Que pasa La Familia???
As our beloved Herons march on through out their MLS season, Fort Lauderdale CF take on Toronto FC II in a series of three straight matches. Toronto FC II has a unique position of not being able to play at home due to COVID. Instead, they were given a gauntlet of a schedule where they play some times with as many as two games in three days.
Lets dive in right meow and review the first two matches of the series!
Part 1: The Northern Invasion
Toronto FC II met up with Ft Lauderdale CF under the lights at DRV PNK Stadium. The rain fall was reminiscent of the memorable Cincinnati match that saw Inter Miami clinch a playoff spot in 2020.
The match didn’t have long to wait for the first great chance of the game as Shaan Hundal received a through ball from Mitch Curry but was denied by an impressive one on one save made by Patterson-Sewell.
The wheels started to wobble for FTLCF when in the 14th minute, Harvey Neville got injured and had to be subbed off for Ignacio Poplawski. In the 23rd minute, the team again was forced into a change when Caputo went down injured resulting in Venton Evans being subbed on which immediately paid dividends….
Venton Evans took a pass from the defense and turned the ball upfield. He was able to glide past the defense and send home a thunderous shot down past the keeper to put the home side up 1-0.
After the copious amount of injuries that halted play, FTLCF and Toronto FC II were awarded 6 minutes of extra time. Toronto took full advantage of every minute and after a beautiful bit of buildup play as well as a gorgeous chip ball over the back line, the move was capitalized with a goal by Garret McLaughlin to put the away side level. The second half opened up with a super human effort by Castanheira to prevent Toronto FC II from taking the lead.
It should be no surprise that Hundal would have something to say against his former side and he was definitely heard loud and clear. After a spectacular passage of play which saw Acosta, Curry, Evans and Penn all move the ball up the field with skill and precision. The final ball landed at the feet of Hundal who dispatched it past the keeper which saw the hosts go up 2-1.
The lack of focus that has continually hurt this team came back to haunt them when they fell asleep at the wheel and let Jayden Nelson run free for the equalizing goal. After a few late chances, the game would end 2-2.
Part 2: Take That, Rewind It Back
Fort Lauderdale met back up with Toronto FC in Central Florida for an “away match” and FTLCF had every intention of letting it burn….
The game started out almost as the same as the first meeting. FTLCF found themselves on the attacking foot early. Mitchell Curry unleashed a venomous shot towards the Toronto keeper which was parried right into the path of Josh Penn. Josh placed the ball into the back of the net which gave the away side the lead in the 4th minute.
This would be the end of the fireworks for FTLCF as Lady Luck would not be on their side this night. Toronto would capitalize at the 14 minute mark on defensive disorganization to equalize off of a Marshall-Rutty rebound shot back towards net. Six minutes later, Toronto would be torn apart again by a Marshall-Rutty cross towards Altobelli who fired it top left into the goal. This goal saw the “home” side go up 2-1.
Fort Lauderdale would try as hard as they could but were unable to find the equalizer to earn the points that they deserved.
Takeaways From The Matches
Same Story, Different Games
FTLCF can rarely play a full 90 without fall asleep at the most inopportune times. Its extremely frustrating because its not like this team can’t put it together, they just get too over-confident in the individual talents being able to take over at a moments notice.
Continued Emergence Of Venton Evans
Venton continues to be one of the major success stories for FTLCF. Venton has been one of the best attacking options so far this season. When the attention goes to towards Hundal, Curry or Acosta, you can find Evans making runs through open spaces and creating chances or finishing them off.
Goalkeeper Carousel
Nothing personal against Callendar but we need to prioritize playing Castenheira and Zamudio. Drake just looks uncomfortable minding the net. He has had some spectacular moments and we hope that he continues to grow but the team needs consistency.
USL Standings
Fort Lauderdale finds themselves down to 5th place currently with a total of 14 points and a -1 goal differential. We should throw a major disclaimer out there and say that we have played a total of 12 games e while most other squads have played 7 to 9 games at this point.
Looking Ahead
Yup! You guessed it. We play Toronto FC II on June 26th for the last game of our three game series!
Academy News
The Academy took on Atlanta this past weekend resulting in win for the U13, U14 and U15 sides. Congrats lads!!
Booking The Bookie
Inter Miami takes on Orlando City at home in what is being labeled a “Blackout” With injuries, suspensions and card accumulation impacting the squad, lets look at the betting lines as of 06/22/2021.
Inter Miami +170
Orlando City +160
Draw + 240
Gonzalo is our most favored to score at +128 while Daryl Dike is their most favored at +128.
While we don't give betting advice and we aren't responsible for any bets placed, it might be worth looking at IMCF to be carded most in the game. We currently hold the lead for most yellows.
And thats a wrap for this weeks edition of Pink Smoke! What are your thoughts about the topics above? We want to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to us by clicking on any of the links below!!
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As always….
VAMOS MIAMI!!
IMPC 💪🏻
Excited for the look ahead on the team!! Think alot of the youth has alot of promise! Nice work again as always!! Vamos Miami!