Super-20 Finals Round-Up
Saturday, July 23, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
BRANDON, Fla. – As Toronto Junior Lynx midfielder Justin Gordon approached the penalty spot, his three previous teammates having made their attempts in a penalty shootout to give him a chance to send his side to the final, the range of emotions was a wide one.
“Walking up to the ball I felt like I had my entire team on my shoulders,” Gordon said. “I had to remember to stay composed, that’s basically what I was telling myself, ‘keep composure, keep composure,’ don’t look at the goalie in his eyes, everything was running through my mind at the same time.”
Gordon kept his composure. The winger’s low shot into the left corner of the net sent Toronto into the final of the Super-20 Finals at J.C. Handley Park as the Lynx took a 4-2 victory in the shootout against Lower Merion after the two teams has finished scoreless after 100 minutes of regulation and overtime.
That the game had reached that point was mainly thanks to Gordon’s teammate, Toronto goalkeeper Matt Silva, who was outstanding throughout the game. Appearing in control of his penalty area for almost all of the game, Silva made three crucial stops, including a pair of one-on-one’s with Lower Merion’s Julien Aoyama and Stephen Baker, to keep his side in the game. After having fallen 2-0 in the team’s first meeting in group play, Silva said that defeat played a major role in his performance on Saturday night.
“I just couldn’t let the team down,” Silva said. “It was knowing I had let the boys down earlier more than anything that helped me make those saves.”
Lower Merion threatened consistently throughout the first half, with Aoyama in particular giving Toronto trouble with his speed. Toronto was able to up its play in the second half, but Lower Merion was able to create more chances. But even when they weren’t being denied by Silva, Lower Merion had other chances that is squandered from inside the penalty area,.
Silva’s performance, though, followed in the footsteps of his predecessor’s for the Lynx’s Super-20 side, according to coach Duncan Wilde.
“We have a tendency to have fantastic goalkeeping performances at the Super-20 semifinals,” Wilde said. “Before we had Brandon Heembrook and Neels Binstock in our last two finals we’ve been to and it always seems to be fantastic goalkeeping that gets us there.
“They outplayed us in the first half, they were a very, very good team. Good pace, good shape, I think they may have run out of gas a little bit in the second half because we were able to get in behind a few more times, but it’s tough to lose like that.”
Toronto was able to turn up its intensity as the game went on, but Lower Merion defended just as resolutely as the Lynx. But in the penalty shootout both Baker and Emmanuel Kollie sent their shots wide for Lower Merion, while Toronto’s Brandon Wellington, Ryan McLeod and Tim Flynn all converted before Gordon’s decisive kick sent his side into celebration. For Wilde, though, there was no doubt that Silva was his side’s player of the game.
“He’s just had a fantastic season for us,” Wilde said. “He’ll be our [Premier Development League] ‘keeper next year, and that’s what it’s all about. He’s been with us since he was 14 and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”