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Vaughan Nail Down Fourth Place With 3-2 Win Over Pro Stars

By Daniel De Benedictis, 09/23/18, 4:30PM EDT

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Dylan Sacramento's late strike led Vaughan Azzurri SC past Pro Stars Academy 3-2 in the final game of their regular season.

Pro Stars' Jason Muzvidziwa (32') opened the scoring after a great counter-attack as Vaughan dominated possession for the first half hour of play. The Azzurri kept putting on the pressure to close out the half, and ended it with some decent attacking stats - six shots on target and three corners.   

At half, Vaughan subbed on three players to inject life into their attack. Shortly after, Shiquan Lowe (51') rose high and connected on a powerful header off a corner kick to level the game.

Three minutes later the substitute Jashua Mills (54') gave Vaughan their first lead of the match with a strike that went in just under the crossbar.

Vaughan continued to dominate possession in the second half but Pro Stars again caught Vaughan on the counter-attack. Briam Lopez (89') was sent in alone with the keeper and made no mistake sliding the ball past him to help the home side equalize for the second time.

On the ensuing kickoff, Vaughan kicked the ball deep into Pro Stars' half and it eventually landed on Dylan Sacramento's (90') right foot; his low shot went in off the post to give the Azzurri a very late winner.     

Just after the goal, Pro Stars' substitute Peter Mazur was given a straight red card for dissent. Pro Stars' Xhunejd Nexhipi, Jesse Okorie and Abbey Kunrunmi all picked up cautions during the match.

Despite the loss, Pro Stars' goalkeeper Christian Lebeuf made some big saves for his team, keeping them in the game in the early stages. The sixteen-year-old made ten saves on the night, and his first save was a fantastic acrobatic display.

With the win, Vaughan Azzurri's record improves to 10-5-1, leaving them with 31 points and finishing fifth overall in the 2018 regular season. However, Vaughan will jump a position to fourth in the playoff format due to the lack of post-season involvement of the team above - Toronto FC III. 

The loss for Pro Stars Academy caps off a underwhelming season in the standings as they finish with a record of 2-10-4, leaving with 10 points from 16 matches and a sixteenth place finish.

Vaughan Azzurri will move on to the 2018 League1 playoffs and be placed in Group A with their first game being at home versus sixth placed team, Alliance United.

Pro Stars Academy will not move on to the 2018 playoffs and will need to turn their focus to preparations for the 2019 season.