Toronto Lynx: 1, Rochester Raging Rhinos: 1
Starting Line-Ups:
Toronto- Zagar, Titus, Arango, Bedenikovic (SUB: Bartolomeu, 68th), Williams, DiPlacido (SUB: Neto, 68th), Aristodemo (SUB: Faria, 63rd), Dodds, Chin, Jeffrey (SUB: Menezes, 79th), Palleschi (SUB: Pottinger, 63rd).
Rochester- Vallow, Sanfilippo, Bertz, Palguta, Craft, Ball, Lines, Bonseu (SUB: Delicate, 51st), Ambersley (SUB: Edozien, 77th), Howes, Bagley (Gbeke, 77th).
(Centennial Park Stadium, Toronto) One of the hardest feats to pull off in the USL is walking away with a result from Rochester. This past Friday, the visiting Toronto Lynx did just that, stealing 2-points from their Lake Ontario rivals on a tough 1-1 draw at newly designated Paetec Park. Brimming with confidence and a speedy, settled squad looking to make a late push for playoff contention (or at least play the role of spoilers), the Lynx set-up tonight's match with a fulfillment of purpose and promise.
With a messy shoving match a mere 5-minutes in, the half-field line abuzz with flailing arms and displaced bodies (who said the rivalry of old is long gone?), Rochester's Aaron Lines was flashed yellow while Toronto's Gordon Chin was given a straight red for his involvement. It is no small coincidence the sparkplug midfielder was embroiled in such drama so early, having made himself know to the Rhinos 48-hours earlier with a tough, fearless showing to support his squad and get under the skin of his opposition. But the edge immediately went to the visitors with Chin's dismissal, and the Toronto faithful held their collective breath hoping the expected wouldn't arrive.
Quite the opposite in fact, as Coach Duncan Wilde's lads got stuck-in from the restart, pushing themselves for the sake of their pitch-banished teammate, the fans, and themselves. Although the aforementioned Lines would doubly-haunt the Lynx with a wonky, careening goal in the second half (a 57th minute pinball finish off a poor Toronto clearance in their goal box), the home squad went to task and drew the lead in the 22nd with a pristine right flank blast from just inside the 18-yard line. Curled across the attacking zone by his strike partner Matt Palleschi (who haunted Rochester in his own way Friday night by drawing the foul that made for Jamie Dodds' 2nd-half penalty kick equalizer), Jeffrey met it with a sublime first touch, predatory dribble, and impressive finish inside the far left post. Taking a lead on Rochester is no small feat unto itself, but to do so a man down and with such panache is virtually unheard of.
While there were chances for both sides over the full 90 to break the deadlock, both squads missed that one final killer blow or necessity of innovation to really pull ahead. Those attending were still treated to some great attacking football by the hosts, with excellent overlapping runs and 5th gear pushes by Chris Williams, troubling the Rochester right flank with nifty one-on-ones or last second crosses into the goal box. With the Lynx now possessing a strike force of rotating Pottinger, Jeffrey, Neto, and Palleschi, with contributing supporting from vets Aristodemo and DiPlacido, opposing backlines cannot phone in coverage with a balanced attacking threat looming. Even career fullbacks Arango and Bedenikovic had promising sniffs at net this evening, keeping the impressive Scotty Vallow sharp when called on. The late season returns of former Lynx contributors Shawn Faria and Edgar Bartolomeu have added to the collective punch, as with the slowly returning to form Canadian international Tony Menezes (who had a decent one-touch at Vallow's goal in the dying minutes of the game). At the opposite end, GK Zagar had a miraculous save in the 74th minute, pushing aside a quick-released Rhinos strike point blank and around the left post. The question remains, with the squad finally finding balance, will it be enough to reap end of regular season rewards? The betting mind would say no emphatically, but other squads in seasons gone by have done more with less. Having a team of depth and vision at late season is better than having none at all. While their fate for post season is also as much in the hands of other franchises, stranger things have happened. On Any Given Sunday? 6-games remain to show if the unthinkable can happen.
Card Infractions- Toronto: Chin (RED, 5th min), Arango (YELLOW, 46th min), Faria (YELLOW, 76th), Dodds (YELLOW, 90th). Rochester: Lines (YELLOW, 5th min).
Note: Congrats are in order to both Robbie Aristodemo and David DiPlacido, Toronto's hardworking midfield spine for hitting the 100 and 200 game plateau respectively in Lynx colors. On behalf of the Toronto faithful, thank you for your inspiring efforts over these seasons past through the moments of both glory and punishment!
