YORK REGION SHOOTERS OPEN ON WINNING NOTE……Edwards opens scoring

Richard Edwards opened the scoring for York Region Shooters
Richard Edwards opened scoring for York Region Shooters

York Region Shooters opened their season with a 3-2 victory over Brantford Galaxy in a tough encounter at Lions Park in Brantford, the only First Division match in the Canadian Soccer League Sunday.

It was Brantford’s second game of the 2016 campaign following the scoreless tie against Toronto Atomic FC on May 21.

York Region midfielder Richard Edwards opened the scoring for the visitors at 17 minutes, a blistering free kick from 25 yards that caught the top corner of the net out of reach of Galaxy goalkeeper Luka Besenic.

Brantford tied the score 1-1 at 24 minutes, a goal by midfielder Stefan Vukovic who beat York Region goalkeeper Emanuelle Ameltonis,   and York Region took a 2-1 lead five minutes later when referee Tony Amaral pointed to the penalty spot following a foul in the Galaxy box.  Marcos Rodriguez struck the penalty kick and found the net. It was 2-1 for York Region Shooters at the interval.

Forward Richard West increased the visitors’ lead to 3-1 at 79 minutes after coming on as a substitute and Vukovic scored his second goal for Brantford at 82 minutes, reducing the Shooters’ lead to 3-2.

York Region Shooters were reduced to 10 men at the 86th minute mark when defender Marcelo Capozzolo was shown the red card by referee Amaral for what was reported as Serious Foul Play.

There was one game in the Second Division Sunday afternoon when the Galaxy reserve team, Brantford Galaxy B defeated York Region Shooters B, 3-1.

 

 

HASECIC LEADS SCARBOROUGH WITH TWO GOALS……3-0 victory for home side

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Adis Hasecic scored twice to lead Scarborough SC to a 3-0 victory over Serbian White Eagles in the season opener for both teams played at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough Saturday night.

It was a well-played scoreless first half with few scoring opportunities, but Hasecic found the net shortly after entering the game as a substitute following the interval. The prolific midfielder, who found the net 16 times for Waterloo in 2015, took a pass from Dobrin Orlovski to beat the advancing White Eagles’ goalkeeper Goran Skaric on a one-on-one play, the goal coming at 47 minutes.

Aleksander Stojiljkovic made it 2-0 for Scarborough at the 78 minute mark and Hasecic scored his second to make it 3-0 for the home side at 82 minutes. Orlovski again played a part before Hasecic struck for a 3-0 final score.

Scarborough will visit the St. Joan of Arc ground in Maple for a game against FC Ukraine United on Sunday June 5, while Serbian White Eagles will play their next game hosting Brantford Galaxy at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Friday, June 3.

 

LAST MINUTE WINNER FOR MILTON…….Recover from 1-0 first half deficit

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A last minute strike by midfielder Adnan Smajic gave Milton SC a 2-1 victory over Hamilton City at the Jean Vanier Field at Milton, the only game in the Canadian Soccer League Friday night.

Hamilton City, playing the opening game in their inaugural season in the CSL, took an early lead when midfielder Santiago Pestrepo found the net past Milton goalkeeper Zoran Pusica, the goal coming at 10 minutes into the game. It was 1-0 at the interval.

Milton defender Mike Greco tied the game 1-1 for the home side at 56 minutes, the goal coming off a rebound from a free kick and following several attempts to take the lead, Milton went ahead at 89 minutes when Smajic scored from four yards.

“It was a tough  opening game going almost to the final whistle before we scored the winner and I’m pleased with the way my team kept going right to the end.” said Milton’s  Jasmin Halkic following the game.

Milton will travel to Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke for their next game with Toronto Atomic FC on Saturday, June 11, while Hamilton City will be at home to Atomic on Friday, June 3.

There are two remaining games in the CSL this weekend with Scarborough SC at home at Birchmount Stadium against the visiting Serbian White Eagles on Saturday night, that’s an 8 pm start, and  on Sunday Bradford Galaxy are at home to York Region Shooters, a 7 pm kickoff at Lions Park.

FIRST DIVISION UNDERWAY IN THE CSL….. Shooters sign the promising Nicholas Lindsay

York Region Shooters sign Nicholas Lindsay
York Region Shooters sign
Nicholas Lindsay

It’s unlikely York Region Shooters will repeat  their perfect season of 2014, a campaign that topped all of the exceptional achievements recorded in the annuls of the CSL and its forerunner leagues over many decades since the original National Soccer League launched in 1926. Winning 13 with five draws in the 18-game schedule before going through to the playoffs and winning the championship was an achievement that re-wrote the record book.

The Shooters finished third in the standings in 2015, and will kickoff this new season with a visit to Lions Park in Brantford for a game with the Galaxy on Sunday night, a 7 pm kickoff. It’s the second game for Brantford Galaxy following their scoreless tie against Toronto Atomic on May 21.

Team owner and head coach Tony De Thomasis continues to strengthen his side on and off the field of play with the support of former Chilean  international Carlos Rivas, long-standing GM John Pacione and Argyrios Tsoulos returning as the club’s head fitness coach following a spell in Greece.

Rivas has the highly successful Carlos Rivas Soccer School in the GTA and is still considered a hero in South America following his play for Chile leading up to the 1982 World Cup, while Tsoulos has an outstanding background as an international track and field athlete and is now a qualified trainer having worked with over 100 professional soccer players.

The Shooters have added  Nicholas Lindsay and Evan Beutler to their first team roster.  Lindsay, 23, a speedy forward, was one of the most promising young Canadians while moving from youth soccer in Brampton to Toronto FC Academy, the Ontario Provincial team, the Canadian U-20 team and Toronto FC before suffering a severe knee injury which kept him out the entire 2011 season.   He signed for Burlington SC in 2013 and now returns to the CSL with the Shooters.

Beutler, also 23,  has played indoor soccer professionally following a strong academic career which includes a three-time state championship for Enterprise Wings in his home state of Alabama.  Beutler was eventually transferred to the University of Alabama where he completed a BSc in Psychology with a minor in Physical Education, and while playing there made the NCAA Division II All American team. He holds dual Canadian-American citizenship.

Serbian White Eagles had a banner year in 2015, leading the CSL First Division most of the five-month long season and finishing on top with a four-point margin over Toronto Croatia in second place. White Eagles will visit Birchmount Stadium for the 8 pm opener against Scarborough SC on Saturday night and will be guided by coaches Mirko Medic and Uros Stamatovic.

But the weekend will  kickoff on Friday night with Milton SC at home to Hamilton City, the season opener for both teams at the Jean Vanier Field in Milton, a 7.30 start. Milton made a good start to First Division soccer in 2015, finishing in seventh spot in the standings and making the playoffs following their 2014 season in Division Two.  Hamilton City start their inaugural year and reports suggest the team is ready for a strong beginning following several weeks of preparation.

 

GALAXY, ATOMIC SCORELESS IN CSL OPENER… Entertaining encounter at Brantford

branfort Brantford Galaxy and Toronto Atomic FC fought to a scoreless draw in an otherwise entertaining encounter in the Canadian Soccer League season opener at Lions Park, Brantford Saturday night.

Galaxy, now in its seventh season since stepping into the CSL in 2010 to win the championship in stunning fashion that inaugural year, were at home to second year Toronto Atomic. The Toronto team finished last season in fifth spot in the 2015 standings, while Galaxy struggled most of last season to end in 11th position .

It was an even first half with few scoring opportunities, but goals appeared more likely following the interval when the home side almost found the net at 50 minutes when forward Milan Beader crossed the ball for Krum Bigishkrov to head just wide of the post with Atomic goalkeeper Ihor Vitiv beaten.

Atomic came close to going ahead at 55 minutes when Mateo Fajardo set up an goalmouth opportunity, and 18 minutes later the visitors’ Tighana Alexander Thompson had a shot cleared off the goal line by Brantford’s Miljan Milovic.

Galaxy head coach Tomo Dancetovic considered neither team deserved to lose and that his team needed more time on the training field. “ It was a fair result,”  he said following the final whistle. “Our side needs to do a lot of work to get where we need to be to be competitive, but that will come together as the new players get to know each other on the field.”

Midfielder Sasa Vidovic, a player with the Galaxy since the club launched six years ago, competed the first half before being substituted at halftime.

In an afternoon clash, the home reserve side Brantford Galaxy B nipped Toronto Atomic FC B, 3-2.

Galaxy are back at Lions Park for a home game against York Region Shooters next Sunday, May 29, while Toronto  Atomic FC visit Hamilton for a game with the City at the Cardinal Newman ground Friday, June 3. Both games kickoff at 7 pm.

 

 

CSL KICKOFF AT BRANTFORD MAY 21…….Galaxy will host Toronto Atomic

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Lions Park in Brantford will be the site of the 2016 Canadian Soccer League opener, a clash between Brantford Galaxy and visiting Toronto Atomic to kickoff a four-month long regular season leading to the playoffs and the CSL Championship late October. It’s a 7 pm kickoff that Saturday night on May 21, the beginning of a season of Saturday home games for the Galaxy, a preferred change from the Sunday fixtures of 2015. Tomoslav Dancetovic resumes as head coach.

Atomic ended the inaugural 2015 season in a respectable fifth position of 12 in the CSL First Division standings, but owner/GM Ihor Prokipchuk is looking to improve the team’s performance this upcoming campaign by emphasizing a greater team effort than was apparent in 2015. “I was really quite happy with our performance last year, and we do have some very good players, but I think we can improve this season,” he said.  Vasil Ischak has been named head coach, with midfielder Michael Tischer the team captain.

Other changes for a new season in the CSL include the relocation of Scarborough SC to the attractive Birchmount Stadium with its increased capacity seating. Other announcements by Scarborough GM Kiril Dimitrov include the appointment for 2016 of Ricardo Munguia Perez as the new head coach. Munguia, nicknamed El Ringo, a product of the fames Veracruz organization, is a former Mexican youth international, having played in the FIFA 1993 World Youth Championship. He was also in the side that won a silver medal for Mexico in the 1995 Olympic Games.

Munguia, a defender, has played his entire career between Mexico and Canada, having turned out 23 times for the Toronto Lynx in 1999 and following a period  in Mexico, he appeared in the CSL with Serbian White Eagles in 2011 and turned out for expansion team Scarborough in 2015.

FC Ukraine United, a CSL expansion team this year, has enjoyed prominence in Ontario for more than 10 years, won the Annual Olympiakos Soccer Tournament in Toronto last month. Ukraine will play its upcoming CSL home games at the St. Joan of Arc ground at Maple, just north of the city.

Hamilton City spokesperson Kathleen Nurse reports high local interest in the new Hamilton City team playing out of the Cardinal Newman ground at Stoney Creek on the out outskirts of the city. “There are a lot of very good players in the city and it’s been a busy time conducting tryouts,” she explains. Home games in Steeltown are scheduled Friday and Saturday evenings.

Coming up next: Milton, Serbian White Eagles, York Region Shooters prepare for First Division action, while London City and SC Waterloo will accompany CSL reserve teams for kickoff in the Second Division

 League Formation – 2016

 FIRST DIVISION                              SECOND DIVISION                       

Brantford Galaxy                            Brantford Galaxy ‘B’

Hamilton City                                  London City

Milton SC                                          Serbian White Eagles ‘B’

Scarborough SC                              Toronto Atomic ‘B’

Serbian White Eagles                    SC Waterloo

Toronto Atomic SC                        York Region Shooters ‘B’

Ukraine United FC

York Region Shooters