.
Something deja-vu about this game. I double checked after I got home and
found it was the Kickers who were the matinee game opponent last May.
Since-released Sal Bernal scored the TFC 1-0 winner late in that game.
They didn't have the Freestylers doing ball tricks who stole the show
last year and earned cheers louder than the players. They did have
a motivational speaker and ex TFC defender/now broadcaster Steven Caldwell
doing a pregame talk about exercise and nutrition with unseen to them
behind the stands a 100 kids were lined up for the ice cream truck and
barbecue tent. There was a respectful moment of silence for the victims
of Monday's Manchester bombing. The kids here today would have been among
the age of the fan base for Ariana Grande.
Anthony Osorio was subbed on at 58 minutes, had enough time to sprint
to the opposite side of the field to wait for play to restart then take
the Red card all within a minute. TFC II had struggled with getting
scoring chances with eleven men and they only got worse. Kickers now could
be a little more relaxed at the back and look to tee up chances in the
scoring zone.
Mark Pais earned the shutout for TFC II and had to make only a few saves.
He had been squeezed for playing time as he got the call-up to the MLS
team to fill in for the injured Clint Irwin but didn't see any action.
By the time he came back Angelo Cavalluzzo had taken his spot and was
irremovable with 'save of the week' and 'stop of the month' adding
to his resume. The TFC PA department has glossed this game over
as 'another shutout to earn a point at home'.
Matt Turner earned the shutout for Richmond with not much work to do.
Kickers defender Mallan Roberts has played every minute of the season.
He is a Canadian from age 9 and played for FC Edmonton from 2012 to 2016
and was on loan to Ottawa Fury for some of 2016. He'd be the caliber
of player that the new CanPL league will be looking for.
Man of the Match (who is always a TFC II player) was named as defender
Brandon Aubrey who commanded the backline. Things got tougher for him
as not only were they a man down the last half hour, soon after the
sending off, defender Robert Boskovic was replaced by forward Malik Johnson
to try to give TFC a little more bite up front.
Referee Sylviu Petrescu gave out three Yellow cards (two to TFC II) and
the Red in a game that wasn't rough except for that one moment. He must
have found time in his schedule for today as he's one of the regular
MLS referees.
Best scoring chances were at 27 minutes when RK Raul Gonzalez took
a 45 yard freekick from the right that had RK Mikey Minutillo head
the ball on a jump at 18 yards and the goalie dove to block near the line.
29 minutes had TFC Luca Uccello take a 35 yard freekick from the left
that had the goalie punch away at 10 yards in a crowd of players. 40 minutes
had RK Christopher Durkin get a shot through a crowd of players and the
goalie and pushed wide left of the post. 52 minutes had TFC Uccello
backheel a pass on the edge of the box and TFC Shaan Hundal blasted
a shot well over the net. 77 minutes had Hundal rush on the right and
he was tripped up but tapped a pass to Uccello who flubbed a shot
from 12 yards and the ball was cleared. Kickers had more shots on net
but they were often from 25 yards or more out which meant easy catches
for the goalie if they were even on target or a defender didn't clear away.
Toronto FC II had a makeshift lineup today as they supplied players
to their MLS team to play in the Canadian Championship semi-final
in Ottawa last night. They had some starters in that
game...defender/captain Mitchell Taintor, midfielders Tsubasa Endoh,
Jay Chapman, and Raheem Edwards played the whole ninety (Edwards was
ejected in injury time), and forward Jordan Hamilton. Subs included
defender Ashtone Morgan and Jason Hernandez. Even bench players who
didn't see the field were defender Oyvind Alseth, and midfielders
Ben Spencer and Sergio Camargo couldn't play today because some team
officials were saying the MLS team didn't get back to Toronto until
4:00am. (yes I realize Chapman, Edwards, Hernandez and Morgan have
really transitioned to the MLS team). Also Hamilton hadn't played
for neither TFC or TFC II until this last weekend.
To fill the roster, they brought some players up from their
League 1 Ontario team. Robert Boskovic was a starter on defence and
looked good. Midfielder Malik Johnson came into the game at 63 minutes.
Matthew Srbely was not used today. The reason I mention them
is Toronto FC III has a first round League 1 Ontario Cup game
at 8:00pm tonight against rival Sigma FC. It's one game, straight
to Penalty kicks if a tie to decide who moves on to the quarter finals.
With almost a month between which dates teams picked to play their
Cup game, and them 'hosting' the game in Downsview (not the KIA Centre
because their turf field has no stadium lights) at an indoor
stadium I wonder why they chose tonight to play.
This was not a game of league powerhouses. Richmond have now
scored only 5 goals in 10 games and TFC II have scored 3 goals
in 10 games. These are the two worst goals for records in the
Eastern Conference. I think the game could have gone on another
hour without any goals.
Kickers with that one point now have a record of 2 wins, 4 losses,
and 4 ties for 10 points and actually move up to ninth place for
now but have played more games than the teams behind them.
TFC II with their point move to a record of 1 win, 4 ties, 5 losses
for 7 points and stay in fifteenth (last) place.
TFC II now go on the road for two games and will not be back
until Saturday June 10 at 7:30pm against Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter RocketRobin01
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFCII/status/870786653966782464
Some of the B team getting a game out tonight.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFCII/status/873670578653343745
Spencer gettn the minutes again....i dont see what they see in him. Much to slow and he is awkward in his movements.
Hamilton needs to get moved to a team that will give him minutes. CPL cant come fast enough
TFC II 1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1
my take on the game at: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoront...7/17tfc334.htm
TFC II wins 1-0 at home vs. Orlando City B, Jordan Hamilton with the goal. One of TFC II's better performances, they created a bunch of good chances (including a rocket of a long distance shot from Fraser that rang off the post) and probably should have scored 2 or 3.
June 14th TFC II 1 Orlando City B 0
my take on the game at: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoront...7/17tfc345.htm
All you need to know about TFCII tonight.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFCII/status/878778946657165312
Somebody on that coaching staff is going to get fired soon, I think.
It's usually the kit guy or a physio:@)
Does anyone even watch this shit anymore, other than R Robin ?
House cleaning at the end of the season perhaps? It's been a meddling outfit for some time now.
Foreign/ older players they insisted they needed to compete appear to have accomplished little. The coaching staff is running out of scapegoats.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/...-next-big-star
Interesting article about how FFF EFCL course is changing youth programs in MLS
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
TFC II is falling short of the mandated minutes that must be given to Canadians in USL: https://the11.ca/falling-short-tfcii...ndated-quotas/
This is beginning to sound all too familiar.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFCII/status/881280578024349696
July 1, 2017 Toronto FC II 3 vs Harrisburg City Islanders 4
my take on the game at: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoront...7/17tfc361.htm
bet ya weren't there as attendance was announced as only 156.
The potential is there, get the team into a proper venue and let them be competitive. Whatever model they are following right now is terrible. Tear it down and try again. I had season tickets for the first season but it was so disappointing didn't bother to go back. High school sports have better atmosphere and stadiums! Its really hard to believe they are in the same league as Cincinnati.
I was -- and I got there about 15 minutes early and I didn't get any cake. Not that I need it. And maybe it was intended to be only for kids but they started giving it to everyone when it became apparent how few were showing up.
Easier than usual to find yourself in the crowd on the YouTube video.
Not sure how long the agreement is to have them in Vaughan, but with crowds that size they might as well do something similar at the training ground in Downsview, where the new subway station is opening just to north by early next year.
Downsview would actually be a great idea, the subway access would help quite a bit for supporters from downtown or those used to going to BMO taking public transit who would be more likely to support TFCII. I remember a lot of southsiders who want to support TFC II, but find it way too tiring to trek up to Vaughan.
Lamport would be another option as well. I mean, I'm sure the MLSE staff knows this, since the Academy's played out of Lamport and playing out of Downsview right now. The OSC has really not worked out at all, and it's been a bit embarrassing the last 3 seasons, both on and off the pitch.
Will be at the Ottawa match this Saturday, hoping there's a better turnout for this one.
TFC II with a big 1-0 home victory over Ottawa Fury, Luca Uccello with the very nice winning goal.
I caught the second half, unsure why I decided to watch but it was 0-0 at HT so what the hell
Lucas goal was amazing, not only was his shot perfect but the pass across field to his feet was pin point perfect.
Let's hope this leads to better things
July 8, 2017 USL Toronto FC II vs Ottawa Fury
my take on the game at: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoront...7/17tfc372.htm
That was a very fun game in the stands vs Ottawa, big props to Inebriatti for bringing the atmosphere.
so anyone in the know want to give a sort of power rankings for tfc 2/ academy kids who are next up to be signed by the first team? the team has talked about signing Fraser as Cheyrou's replacement at the end of the season but other than that there's been very little indication of who they're high on.
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