Following a third place finish in the 2018 CSL First Division standings and strengthened by the recent addition of five players from Europe, SC Waterloo kicked off a new campaign with a 4-0 victory over CSL Mississauga at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga Sunday night.
While the result was decisive enough, the pace and overall good performance of the recent arrivals also sent signals that the Eastern Ontario side will not be content with a third place finish in 2019. While it can be said that CSL champions FC Vorkuta and top-of-the-table and FC Ukraine United dominated the league’s top division last year, they can expect a strong challenge from more than one club during the coming season.
Waterloo will play its second game of the season at the Heritage Field in Hamilton on Saturday, one of four attractive games in the CSL over the weekend, while Vorkuta are at home at the Ontario Soccer Centre to expansion team Kingsman.
Hamilton City 1, under head coach Sasa Vukovic, will be also looking for an improvement in the team’s fifth place in the 2018 standings, highlighted by an impressive contribution by live wire striker Sani Dey who found the net 13 times in the regular season to lead the league’s First Division scoring.
Scarborough SC, at home to CSC Mississauga at Birchmount Stadium on Sunday, are expected to be prominent again after finishing the regular season in fourth position and were even closer to top honors in the post season, losing a heart-breaking penalty kicks decider following a 1-1 draw in in the championship final with Vorkuta. By contrast, their CSC Mississauga opposition this coming Sunday ended its inaugural 2018 CSL season with just one victory, although under new head coach Josip Raguz Mississauga appears to be an improved side despite the 4-0 opening game defeat.
Scarborough have retained goalscorers Aleksander Stojiljkovic and Kavin Bryan who accounted for 19 of the 34 goals scored during the regular season and prominent midfielder Zoran Knezevic for the upcoming campaign will also be in the line-up on Saturday.
Brantford Galaxy will be looking to improve their lowly eighth position in the 2018 standings when they kickoff the season at home to Serbian White Eagles on Saturday. Both sides have solid rosters to draw from and Galaxy head coach Milan Prpa will be counting on midfielder Sasa Vidovic, Miljan Milovic and Dragan Milovic to be prominent while bidding for honors during the regular season and in the playoffs.
Opposition Serbian White Eagles are in the same position as the Galaxy, searching for the former glory which brought the CSL championship in 2016 (Brantford were CSL champions in 2010), and Uros Stamatovic will be attempting to improve the low goal scoring record of 2018 which contributed to the White Eagles ending last season in an uncharacteristic sixth position in the First Division. Luka Bojic is one of several players expected to be prominent in the upcoming campaign.
The weekend games:
Saturday, May 25, The Ontario Soccer Centre 6 pm FC Vorkuta vs Kingsman A
Saturday, May 25, Heritage Field 6.30 pm Hamilton City vs SC Waterloo
Saturday, May 25, Heritage Field, 8.30 pm Brantford Galaxy vs Serbian White Eagles
Sunday, May 26, Birchmount Stadium, 8 pm Scarborough SC vs CSC Mississauga
An additional match, FC Ukraine United vs Real Mississauga SC originally scheduled for this Sunday, has been postponed.