Fresh off a successful weekend that launched them into second place in the Canadian Soccer League table, Milltown FC took to Bishop Reding Field on Friday evening hoping to make a clear statement that they belonged in the league’s upper echelon. The opponent on this evening was York Region Shooters, who entered the match at the top of the CSL standings, four points ahead of their hosts.

Milltown went into this game riding a five game undefeated streak (3 wins, 2 draws) and were feeling confident but Head Coach Rafael Carbajal had some important roster decisions to make, particularly at left back, where Michael Jan continues to struggle with a nagging injury. Coach Carbajal opted to insert Tristan Scott in Jan’s place, predicting that the athletic left footed forward would be able to hold his own against the potent Shooters attack.

York Region was the more assertive of the two teams in the first half, using their speed and good ball movement to create several good chances, most of which sailing high or wide of the Milltown FC net. However, in the 36th minute, the Shooters made the score 1-0 after a sequence of nice passes, punctuated by a clever dummy, resulted in veteran forward Kadian Lecky splitting the MFC defense, running onto a through ball and sliding a shot past Milltown GK Scott Cliff. This marked the first time this season that Milltown FC found themselves trailing in a match on their home field.

Coach Carbajal made one lineup change at halftime, inserting midfielder Jason Morgan in place of forward Gersi Xhuti. This change proved effective as Milltown FC began winning the ball in the midfield with more frequency and creating good offensive chances of their own. In the 63rd minute, Cordell Benjamin came into the game in place of Eros Olazabal and just two minutes later, Benjamin tied the game, slotting home a nicely weighted pass put through by Erick Olazabal. Then, in the 71st minute, Benjamin became the first MFC player to score two goals in a single game when he pounced on a poor attempted clearance of a corner kick and hammered it into the net past York Region keeper Yosuto Hoshito.

Each team had a handful of chances in the final twenty minutes but there would be no more goals and MFC secured their third win in a row by a score of 2-1. The happy Milton home crowd gave the team a rousing ovation as they headed to the dressing room.

Coach Carbajal was understandably pleased with the team’s performance.

“The team played well and I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of a few players,” said Carbajal. “Tristan Scott was asked to play Left Fullback, a position he has never played before and did a fantastic job marking and going forward when needed. Cordell Benjamin performed fantastically as well, changing the course of the game by scoring two very important goals, his first two of the season”.

Carbajal continued, “Chris Suta is a young player who is learning a new position and is doing it in a very mature and responsible way. Our new Right Fullback, Eric Batchanou, also played very well and his experience gave us the consistency we needed tonight and the last couple of games. Of course, the two players who are the main reasons for our good run are Scott Cliff and Thierry Mangwa. They are the most consistent players we have.

Milltown FC returns to Bishop Reding Field on Friday, July 9 when they will host Toronto Croatia. The match kicks off at 8:00pm.

Milltown FC v York Region Shooters (July 2, 2010)

Scoring Summary:
36th minute – YR Shooters goal scored by #11 Kadian Lecky
65th minute – Milltown FC goal scored by #16 Cordell Benjamin
71st minute – Milltown FC goal scored by #16 Cordell Benjamin

Milltown FC Starting Lineup:
Scott Cliff (c), Eric Batchanou, Thierry Mangwa-Batomen, Ben Ragan, Tristan Scott, Chris Suta, Erick Olazabal, Martijn Kuijpers, Agustin De Medina, Eros Olazabal, Gersi Xhuti

Milltown FC Substitutes:
Daniel Mendez, Chad Fernandez, Jesse Mahal, Jason Morgan, Cordell Benjamin, Thomas Santibanez, Danilo Richards

Milltown FC Substitution Summary:
45th Minute - Xhuti out, Morgan in
63rd Minute - Eros Olazabal out, Benjamin in
88th Minute – Scott out, Fernandez in

Milltown FC Disciplinary Summary:
Gersi Xhuti (Yellow Card)
Agustin DeMedina (Yellow Card)
Scott Cliff (Yellow Card)

York Region Shooters Starting Lineup:
Yosuto Hoshiko, Rick Titus, Fitzroy Christey, Chris Turner, Jason De Thomasis, Mario Orestano, Kadian Lecky, Matthew O’Connor, Geron Duporte, Darryl Gomez, Desmond Humphrey

York Region Shooters Substitutes:
Camilo Benzi, Jonathan Westmaas, Aundrae Rollins, Nick Cisternino, Nicolas Martinez, Julio Garcia, Zeiko Irons

York Region Shooters Substitution Summary:
58th Minute – Gomez out, Garcia in
58th Minute – Orestano out, Irons in
70th Minute – Duporte out, Rollins in
81st Minute – Lecky out, Martinez in

York Region Shooters Disciplinary Summary:
Nicolas Martinez (Yellow Card)