EDMONTON - May 30, 2004 - The Edmonton Aviators men's team played their inaugural game at Commonwealth Stadium in a disappointing 0 - 0 draw. The 1,913 fans that braved the inclement weather were treated to a good match although the rainy conditions and the early dismissal of Jaime Lopresti put a damper on any Aviator plans to fill the nets.
Rather than the military helicopter flyby that the Woman's team had to start the game, a simple and high tempo video was played on the Jumbotron as the game began. Both teams chose to go with a 3-5-2 formation, with Edmonton's Freddy Akok and Chris Lemire up front. Behind them, Nikola Vignjevic, Kurt Bosch and Claudio Salinas controlled the inside of the midfield, while Sean Fraser and Gordon Chin handled the wings. Goalkeeper Jose Luis Campi had Jamie Lopresti, Rick Titus and Liam DeSilva in front to help.
Edmonton was missing stalwart defender Chris Devlin and the influential Sipho Sybia from their starting lineup as both players picked up minor injuries in the May 28 game in Calgary. The game got under way and from the start, the Thunder had the best chances although it was some fancy dribbling by Vignjevic in the 9th minute and a subsequent cross to Chin that could have created the first great chance of the game. Vignjevic was displaying flashes of his all-star form in his younger Edmonton Drillers days and attracting the kind of defensive coverage it normally entails, when in the 11th minute, he complained about Thunder player Freddy Juarez who received a yellow card. Unfortunately for Nikola, referee Barry Proctor did not appreciate having an extra referee on the pitch and promptly booked him for dissent.
The Aviators came close in the 18th minute with Chin's shot deflected to Akok whose shot went wide. Minnesota came back hard and won a corner in the 21st minute, but Rick Titus was able to head the ball away from danger. Six minutes later, the Thunder's Johnny Menyongar made a nice move around Lopresti and had a good angle on goal, but shot just wide.
Edmonton was playing in a fast pace, pressing style, but unfortunately not playing to Mr. Proctor's liking as an inordinate number of fouls were being conceded to the Thunder. As the game got a little physical, Minnesota's Kevin Friedland picked up a yellow card at the 29th minute and Lopresti picked up a deserved red card for a nasty tackle on poor Menyongar in the 36th minute.
With ominous looking clouds overhead, and Edmonton reduced to 10 men, both teams exchanged opportunities with the best coming just at the end of the first half. Campi made a great save in the 44th minute after Sean Fraser missed his defensive assignment on a Thunder rush, and then as the Aviators moved upfield, Akok was pulled down at the edge of the Thunder box. The ensuing free kick however was covered well by Minnesota keeper Joseph Warren.
The second half started badly for the Aviators' fans and their displeasure was evident as Mr. Proctor missed Akok getting taken down in the 49th minute, which would have given the home side a free kick from scoring range. Minnesota came back and in the 51st minute a shot from just outside the box forced Campi to tip it over the bar. Coach Ongaro sensing his team needed better defensive coverage if they were to salvage a point, took the hero from the Calgary game, Akok out and brought in Devlin at the 55th minute, with Titus moving up to centre midfield.
At the 61st minute, Vignjevic was knocked down in front of the referee, who made no call and once again caused a stir through the crowd. To his credit, the sometimes fiery Vignjevic took his lumps, kept his composure for the rest of the game and did not put himself in a position where Edmonton would have been 2 men short. Shortly after, another former Drillers hero, Rick Titus, brought the ball up in style making some nice moves for the delight of the crowd. Unfortunately, at the 73rd minute Titus would make a bad cross after Vignjevic, Lemire, and Fraser had combined to bring the ball up and create a promising attack. At this time, Minnesota's Jeffrey Matteo was replaced with Marco Feruzzi.
At the 76th minute, Captain Kurt fed the lone striker, Lemire, whose shot from outside the box went wide. Scary moments for Edmonton fans two minutes later as Minnesota threatened and the good guys were unable to clear. Luckily though, the Thunder shot wide. Shortly after, Mr. Proctor was kind enough to add Campi's name to his little black book which added to the continued enjoyment of the crowd. A good chance for Edmonton came with Vignjevic luckily stripping the ball from the Thunder and feeding Lemire who battled with two Minneso! ta defenders upfield before losing possession.
Crowd favourite Lemire was replaced with midfielder Paul Dhaliwal at the 84th who created a free kick two minutes in after being held up by the Thunder. Soon after, Vignjevic was knocked down again but the new mascot for Energiser, brushed himself off and kept going. Two minutes later, Salinas went down on the pitch while play continued with no whistle from Mr. Proctor. With time ticking down in regulation and Minnesota threatning, Devlin made a great clearance from the line at the 90th. Two minutes into injury, Minnesota kept the assault going and a Thunder player was able to move around DeSilva and bowl over Campi who mad smothered the ball.
As the weather became colder in Edmonton, the overtime period saw some nice chances but without any real threats. The Thunder took advantage of the extra time by replacing Freddy Juarez with Christopher Vorenkamp. At the 92nd minute, with Minnesota keeping up the pressure, DeSilva picked up a yellow card, creating a freekick that Campi was able to save.
Minnesota kept up the attack, but at the 100 minute mark, Fraser made a nice run that could have been interesting, but had no luck with it. For the last 10 minutes of the game, both teams took their chances upfield when they could, but it was the Aviators who had the best opportunity of the extra time with Fraser narrowly missing the far top corner.
Outstanding players for Edmonton were Campi who was called on to make some valuable saves, Titus who marshalled the back line until Devlin came in and Chin who running all over the field, put in a performance reminiscent of Ian Hume. Considering the Thunder were unable to do anything against an undermanned team, only Menyongar stood out from the visitors. As much as a clean sheet deserves a mention for Warren, he could have put up a hammock since the Aviators were only able to translate all of their chances to two shots on goal.
Better finishing next time boys.
Sergio
