Toronto FC II failed to record back-to-back victories for the first time this season, falling 2-0 to the Harrisburg City Islanders on Wednesday.
With the loss the team’s record falls to 5-13-3 with seven matches left to play in the season.
On the other hand, the City Islanders improve to 9-8-4 on the season and now sit one point behind the Pittsburgh Riverhounds for the last playoff spot with a game in hand.
It’s the second straight match that TFC II came out strong on the attack but it was the visitors who opened up the scoring in the 26th minute.
Jason Plumhoff sent in a low cross from the right flank that Craig Foster was able slide in to.
Foster’s sliding deflection hit TFC II goalkeeper Chris Konopka who came out to collect the cross and bounced into the net for the opening goal of the match.
TFC II were all over Harrisburg following the goal but were unable to get the equalizer.
Their best opportunity in the first half came in the 37th minute.
Mo Babouli played a through ball into the Harrisburg box for Mark-Anthony Kaye who tried to place it into the bottom left corner but was robbed by City Islanders goalkeeper Nick Noble.
Harrisburg extended their lead five minutes into the second half. Brett Jankouskas struck a right-footed shot into the top right corner that beat a fully stretched Alex Bono.
Bono was subbed in at half for TFC II replacing Chris Konopka who was recently acquired by the team on loan from Toronto FC.
There was a bit of controversy in the 73rd minute on a call against Harrisburg.
Raheem Edwards beat Noble to a long pass outside the box and attempted to tip it by him but Noble blocked it with his hands.
There were shouts for a straight red card but Noble was given a yellow card for his play.
Mo Babouli nearly capitalized on Noble’s mistake on the ensuing free kick but his shot rang the outside of the post.
Skylar Thomas almost broke Harrisburg’s shutout ten minutes to fulltime but his header off of Babouli’s free kick went just over the bar.
“We had majority of the possession but that’s football sometimes. You can control the game and have all the chances but you can’t put the ball into the back of the net and at the end of the day goals change games,” said Head Coach Jason Bent following the loss.
Toronto’s next match comes on Saturday, August 22nd against the New York Red Bulls II at the Ontario Soccer Centre. Kick-off is set for 8PM ET.
Scoring Summary
HCI – Craig Foster 26’
HCI – Brett Jankouskas 50’
Misconduct Summary
HCI – Neil Shaffer 35’ (caution)
TFC II – Buba Jobe 45’ (caution)
TFC II – Massimo Mirabelli 65’ (caution)
HCI – Nicholas Noble 73’ (caution)
HCI – Garret Pettis 79’ (caution)
HCI – Dante Leverovk 84’ (caution)
Records:
Toronto FC II: 5-13-3 18pts.
Harrisburg City Islanders: 9-8-4 31pts.
Lineups
Toronto FC II – Chris Konopka (Alex Bono HT’); Wesley Charpie, Skylar Thomas, Emeka Ononye (Nick Hagglund HT’), Mark Anthony Kaye (Sal Bernal 80’); Chris Mannella © (Raheem Edwards 59’), Manuel Aparicio, Buba Jobe (Massimo Mirabelli 58’), Mo Babouli, Jay Chaoman; Jordan Hamilton
Substitutes Not Used: Gabriel Boakye, Anthony Osorio
Harrisburg City Islanders – Nicholas Noble; Neil Shaffer, Dante Leverovk, Ken Tribbett, Erick Cruz; Yann Ekra, Jose Barril (Garret Pettis 77’), Jason Plumhoff, Andrew Lubalan (Shane Johnson 87’); Brett Jankouskas (Enric Valles 74’), Craig Foster
Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Renfro, Ciaran Nugent, Kyle McCord
