Two More Goals Two Too Many For Tworonto: Lou City And Lancaster Live Large At Lamport

TORONTO FC ll 1, LOUISVILLE CITY FC 3

———————————————————

… We forward in this generation
Triumphantly
Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
‘Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs

Many “R” words might have been featuring on the list of bulletin board bullet points prior to this rematch: •Respect (for opponent), •Risk management, •Retribution and, yes, •Redemption …. and all to be achieved without Ranjitsingh!

Another, as John Hackworth had pledged this week, •Rotation as 3 of the “top four” (offensive midfielders/striker) that started in Atlanta, George Davis lV, Niall McCabe and Cameron Lancaster were spelled by Jonathan Lewis, Ilija Ilić and Luke Spencer, while the “back six” (holding midfield/defense) were all retained, along with Tim Dobrowolski in goal while Greg Ranjitsingh fully recuperates from the twinge that took him out of the Ottawa game.

And altogether, City’s initial 11 had 6 changes from the team that began that ill-fated game at Slugger, Toronto made 4 changes.

Lamport Stadium is the 5th “home” ground used by TFC 2 this season and to repeat their fine earlier achievement, they would need to settle in quickly and and take the reigns.

In their 7 outings since that match the “Young Reds” had recorded a single win – another shock road turnover, busting the Battery’s 15 game home unbeaten streak last weekend – and had lost their previous 4 at home. TFC 2 was eliminated from qualification for the 2018 playoffs as far back as August 31st, 3 days after the Shocker at Slugger.

Wearing their lucky white and gold “barrel hoops”, City announced their intention early, taking the game to their hosts by pressing hard in every sector, winning most of the duels and wresting the majority of ball possession.

As early as the 2nd minute Kyle’s shot from outside was blocked, bringing about the 1st corner of 6 won during the 1st half of play.

City gave up a corner but little else through the opening 10 minutes, and then they converted on their 1st genuine opportunity.

Paco Craig, from inside his own half played a long, raking ball to Luke who flicked on to Brian, just outside the corner of the 18 to the left. No. 10 took the best option of a 1st time header across the top of the box to where 19-year-old midfielder Dante Campbell had dropped. With Speedy Williams bearing quickly on him, Campbell felt pressured and made the critical error of heading backward, hoping central defender Kyle Bjornethun could deal the clearance. However, Ilija was sniffing around like an aardvark and in a flash he intercepted, pushed the ball past Bjornethun and aimed a side-foot effort to the left of Caleb Patterson-Sewell. The goalkeeper dived and might very well have covered, but co-central defender Robert Boskovic, stretching to prevent the shot, deflected it the other way and into the net.

It was amusingly similar to the previous week’s opener against Atlanta courtesy of AJ Cochran’s own goal, but the box score credited it to Ilija for his 11th of the season from just 24 shots – an amazing 46% conversion rate (Cameron’s is 24%).

Toronto needed to push back and they worked hard to get back into the game, and Hack’s former USA U/17 international Ayo Akinola got a half a break but Alexis Souahy was on hand to turn it away for a corner.

City were looking to strike again while the iron was hot though and Paolo DelPiccolo found Ilija who slipped to Speedy, but from outside and center he blazed a decent 30 yarder a foot over the bar.

In the 20th minute, City had a reasonable shout for a penalty when, after sharp build-up work from Ilija and Speedy, Brian attempted a cross from the left. The ball struck the raised arm of ex University of Louisville Card Tim Kübel and went for a corner kick which experienced referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere upheld.

City were still controlling the midfield, pressing strongly, mainly with either direct play or up the left wing and Jonathan Lewis out on the right was getting somewhat starved of the ball and accordingly featuring little in the build-ups.

25 in, and Brian received from Oscar ”El Jugo” Jimenez, took the ball on a mazy run into the Reds’ area and crossed again into the arm of a defender and again Mssr. Lauziere and his whistle were unmoved.

There is a case to be made for denying any handball that is not intentional, but one thing is for sure, Hack does not like these not to be called for his team!

Once again Oscar was on the money with free kicks and especially his corners and, after another was won from one more of Brian’s jinky runs, he hit another dangerous ball in which was scrambled clear.

In the meantime, at the Louisville end Kubël and Malik Johnson were finding space up their right and challenging Oscar but the rest of the defense was dealing well with any balls that found there way over and keeping ‘tender Tim’s work to a minimum. He was called into action, however, when danger man Tsubasa Endoh set up Johnson with a chance which the deputy diver pushed safely wide of his left-hand post. From the resulting corner Matthew Srbely headed wide.

In the 34th, Paolo was slow to react to a TFC 2 breakout movement through the center and had to bring Johnson down. Mr Lauziere appropriately delivered the yellow, PDP’s 5th in accumulation which commits him to a1 match suspension.

Toronto pushed forward and Johnson’s ball from the right across to Campbell 20 yards out was hit on goal but on a comfortably saveable line for Tim.

Kyle was fortunate not to see yellow for repeating a foul on overlapping left-back Ryan Telfer, but not so Akinola who collected a caution for tripping Paulo as a Louisville play was developing up the right side.

Oscar’s free kick was again perfectly placed as was Paco on the far post, but his header into the ground was able to be palmed over by Patterson-Sewell.

From the subsequent harrowing Oscar corner, ASAY won the race with Boskovic to the near post and nodded emphatically past Patterson-Sewell who could do nothing. 2-0 Louisville City, on 40 minutes.

Aside from generally taking care of matters at the back, the likeable Frenchman, having scored 3 times in his last 4 matches after maintaining an extended run in the lineup, offers Los Morados a useful extra offensive dimension.

City had been generally dominating without creating a great number of chances, but opportunism combined with precision play now had them in the driving seat and they went into the break well poised to come out in the 2nd and take the fledgling Young Reds apart.

However, the back nine of the game was to be a little different a story, seeing Toronto, appearing to respond to whatever they had been told in the locker room by Coach Mike Rabasca, stepping up and displaying a lot more assertiveness around the field, although without really managing many incursions into the Louisville 18 yard area.

The 1st chance of the half actually fell to the visitors when Campbell was adjudged to have fouled Luke left of center and 25 yards out. The free kick was in Lancaster territory but in the sharpshooter’s absence Oscar stepped up and was unable to emulate the perfection of services to his teammates as he sent his effort high above the Toronto bar.

Brian was seeing some ball on the left wing but his distribution was often not up to his own standards, and creative opportunities were going begging.

Still, most of the early attacking was on the account of Toronto and for a time it looked as if the Barrel Hoops’ midfield were tiring, particularly the Captain who had started to see a little more action through his area of the park.

Nevertheless, the rearguard, well marshaled by Paco as is becoming routine, was holding up well and preventing anything of substance getting into the danger zone.

Jonathan, gaining some rare action, won a 56th minute corner which Oscar sent again to ASAY. This time he did not get everything on his header, though a stretching Paolo out in front of the goal was only a step away from whisking up the pieces before Patterson-Sewell collected.

Play shifted back again and this time Srbely received a Johnson pass and brought a save from the trusty City backup ‘keeper.

Toronto were now applying pressure with the astute reinvention of of their superlative top scorer Endoh (8 goals) as a kingpin in the middle of the park.

Shaken by the way he had single-handedly taken over affairs at Slugger, his wing activities had been fairly well monitored by a City corps alert to one of the major keys to this game, but having shifted to a central role Endoh was finding more of the ball and, at times, a little too much room in which to utilize it.

The Japanese star, who notched a spectacular hatrick in the recent loss in Cincinnati, drove his club forward and 3 corners were extracted over a short period. On the last of these, Noble Okello was first to Endoh’s corner but headed wide.

Soon after, neither Akinola nor Telfer could find their way through, the latter seeing a defensive block foil a big chance from close quarters.

Tim had to be on his toes a minute later as he saved from an Akinola strike from 15 yards, the culmination of a busy phase of assault on the City goal.

The Hoops finally relieved the pressure and Jonathan, having switched wings with Brian won a wide free kick which Oscar reliably radared in to Alexis but his header was pushed behind to his left by Patterson-Sewell. From Oscar’s corner Paco then headed narrowly wide.

The Young Reds reestablished command of the midfield over the next minutes, however without being able to repeat the earlier flurries around the Louisville goalmouth.

With 20 minutes remaining, both coaches refreshed their units, TFC 2 bringing on Aidan Daniels and exciting 17-year-old striker and recent signing Jordan Perruzza for Kubël and Johnson, and for City, George lV and Cameron came in for Jonathan and Luke. Both had had quiet games.

The Lamport denizens continued to press forward in waves and in the 74th City had a huge let-off as a sweet Endoh ball over the defense to Perruzza was slotted into the net just as the offside flag went up. It would not have been by much.

Newly announced Young Harris College Hall-of-Famer Niall McCabe then came on for Speedy, but with Brian tiring and the memory of the tragic (post substitution) endings recently to both the Riverhounds and TFC 2 matches, the question hung: Would it prove better to attempt to fight fire with fire rather than consolidate into a more defensive shape?

It is becoming clear that going into a shell is generally simply not Hack’s style – perhaps due to having been burned in the past – especially against any given opponent he feels he can outgun.

Endoh was still bossing the middle of the park at this point and City were being reduced to counters, as Brian and George lV each saw misplayed crosses drift out for goal kicks.

But now, in the 81st, as he has been wont to do all year, Cameron, aided ably by sly sidekick Ilija and a dash of random goalkeeper distribution genius, conjured a 3rd Louisville goal out of nothing.

Tim took a back pass at the top of his area and decided to hoof it upfield in the general direction of Cameron. Bjornethun stepped up to meet the clearance, however instead of heading clear himself he misguidedly attempted to take the ball down and it dropped away from him. Cameron, relishing the inadvertent invitation, was in like Flynn – Errol would definitely have been proud – as he pounced on the loose ball, poked back to Ilija and darted forward into the space in behind for the give-and-go. The Silky Serb (or any player on the planet) could not have chipped over a more subtle ball had he played it with a Callaway, the backspin sitting it up ideally for Cameron. And the Tottenham Torpedo finished gloriously, hammering a left-footer from 15 yards, straight by Patterson-Sewell and low inside the far post.

With this goal, of course, Cameron equals the great Matt Fondy’s single-season USL scoring record at 22 and is a shoo-in to play every minute of the final 2 matches until he breaks it.

[It should be noted also that with 1 fixture remaining, versus Reno 1868, Orange County FC tearaway Thomas Enevoldsen, is sitting on 19 goals and therefore technically remains in the hunt for the Golden Boot – as well as the all-time USL record.]

To their credit, the Young Reds did not call it quits and Okello, who had earlier picked up the game’s 3rd yellow card, played over the top for Shaan Hundaal, on as a sub for Akinola, but Dobro was excellent in rapidly coming off his line to thwart.

George IV, in the 85th wired a cross directly into Brian but he could not keep it down and his header lobbed over the goal. His 1st half had been a lot stronger than the 2nd.

Inside 3 minutes remaining, and just as it seemed The Purples would be flying home having bagged a 3 goal win and another clean sheet on the road, Toronto came up with a luster-lifting goal.

Daniels played Campbell through on the right but his cross was cut out by Alexis, directing the ball back wide of the post and toward the goal line. In spite of there being no red shirt in the vicinity to challenge, both Oscar and Paco somehow failed to communicate and as each attempted to thump the ball clear in opposite directions they collided leaving No. 19 hurt on the ground. The ball looped out only as far as Perruzza but the dual Canadian/Italian who has been playing in Italy in the Empoli academy, still had work to do. He slipped through a tired looking Paolo with a nutmeg, crossed the 18 yard line and, with ASAY unable to step in firmly, curled a lovely left-footer around Tim and inside the right post.

It was a top class finish from the talented youngster, but the City defense will be ruing another preventable goal marring an otherwise solid performance and figuring how they can avoid such repeats as the vital playoff season looms upon them.

The game ended with Brian, Ilija and Niall looking to facilitate Cameron to his 23rd, but the outright record will now wait to be addressed at Slugger versus either NCFC or Indy Eleven.

Probably •Record and •Rewriting were not amongst the “R” words rendered on the TOR/LOU bulletin board, but Cameron’s achievement will be the enduring takeaway from this match – though not to overlook that, courtesy of a helper each, Oscar and Ilija move up to 6th and 7th respectively on the USL Assists leader board.

Finally, with the Riverhounds drawing with FCC this weekend and now trailing by 2 points (and 10 in goal difference) with 2 games to play, Los Morados are now hot favorites to earn 2nd place in USL Group A.

~~~~~ Fun Footnotes ~~~~~