Soccer In Toronto 10.11.08

By Rocket Robin Soccer In Toronto

Final Score
Serbian White Eagles 2, North York Astros 1 (2nd overtime)

Venue
Esther Shiner Stadium, North York

Kickoff
8:00 pm

Highlights
9 min … White Eagles Milos Scepanovic GOAL
SWE Alex Braletic passes ball to Scepanovic at 25 yards and he heads ball down on left on run and his low 12 yard shot is under goalie Joshua Lemos diving left.

46 min … Astros Franco Lalli GOAL
Lalli low 22 yard shot from right has ball squeeze between goalie Dan Pelc and the right post soon after a throw-in from the right.

115 min … White Eagles Alex Braletic GOAL
SWE Milan Jahogvic rolls ball to Braletic at 25 yards who stops and blasts 25 yard shot into right side of net beyond flying goalie.

Notes
Attendance was about 120 people on this moderate evening with the temperature dropping after the first half. There was a bright sun for only the first half in the west which the White Eagles had to face. This game was played at Esther Shiner stadium in North York because the stadium was available. Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke where the White Eagles hold their home games is closed for the season while undergoing replacing natural grass with Field Turf.

Astros played hard with forwards Anthony Bahadur and Go Nagaoka instead of their regular forwards Selvin Lemmie (injured) and Jonathan Hurtis (suspended).

White Eagles got by with leading scorer/playmaker Sasa Viciknez confined to the bench. I asked him why he was there and the signal he gave me in his limited English was that he had a back injury.

White Eagles almost avoided overtime when Dragon Radovic in center at 25 yards passed the ball forward and left to Alex Braletic on left end line. His cross is behind goalie out at 10 yards and Milos Scepanovic flying header is just over the bar.

Astros almost won the game at 88 minutes when Astros Anthony Bahadur charged up the middle as Astros Martin Artale stopped realizing he was well offside. Bahadur rolled a 20 yard shot just a yard wide of the left post as goalie Dan Pelc charged out and crashed together with Bahadur. Astros Abe Oran earned a Yellow card for complaining about the knock on this play.

This was a hard checking game but not many cards given out by referee Vito Curalli. Both teams were complaining about the frequent calling of offsides.

Same complaints as last night’s quarterfinal game between Italia Shooters and Brampton Lions also played at this stadium because of availability. Also spooky was the winning goal was scored within a minute at the same point of the game last night.

Before the start of this game the result of the 3:00pm quarterfinal game between #1 ranked Trois-Rivieres Attak and #8 St Catharines Wolves was known as a 2-0 victory for the Attak. This win by the White Eagles means they play next Friday in the semi-final against Italia Shooters.