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After a furious ice storm scuttled their original plans, the Ontario Arrows will at last have their highly anticipated home opener on Saturday afternoon when they host the Boston Mystics. The weather has proved exceedingly turbulent once again ruling out use of the main York Lions Stadium pitch, but with dry, sunny weather forecast for Saturday the match will go on at the adjacent York Alumni Stadium.
It was the Arrows who drew first blood when the two sides met in Boston two weeks ago. Two late tries made the result a little more palatable for the Mystics who had otherwise received a sound beating in the forwards, with the scrum particularly one-sided in favor of the Canadians.
The two sides will be largely the same on Saturday. Injury has ruled out Arrows hooker AJ Quattrin so it’s Jack McRogers who gets the call with Cam Sandison called up to the bench.
Canadian international Andrew Ferguson returns at scrumhalf while Mitch Richardson replaces Jamie Leveridge at inside center. Shawn Windsor is recalled to the run-on side albeit at fullback.
Boston meanwhile have made no changes, retaining an identical starting XV to that which ran out at Pine Banks Park. Veteran flanker Jon Kokinda returns to the bench along with second row Cody Davidowicz and a new face in Ugandan midfielder Adnan Kawuma.
Expecting the Mystics to turn around the scrum in the space of a fortnight with the same personnel is a tall order. Add in home field advantage to the historic nature of the match and it’s a recipe for a signature Arrows performance. Boston may be fired up for the occasion but it won’t be enough on Canadian soil.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 pm local time. Advance tickets are available online and at the gate on Saturday, with youths under 16 and American citizens offered free admission. Tickets purchased for the postponed New York match will also be honored.
A live stream will be provided on the Arrows Youtube channel for those who cannot attend.
ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Jack McRogers, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Kolby Francis, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Will Kelly, 11 Johnny Sheridan, 12 Mitch Richardson, 13 Jon West, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Shawn Windsor
Replacements: 16 Cam Sandison, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Mike Smith, 19 Tom van Horne, 20 Andrew Wilson, 21 Alex Gliksten, 22 Kyle Lagasca, 23 Cooper Coats
BOSTON MYSTICS
1 Dave McKenna, 2 Jeff Laflamme, 3 Pino Maupese, 4 Andrew Burns, 5 Michael Kaivelata, 6 Chris Frazier, 7 Devin Ibanez, 8 Owen Hundt, 9 Ian Luciano, 10 Santiago Bertranou, 11 Vini Daley, 12 Matías de Paolis, 13 Paulo Aukuso, 14 Stephen Dazzo, 15 Jared Collinson
Replacements: 16 Gianni Miceli, 17 Greg Rasmuson, 18 Scott Lucas, 19 Jon Kokinda, 20 Cody Davidowicz, 21 Erik Thompson, 22 Mike Rudzinsky, 23 Adnan Kawuma
Date: Saturday, May 5
Venue: York Alumni Stadium, Toronto
Kickoff: 16:30 local (13:30 Pacific)
Referee: Michael Jones (RC)
Broadcasts: YouTube
