Sports
May 22, 2008 11:28 PM
Playing to a 2-2 draw against one of the top ranked teams usually isn’t that bad.
But playing to a draw when you were in control of the game, now that is a different story.
The Vaughan Italia Shooters opened their 2008 campaign with the tie against the visiting Serbian White Eagles at their new field at St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Maple.
Mistakes by the rookie-dominated Shooters allowed the White Eagles to salvage a point.
The Shooters grabbed a 1-0 lead after 25 minutes on a goal by Luca Forno.
Just six minutes later, a miscue between Shooters goalkeeper Pablo Alvarado and defender Gerard Ladiyou led the Eagles first goal. While both players were tentative as to who was going to clear the ball off the 18-yard box, White Eagles forward Milos Scepanovic stepped in and took advantage by taking the loose ball and calmly putting into a wide open net.
“That mix-up really unsettled our young Shooters team and they were very happy getting out of the first half with a 1-1 tie,” Italia Shooters GM Tony De Thomasis said.
With momentum on their side, the White Eagles came out strong in the second half and took a 2-1 lead at the 72-minute mark on a goal by Dragan Radovic.
But just three minutes later, the Italia Shooters tied the match when Franco Ruschetto scored on a header off a corner kick.
“We never did get our composure back from that first goal mix-up and seemed to struggle just trying to put simple passes together,” De Thomasis said.
De Thomasis was happy to see 500 fans braved the cold and windy elements to cheer on the home team.
The Shooters get back to business Sunday when they host the Trois-Rivières Attak. The Attak eliminated Vaughan in last year’s playoffs. Game time is 4 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc.