Soccer In Toronto 06.22.08

By Rocket Robin Soccer In Toronto

Final Score
Ottawa Fury 3, Toronto Lady Lynx 2

Venue
Varsity Stadium, Toronto

Kickoff
4:00 pm

Highlights
13 min … Fury Jennifer Hance GOAL
Fury Courtney Wetzel cornerkick from left has LL goalie Elise Kuhar-Pitters swat ball like a windmill but Hance heads ball in from 3 yards in crowd in box.

20 min … a thunderstorm has referee Patricia Peebles chase the players back to the locker room and the crowd wait in the passageway under the stands. Since the stands are made of aluminum this was a wise move. The lightning crossed over within five minutes but the rain which had started before the game was stopped kept up after that. Play resumed 31 minutes later.

37 min … Lady Lynx Oni Bernard GOAL
LL Vonya Beckles takes long throw-in from left sideline from 40 yards and has LL Stefania Morra at 20 yards cross from the left. Bernard chests ball down at 15 yards on right and shoots ball into left side of net behind goalie Erin Reinke. Bernard was a sub that came in on the restart after the rain delay.

47 min … Fury Jodie Taylor GOAL
Taylor’s rush on right and her 20 yard shot in into far left side of net.

63 min … Fury Jodie Taylor GOAL
OF Taylor gets cross up middle after previously crossing off. Taylor has 22 yard shot just under bar with goalie getting gloves to it but it squeezes through.

88 min … Lady Lynx Tessa Dimitrakopoulos GOAL
Dimitrakopoulos 22 yard freekick up middle is bent into right side of net. She had come into the game at 56 minutes.

Notes
» Attendance was mentioned in the press box as 927. I saw at least 300 fans when it wasn’t raining. Today was Mascot Day but a halftime contest had been cancelled sometime earlier so the only creature I saw today was the Lynxster. The Fury had a strong contingent of family and friends cheering them on. The Lady Lynx had invited a lot of girls’ teams from around the GTA for today’s games and that made this the biggest crowd this season the team has had for all but the School Day game.

» The Fury had far more chances this game and goalie Elise Kuhar-Pitters had to be sharp or the game would have been out of reach much earlier. The Lady Lynx only looked good after the restart in the first half until the end of that period and from after the Fury’s third goal until the end of the game.

» The Lady Lynx have let Apolonia Kukla leave the team to play for Hamilton Avalanche so she’ll have more playing time. Last year’s Lady Lynx MVP Adrienne Ruhe-Lischke came in as a substitute for the Fury in today’s game. Lady Lynx midfielder Alyscha Mottershead will join Canada’s Under 17 team next week. Midfielder Rita Keimakh has rejoined the team from the Canadian Under 20 team but wasn’t listed as a player today.

» The Lady Lynx have only beaten the Fury once in eight tries over the four years they’ve played (actually worse than that when playoffs games are considered). Optimism this year as the Lady Lynx had beaten Ottawa 2-1 one week ago in Ottawa. I had watched the last time Toronto ever beat Ottawa before that as back in 2002 when the Toronto Inferno beat Ottawa 1-0.

» The Fury record is now 4 wins, 1 loss in only 5 games while the Lady Lynx record now falls to 7 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie in 9 games. I expect the Fury to gradually move up from 3rd place when they play more games. Laval Comets record is 5 wins and 1 loss so far this year and they are well in the playoff mix.