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Match Recap: Durham United FA 2 - 0 Toronto Azzurri Blizzard

By League1 Ontario staff, 08/31/17, 5:45PM EDT

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Keeper Sara Petrucci kept the clean sheet, while Rachel Hoekstra (20') and Hollie Babut (34') spearheaded the attack by Durham United FA, in a 2-0 defeat of Toronto Azzurri Blizzard to kickstart Matchweek 19. 

"These girls want to come and show who they are, and it was very easy for them to follow the instruction," said Durham head coach, Ramin Mohammadi. 

"I'm very happy and they got the result, which is important at this stage of the season. Sara [Petrucci] was fantastic in the net. We had some senior players and some young, and they helped each other."

Toronto Azzyurri Blizzard stuck with their recent roster of up and coming youth talent, focusing on a defensive game until the second half. 

"We've stuck to our game plan the last few games, trying to teach these young players, who are mainly 01s and younger, how to defend," said Toronto Azzurri Blizzard head coach, Joe Parolini. 

"Unfortunately we made two mistakes on set pieces where they scored and our young players and keeper were not aggressive enough on those plays. It cost us and in the second half we changed it up and went more attacking."

Durham's mix of experience and youth proved to be too much for the Blizzard on the day, but Parolini was impressed with how his experience matched up with the team's youth in the latter stages.  

"Personally, I don't know the stats, but it looked like we controlled the majority of the second half and actually had more chances," he said. 

"The experience is coming and the girls are definitely not being out-classed."

"We made some formation changes to attack more but we also moved our most experienced player Diamond [Simpson] to attacking mid to give the players more confidence and a little combination with someone that was experienced. We changed it up and went for it."

"Unfortunately, when you are up against an experienced and good team, you don't always get the result."

Durham United FA will next play Aurora FC on September 9 at St. Maximillion Kolbe HS, Aurora. 

Toronto Azzurri Blizzard will next play West Ottawa SC on September 8 at Beckwith Turf, Ottawa.