Lynx Come From Behind, Win 3-2 Over Western Michigan

The Toronto Lynx closed their three-game homestand to open the 2008 season with a thrilling last-second, come from behind 3-2 victory over a short-handed West Michigan Edge this afternoon at Centennial Park Stadium.

The exciting match saw a flurry of action throughout, with plenty of scoring chances and tough tackles throughout. The win raises the Lynx record to 2-1-0 (6 points) on the season, while West Michigan drops to 1-4-0 (3 points). Kadian Lecky, Chris DeAbreu and Chris McBride scored for the hosts in the victory, while Nils Binstock earned the victory between the pipes.

The Lynx opened the match playing inspired, attacking soccer and were quickly rewarded. Kadian Lecky took a Damion Scott pass in the middle of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful blast at the West Michigan goal that keeper Jeremy Clark could not keep his hands on. The ball went through his hands and found the back of the net for an early Toronto lead. Toronto continued to press, but West Michigan countered in the 26th minute against play and Josh Rogers beat Binstock low on the left side to equalize the match.

The Lynx continued to control play after the halftime break, but again allowed West Michigan to capitalize on one of their few chances. Louis Stephens found a loose ball off a rebound and knocked it home to stun the Lynx and put West Michigan up 2-1 in the 78th minute.

Toronto did not panic and upped their pressure on the West Michigan defense. Forward Daniel Revivo was sent in alone on net with one minute left before injury time, and was brought down by Clark directly in front of the goal, and was awarded a penalty strike on the foul. Midfielder Chris DeAbreu struck home the penalty kick with a hard shot high and left to tie the match and send the crowd into a frenzy.

The momentum swung fully into the Lynx favour following DeAbreu’s goal, and the confident midfielder took the ball shortly after, and found sub Chris McBride alone inside the Edge penalty area. His precise feed was fielded by McBride and promptly deposited inside the West Michigan goal to give the Lynx the stunning victory. The win gave the Lynx a doubleheader sweep on the afternoon, coming on the heels of the Lady Lynx’ decisive 3-0 victory over the Vermont Lady Voltage in the opener, raising their record to 4-0-0 on the year.

The Lynx hit the road for their next four matches, including stops on Thursday in West Virginia and Saturday in Cincinnati, the Lynx first matches against Great Lakes Division opponents this season. The Lynx return home for a return match against the West Virginia Chaos on Sunday June 15 at 4:00 PM at Centennial Park Stadium. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Lynx ticket hotline at 416-251-4625 x 31 or at the Centennial Park Stadium box office one hour prior to kick-off.
Toronto Lineup
Binstock, DiLorenzo, Jonke (McBride, 76), Titus, Medwin (Bahadur, 56), DeAbreu (Scott, 78), Rios (Soutar, 81), Scott (McNamara, 56), Revivo, Lecky (Tshimpaka, 54)

West Michigan Lineup
Clark, Emerson, Ryan, Rogers, Hill, Robiesque, Mena, Deakin, M. Barone, Piermann, Ferner, Stephens

Stats TOR-WM
Cautions … 0-2
Shots … 21-8
Saves … 4-3
Fouls … 10-6
Offsides … 2-3
Corners … 10-0

Scorers
TOR … 5’ Lecky
WM … 26’ Rogers
WM … 78’ Stephens
TOR … 89’ DeAbreu (PK)
TOR … 90’ McBride