Toronto Lynx: 1, Montreal Impact: 1
Starting Lineups:
Toronto: Zagar, Titus, Arango, Bartolomeu (SUB: Bedenikovic, 46th), Williams (SUB: Neto, 72nd), Dodds, DiPlacido, Faria, Jeffrey (SUB: Dekker, 84th), Palleschi (SUB: Pottinger, 65th).
Montreal: Sutton, Gervais, Vincello, Braz (SUB: Fronimadis, 84th), Lyssand (SUB: Di Iota, 65th), Ze Roberto, Mert (SUB: Leduc, 53rd), DiLorenzo, Biello, Bailey, Salles (SUB: Antoniuk, 55th).
(Centennial Park Stadium, Toronto) "I've always said it, I've never been comfortable playing against a team a man down", stated Montreal assistant coach Peter Pinnizzotto after this evening's chippy 1-1 draw. "There's something about a situation like that where you think you've got the advantage, but a lot of times it just inspires the opposition to go that much harder."
Almost mirroring the could-be debacle of Sunday night's 1-1 match against the Rhinos, Toronto's Shawn Faria was shown a dubious, pessimistic red card in the 31st minute of play, leaving the in-form yet bottom-table Lynx with their work cut out for them. First Rochester, now Montreal, the top two squads in the USL. Have the Lynx simply been getting their collective act together too late and playing anyone in the league to a standstill, or have the cards (pardon the pun) been stacked against them too freely of late?
Anyone who saw the match would easily say a little from each, and a lot of poor officiating decisions. Faria's high arm on Ze Roberto, while undoubtedly a foul, was a yellow at best; argument could be made even that was a stretch. Sidelined fullback and assistant coach Joe Mattacchione was also banished from the field for dissent on the odd, phantom call.
But again, the battled-hardened Lynx fought against the odds, drawing a penalty kick in the second half restart (a cynical chop down in the box by veteran Biello on a streaking Matt Palleschi) and taking the lead on Jamie Dodds' finish. Impact keeper Sutton guessed the correct side and made the initial stop, but the slick surface from an evening's rain made the hold impossible and Dodds pounced to send it over him for his team leading 7th goal of the season.
Toronto would hold the lead until the 68th when their thinned ranks shone through, leaving the ever-threatening Ze Roberto unmarked on a high floating corner kick from DiLorenzo to masterfully tuck the ball home and bring the game even.
The remainder of the meeting saw action at both ends, with two breaks by sub Osni Neto thwarted by marker Vincello before any substantial release could be built. In the 77th, Damien Pottinger outpaced his man inside the left attacking zone from a nicely guided DiPlacido header, but found only the side of the net on a low heavy strike. The moment that looked to put the game out of Montreal's reach though was in the 52nd minute, only moments after the PK that put Toronto ahead. Sutton earned his moniker of USLs best keeper when he literally pulled a duo of close range Titus shots off the line, prone and fearlessly, to keep his league-leading squad alive.
Montreal's greatest attacking threat earlier in the match came from DiLorenzo, who exploited Toronto's left flank repeatedly for dangerous crosses with pace and tenacity, and as always Ze Roberto showed again why he is one of the most dangerous players in the league with his quiet but effective midfield dictation of two way play.
On the home squad, Robbie Aristodemo had his best showing of the season, incorporating a physical element to his play in place of the missing Faria and running tirelessly to help break the right line going forward. Proving Coach Wilde's faith again, Rick Titus had another unbroken string of games that gave him opportunity to commandeer both his backline and assist on the counter plays with untricky but fearsome presence.
"We've played 3 games in the last 5 days against the 2 top teams in the league" said Wilde afterwards, "and held them to a 1-goal draw each time, two games back to back with a man down when it shouldn't have gone that way. The boys are playing for pride and getting the job done despite the odds. We can honestly play against anyone in this league right now."
Despite missing several key figures through card infractions, the Lynx face a potentially winning proposition with the visiting Puerto Rico Islanders on Sunday evening at 6pm.
Card Infractions- Toronto: Palleschi (YELLOW, 15th), Faria (RED, 31st), Aristodemo (YELLOW, 35th), Jeffrey (YELLOW, 78th). Montreal: Bailey (YELLOW, 20th), Biello (YELLOW, 46th), Vincello (YELLOW, 48th),
