PICTURE: Aleksander Stojiljkovic drives the ball past Ukraine United goalkeeper Vladimir Dragicevic, one of 48 goals scored during the striker’s three seasons with with now CSL champions Scarborough.
Scarborough striker Aleksander Stojiljkovic made his mark in the CSL sometime ago when he became known as the 4-goal man, scoring four goals in a 7-0 victory against Milton on September 2, 2017, followed by another four goals in a 5-0 win over Brantford Galaxy, he then jumped into the 2018 season with four in a 5-1 defeat of Hamilton City on May 27, 2018.
Since arriving in Canada to play for SC Waterloo in 2014, the Serbian-born Stojiljkovic has won Player of the Week, Rookie of the Year and the CSL’s Top Scorer awards. He’s scored 48 goals in his three seasons with Scarborough.
It’s little wonder his goal-scoring threatening attitude made a difference in Scarborough’s championship win on October 26 when he scored both goals in the 2-0 Scarborough victory. Stojiljkovic’s goals won the game, but were secondary to his always ready-to-score presence that the opposition has to deal with throughout. It’s not the first time FC Ukraine United has suffered a key championship defeat by Scarborough and Stojiljkovic. Both teams will still vividly remember Stojiljkovic’s 91st minute winning goal in the 2018 CSL Championship semifinal, a 2-1 score which eliminated Ukraine United, putting the Toronto east-end team into the final.
Scarborough are the CSL Champions and deservedly so, and Ukraine United’s steadfast determination to bring much success to the club before and since entering the Canadian Soccer League in 2016 made for an outstanding finalist.
But FC Vorkuta cannot be overlooked as 2019 goes into the history books. The team that bears the name of a community in northern Russia won three of the four titles up for grabs in a tough level of Canadian soccer that is the CSL First and Second Divisions. The club’s reserve team won the CSL Second Division Championship with a 2-0 victory over Serbian White Eagles B after wrapping up both the First Division and Second Division league titles. That’s a first in the CSL’s long history.
We’ll call it a Troika.