View from the 18: Week 2

It was a close battle between our Wolves MR2 and the Ottawa Falcons. We opened the game up with 2 great goals in the first half. They came back with a quick goal soon after the 2nd half began followed by a called penalty to tie it up. We lost control unfortunately due to some frustrations with and missed calls by the referee.

Overall it was a good learning experience and a beautiful evening for soccer!

Our ‘Player of the Game’ was Jon Regali who was tireless in the backfield, sprinting to cover space and dug deep when we needed it most! Congratulations Jon.

In the first half, Lynwood Wolves tried to neutralize Westboro Wolves midfielders with a physical game and intense pressing, preventing Westboro from building up play and creating chances. In the 30th minute, during an attack from the left wing, the ball hit the hand of Mohammad Saeedi, Westboro Wolves defender, in the penalty area. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot, and Lynwood’s striker successfully converted the penalty in the opposite direction of the goalkeeper’s movement, scoring the first and only goal for the Lynwood Wolves. The rest of the first half saw balanced play in the midfield from both teams, with the only notable moment being a long-range shot from a Lynwood midfielder that hit the crossbar after a fingertip save by our keeper, Saeed Habibi.

In the second half, Westboro Wolves changed tactics, applying high pressure and putting significant stress on Lynwood Wolves’ defense. They created many dangerous opportunities and finally, in the 65th minute, Mohammad Ahmadi scored the equalizer with a precise side-foot shot from an accurate cross by Alireza Fall Asiri. In another moment, Mohammad Ahmadi found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the referee called him for offside. Westboro tried to maintain pressure on the opposing defense in the last 15 minutes to score the winning goal, but physical confrontations in the midfield led to less accurate chances.

The match ended with a 1-1 draw after the referee’s final whistle, marking Westboro Wolves first point in the league.
In our next game, Westboro Wolves MR3 will face the Lynwood Maniacs.

Our ‘Player of the Game’ was our GK, Saeed Habibi who played while feeling less than 100 percent. He kept us in this game.

Our makeshift back-line and mid-field should also be commended for their tireless efforts. We did have 5 subs tonight but no extra CBs. Our Jahbaar Thompson and Michael Maguire played the whole game and were certainly gassed but pressed on. Matteo Zito and Chris McMahon opened my eyes to how determined they played. As well as Joseph Catanzariti, Hardy Nunez de la Torre, Stefano Giamberadino, Kevin Periera, Diego Gartner, Kevin Ridgway, Q. Vuniqi, Samuel Wells, Ian Alexander, and Carlo Zito.

We had a shorter bench and we asked our guys to ‘step up’ rather than ‘step aside’, and we all dug in and performed admirably.

As his celebratory song, Anthony chose Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.🎵
That’s ‘old skool’ and impressive!

Our Wolves MR4 ‘Player of the Game’ was our keeper, Anthony Weber whose stellar play kept us in this match. We held onto a slim 1-0 lead before we added another, late in the 2nd half, to secure a gutsy shut-out victory.

Other goals scorers:

Kevin Ridgway – 1
Q. Vuniqi – 1

The Wolves back line was a little under strength with 3 veteran center backs unavailable, causing the Wolves to shift some players back into unfamiliar positions, but Timon Gareau and Eamon Kavanagh, and even striker Liam Smithies, performed admirably back there.

The Wolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with the ‘Man of the Moment’, Peter Akpan tapping home and latching onto some loose balls inside the box. Despite having all the pressure and the momentum, a few loose passes gave the Spitfires the opportunity they were looking for and tied it with 2 goals in quick succession. Nicholas Guerrero, who was otherwise great and positively vocal, had to shake his head at the 2nd one which he got his hands to. 2-2 at the half and anyone’s to grab.

It was the Wolves who decided to grab the match by the scruff of the neck. First off, it was Peter who intercepted a pass and went one-on-one with the keeper, driving the ball home to become the season’s first hat trick hero. Secondly, it was Jeff Dennis, on the receiving end of a curled free kick from Maaakkk, who controlled and tapped home the insurance goal, to seal a convincing 4-2 Wolves victory.

This game saw the season debut of Mike Popeil, which, combined with Peter and Jeff, created a triple threat of speed. Juan Carlos also made his official debut for the Wolves, adding energy and grit in the center of the park. Christian Kperegbeyi had another memorable match, even if his vision was frequently blurred. Note to the equipment manager to add Velcro straps to the list.

In the post-match, Eamon lay an early marker with a creative performance of classic poutine, meat infused as well as dessert poutine, all complimented by a tasty apricot wheat beer. He was also not shy to bribe new voters with new Wolves bags, courtesy of our Club Manager, Tony.
The rookies are now appreciating what the host of the year title requires.

Editor’s recommendation: ‘More laps’ required for that smorgasbord of delicious varieties of poutine. 😆

The Whitecaps scored again but we didn’t panic. Q asked if we wanted to switch back to a 4-4-2 but the D said to continue with the 3-5-2 formation. After a good set of plays, Kevin Moorhouse chased the ball in the box, beat their defensive line, tying the game for the Wolves. Just before the end of the half, Qemail V. gave the Wolves a deserving 3-2 lead.

The second half started with the Wolves controlling the game, but the Whitecaps had a few good scoring chances that were saved by our keeper, Bryan Lefebvre, our defensive line, and a bit of luck. Vincent Wienecke scored the 4th goal for the Wolves, to give the team a bit of a breather. Around the mid-point of the second half, a beautiful corner kick from Ted Pilon, ended with a precise and beautiful volley from Vincent, giving us a 5-2 lead. The goal was so beautiful and unexpected that we will try to ignore the opportunity he missed towards the end of the match. 😆

Towards the end of the match, and following another fast break, the Whitecaps scored again. The game ended 5-3 win in favour of the Wolves.

Overall, it was a great team effort, and we are starting to see more cohesion amongst our players and between the lines.

Our next game will be against Gloucester Eagles, in their home field.

Our ‘Players of the Game’ were Vincent Wienecke and Faisal Boty.

There were strong performances all over the pitch, starting with our keeper (Dom Pecora) making his debut in impressive style. The central mid-field was particularly noteworthy with Bill McIntyre, Frank Maiorino, and Moe Fakih controlling much of the play. Returning Wolves’ alumni Domenic Mafrici’s first game was also imperious as he and Doug Carnegie, Matthew Crosier, and Tony Zito marshalled a back line that held strong (with one minor wobble). Goals on the night went to Oscar Arrieta (3), Moe (2), Frank (1) and our ‘Player of the Game’ Tom Prowse (1). Not only did Tom have the prettiest goal of the night, but he did so on his birthday, showing everyone that the Beatles knew something when they penned the song ‘When I’m 64’ !