Woodbridge Strikers 11 - ANB Futbol 0
Written By: Staff, League1
Jessica Lisi (9', 16', 26', 64', 70') bagged five goals in Woodbridge's 11-0 mauling of ANB in matchweek 15, bringing Lisi with 18 goals to joint-top of the women's golden boot race with Durham's Alexandria LaMontagne, and Woodbridge into third place position - only two points behind Vaughan Azzurri in second.
As stated earlier, our focus now shifts in continuing in trying to win the league, one game at a time," said Woodbridge coach, Joe Parolini. "Our next game is Vaughan, which will be for second place. Both teams have a win and a loss in regular season play. Our players are ready for the challenge and want some vindication after losing the L1 Cup semis in PKs."
Woodbridge's mix of youth and experience is proving a valuable late season tonic for the team's ambitions, with a cumulative 25-4 scoreline and three clean sheets in their last five matches demonstrating both offensive power and defensive integrity.
"Our experienced midfielders continue to give composure and are extremely effective role models to our young players," said Parolini. "We again played with ten players that were either born in '98 or '99. Our young players are maturing exactly as we had hoped in the league, playing along side our more experienced players. Alyscha [Mottershead] is always talking to the young players and providing helpful tips and reminders."
ANB suffered the brunt of Woodbridge's form on the day, but head coach Marcelo Almeida was pragmatic about the result.
"There was no key moment during the match; just a tough game overall for the players on a very hot day," he said. "Staff and players need to make adjustments a bit quicker in the game to handle pace of older players and quality of Woodbridge players."
"Another game we have to chalk up to experience for younger ANB athletes. We hope players will use the game for motivation in next games to finish the season strong."
Despite the lopsided scoreline, both sets of coaches pointed to the efforts of ANB keeper, Chelsea Taffo, who produced a number of quality stops that would not be reflected in the final scoreline.
"Chelsea Taffo was our MVP despite number of goals conceded," said Almeida. "Stayed positive throughout match and came up with some nice saves."
"The MVP for ANB today was their GK," confirmed Parolini, "who made and came up with some extremely big saves. This is a credit to her as she was left alone on many occasions. Their GK made some acrobatic saves that were destined for the top corners."
Woodbridge's win nicely sets up the battle with Vaughan Azzurri, which sit just above the Strikers in the standings. This midweek fixture takes place on Wednesday September 9 at Vaughan Grove, Woodbridge, 9 p.m. kickoff.
ANB Futbol is on the road to Monarch Park Stadium, Toronto, on Saturday September 12 to face Sanjaxx Lions - 6 p.m. kickoff.