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Drillers the backbone of Team Canada |
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Written by Gerry Prince
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Tuesday, 01 February 2000 |
What should have been Team Canada against Team USA is shaping up to be Team Driller versus the Yanks.
As Team Canada's all-stars continued to drop like flies over the weekend, three more Edmonton Drillers players were added to Team Canada's roster.
That brings to seven the number of Drill hands slated to be on the Canadian bench at Skyreach Centre for the NPSL's 13th midwinter classic.
Goalkeeper Carmine Isacco, defender O'Neil Brown and forward Carmen D'Onofrio were all officially added to the squad yesterday. The trio joins teammates Todd Rattee, Chris Handsor, Martin Dugas and Rick Titus, all of whom were named to Team Canada last week.
"It's more or less the Edmonton Drillers versus the world," grinned Brown. "And even though we're having fun (tonight) we have to be conscious that we have a lot of guys on the field and that we're trying to win (an NPSL title)."
If you count Nikola Vignjevic, who is with the Yugoslavian national futsal side in Finland, there would be eight Drillers on the squad - not much different than a regular-season game, the way Drill head coach Ross Ongaro sees things. But Ongaro sees things a lot like Brown.
"That's not the way I wanted it, that's for sure," offered Ongaro, who will coach his second straight all-star tilt.
"We play (in) Detroit Thursday night and they've only got one player on the team. For us, having seven players playing and then leaving (for a six-game road trip) the next morning early, it's going to be tough on us."
NPSL superstar Hector Marinaro of the Cleveland Crunch, along with Montreal's John Limniatis and Mauro Biello, was injured during Sunday afternoon's tilt featuring the Crunch and Impact in Montreal.
Impact netminder Paolo Ceccarelli wisely elected to pass on the game and remain with his wife who is expecting the couple's first child.
"That was a league game and that's where the importance lies in all of this," said Ongaro. "It all comes back to the date of the all-star games. Maybe that's something we could improve on, so that it's compatible to get everybody to come and play.
'`I've got seven guys on the field and a few of them shouldn't be playing. They should be out injured but I can't do that because we wouldn't have a game."
Ongaro says reining in his horses is easier said than done.
"You can say all you want about not getting injured, but once the ball drops you've got to play the game," Ongaro explained. "That means guys are going to play.
"It's an honour for them to play in an all-star game, so they aren't going to go out there to look bad. They're going to work and give it their best and we'll pay for it against Detroit come Thursday."
D'Onofrio took the NPSL by storm in his rookie season of 1996-97 and led all Drill scorers with 112 points that year.
Despite finishing second in rookie of the year balloting and being named to the NPSL's first all-rookie team, the Stanford product never cracked the all-star lineup until his number came up yesterday.
"It's nice to be recognized by the coaches and your peers," D'Onofrio beamed. "I'm excited and it should be a lot of fun. Playing in front of the fans you've played in front of for three years now, is a little extra special. Hopefully, we can provide them with a show and they can enjoy that game."
CORNER KICKS: By late yesterday just under 7,300 tickets were out for the game. With a minimum number of no-shows and the usual game-day walk- up, Drill GM Ron Knol expects attendance for tonight's all-star fixture to hit the 9,000 mark. "We're past the break-even point, which is good," said Knol.
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