Mississauga MetroStars 7 - 12 Orlando SeaWolves: MetroStars Fall In Battle Of The Expansion Teams

On Saturday night, the Mississauga MetroStars were in Kissimmee, Florida to take another MASL expansion side, the Orlando SeaWolves.

The SeaWolves wasted no time, jumping out to a 1-0 lead just 3:14 into the opening quarter, scored by Jonathan Mendoza. The MetroStars tried to fight back, firing shot after shot on goal, but at the 9:31 mark, the SeaWolves doubled their lead through Luiz Mota. The SeaWolves were relentless, scoring again at 10:46 through Osvaldo Rojas before captain Gordy Gurson added a fourth goal at 11:40. Osvaldo Rojas’s brother Edwin provided a fifth at 11:57.

The fifth goal chased starting MetroStars goalkeeper Spyros Stergiotis out of the game, as Phil Ionadi gave a debut to Sebastian Zeballos, the third goalkeeper. Adrian Becic didn’t make the trip down south. Moments after Zeballos came on, the MetroStars pulled a goal back through Damion Graham, who slotted the ball home at the 12:18 mark, bringing the score to 5-1, which is how the first quarter would end.

In the second, Mississauga managed to get themselves back in the game a bit. Josip Keran scored his first goal of the season for the MetroStars two minutes into the quarter with a bullet from the neutral zone that found the back of the SeaWolves goal in less than a second. Damion Graham doubled his tally at the 5:46 mark, firing home a shot after Marco Rodriguez passed the ball to him off the boards beside the SeaWolves net.

Luke Boden restored the three goal lead for Orlando at the 10:41 mark. He shot wide of the goal but received a lucky bounce off the boards, off the back of Zeballos in the MetroStars goal, and into the net.

The MetroStars would score one more goal in the second quarter, as Joshua Parades volleyed the ball home after a scramble in front of the goal. Dwayne De Rosario hit the crossbar seconds earlier, setting up chance for Parades to swing his body around the ball and smash it into the roof of the net. The first half ended with the SeaWolves up 6-4.

Just 20 seconds into the 3rd quarter, Zeballos almost scored a goal of his own, lobbing the ball from his own half, forcing a save from his unsuspecting Orlando counterpart. The SeaWolves got off to another quick start, however, as Jonathan Mendoza scored his second goal of the game just over a minute into the quarter, but the MetroStars again responded quickly. Marco Rodriguez slotted the ball home after a pass from Matthew Rios found him all alone in front of goal, and the MetroStars were back within two goals.

Gordy Gurson gave the home side the 8-5 advantage 6:15 into the quarter with a penalty shot, his second goal of the game, just over a minute before Orlando jumped ahead 9-5 as Luke Boden scored his second of the match.

The MetroStars’s Damion Graham completed his hat trick with five minutes left in the quarter, as he slotted the ball under the sprawling keeper after a through ball from De Rosario.

Jonathan Mendoza completed his hat trick just 30 seconds later, taking advantage of a MetroStars defensive error, curling the ball around the MetroStars goalkeeper with the outside of his foot, into the bottom left corner. Two Mississauga players chased the player with the ball, forgetting about the rushing attacker.

Just when it looked like the SeaWolves would take a 10-6 lead into the intermission, Edwin Rojas scored his second goal of the match, after a driven cross split the back line, allowing him to just redirect the ball home from a few feet out. It was another soft goal given up by the MetroStars, who looked like they had just turned off for a second, and the keeper made as much clear to the men in front of him.

The third quarter ended with the MetroStars trailing eleven goals to six.

Three and a half minutes into the fourth and final quarter, Marco Rodriguez bagged his second goal of the game, bringing the MetroStars within four, receiving the ball on the edge of the area from Damion Graham before finding the back of the net with a low shot.

Rodriguez’s goal was too little, too late for the MetroStars however, as Osvaldo Rojas scored a consolation goal a few minutes later, sealing the 12-7 victory. His goal, similar to a few that the SeaWolves scored on Saturday night, was a low cross that split the defenders, allowing him an open shot on goal with all the time in the world to take it.

The MetroStars are now 1-3 on the season. They will return home for their next match, which will take place on Sunday, December 30th at 3:05 p.m. They will be taking on the Harrisburg Heat, who have the same record and sit above Mississauga in the standings on goal difference.

The full match can be watched here: