Vaughan Sun Devils climbed an uphill battle to come out winners by a 4-3 score in a Rogers Cup Eastern Conference quarter-final game at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Wednesday.
The north of Toronto side survived the loss of a player--ejected on a professional foul early in the game, to come out eventual winners on an overtime golden goal. The Sun Devils victory appeared to catch many by surprise given the impressive record of Supra throughout the regular season.
Supra�s Michael Di Luca put his side 1-0 up at the 39th minute mark, but Bayette Smith of the Sun Devils made it 1-1 three minutes later.
Ex-Lynx forward Elvis Thomas put the Sun Devils ahead one minute before the break for a 2-1 half-time score.
Danny Amaral of Toronto Supra scored his first of two goals at the 73rd minute mark to tie the game 2-2 but Aundrea Rollins made it 3-2 for the Sun Devils at 90 minutes.
Just when Vaughan appeared to have the game in the record book, Amaral scored his second to make it 3-3 and into overtime.
Aundrea Rollins scored his second and the golden goal game winner in the first 15-minte overtime period for a 4-3 Sun Devils win.
Vaughan Sun Devils will now meet unbeaten Ottawa Wizards in the first game of a semi-final double header at Cove Road, London on Saturday evening, a 5.30 pm kickoff, while Toronto Supra bow out of the 2003 season following an impressive season which resulted in a 10-2-6 WLT record for 36 points and the runner-up position in the Eastern Conference.
This compares with a 10-2-6 record for just 16 points in 2002 when the team from Toronto�s west end ended the season at the foot of the table.
