CONTINENTALS vs FALCONS QUARTER-FINAL CANCELLED

The Canadian Soccer League has announced that the Continentals FC vs Toronto Falcons match scheduled for Esther Shiner Stadium Saturday, August 13 at 4 pm has been cancelled for reasons of Toronto Falcons failing to meet the requirements of the CSL Championship competition.

There will be one game only  – the Scarborough vs BGHC 1 quarter final match will kickoff as previously scheduled at 6 pm.

Continentals FC will advance to the semi-finals, together with Serbian White Eagles and York Region Shooters, and the winner of the Scarborough vs BGHC 1 game.

The semifinals are scheduled for August 20, to be followed by the CSL Championship Final the following week.

 

CSL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS SATURDAY……….Quarter-finals underway

The Canadian Soccer League playoffs get underway at Esther Shiner Stadium in mid-town Toronto this coming Saturday, August 13 when four teams, Continentals FC, Toronto Falcons, the current CSL champions Scarborough and BGHC 1 will play two quarter-final games in their bid for the CSL Championship.

The winners will then draw against league title winners Serbian White Eagles and runners-up York Region Shooters, both teams gaining a bye to the semifinals after finishing one-two in the final regular season standings. The semifinals are scheduled for August 20, to be followed by the CSL Championship Final the following week.

Final positions in the league standings, which determined the playoff schedule, were delayed following the abandonment of the Continentals FC vs York Region Shooters last game of the regular season on August 6 and which was eventually ruled as a 0-0 draw which placed York Region Shooters in the runner-up position and Continentals FC in fourth position in the table.

CSL Championship Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Saturday, August 13     4 pm  Continentals FC vs Toronto Falcons

Saturday, August 13     6 pm   Scarborough vs BGHC 1

 Admission to both games is $10 and there is free parking at Esther Shiner Stadium which is located on Bathurst Street just north of Finch Avenue.

Serbian White Eagles’ league title win is the sixth since 1974 with victories in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2015.

CANADIAN SOCCER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 2001 – 2021

2001 – St. Catharines Wolves

2002 – Ottawa Wizards

2003 – Brampton Hitmen

2004 – Toronto Croatia

2005 – Oakville Blue Devils

2006 – Italia Shooters

2007 – Toronto Croatia

2008 – Serbian White Eagles

2009 – Trois-Rivieres Attak

2010 –Brantford Galaxy

2011 – Toronto Croatia

2012 – Toronto Croatia

2013 – SC Waterloo

2014 – York Region Shooters

2015 – Toronto Croatia

2016 – Serbian White Eagles

2017 – York Region Shooters

2018 – FC Vorkuta

2019 – Scarborough SC

2020 — FC Vorkuta

2021 –Scarborough SC

 

 

 

 

 

 

SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES GAIN BYE,,,,,,Playoff Analysis

Serbian White Eagles moved into the top position in the Canadian Soccer League standings following a 2-0 victory over Toronto Falcons, Scarborough defeated BGHC 1-0,  and a third game between Continentals FC and York Region Shooters played at Esther Shiner Stadium in mid-town Toronto Saturday was abandoned  near the end of the first half following a period of dissent and physical altercations that could not be controlled sufficiently by the match officials to continue the play.

Vladimir Strizovic  opened the scoring for Serbian White Eagles at 38 minutes heading into the net from a left wing cross by Srdjan Simovic for a 1-0 lead at the break.

Strizovic added a second goal at 77 minutes, a shot inside the left post out of reach of Toronto Falcons’ goalkeeper Allessandro Ciampaglia.The goal followed several near misses when Marko Stajic of White Eagles hit the post and midfielder Marko Krasic came close to scoring. The goals by Strizovic moves the striker into the leading scorer position with nine goals for the season.

Toronto Falcons was reduced to 10 men at 40 minutes when Stanislav Katana was shown the red card for serious dissent, and the team was reduced to nine when Maksym Rohovskyi was ejected at 87 minutes following an untidy challenge.

Serbian White Eagles complete its regular season with a 5-1-4 WLT record for 19 points and will gain a bye in the quarter-final opening games of the playoffs for the CSL Championship

Scarborough took the lead at 43  minutes, a goal by forward Milos Scepanovic in a well played close encounter which included new signings Ivan Stojakovic and Vladimir Dojcinovic in the BGHC 1 line-up.. The 1-0 victory gives Scarborough a  4-1-5 record for 17 points and ending its regular season schedule to now defend the 2021 CSL Championship victory.  BGHC 1 is at the foot of the table with a 0-8-2 record.

The Continentals vs York Region Shooters opening game of three was scoreless and close to the interval when Continentals found the net at 45 minutes, a goal disallowed by the referee when the flag was raised by an assistant. A verbal dispute between the players led to a further confrontation followed by a confrontation with match officials.

Three players, Serhii Ursulenko and Illia Piltenko of Continentals and Osman Hussein of York Region Shooters were shown the red card and ejected. Piltenko and Hussein were ordered off for Violent Conduct, while Usulenko received two cautions before being shown the red card for making contact with a match official. The match officials considered there was not sufficient control to continue and the match was abandoned.

CSL Championship – playoff analysis

  The August 6 games ended the regular season schedule with the exception of the abandoned Continentals vs York Region Shooters game, the status of which will be decided by the CSL Discipline Panel.

The CSL Championship playoffs:

The following are the tie breaker In the event of a tie on points:

  1. Total wins in regular season games.
  2. Head to head record based on total points in league games.
  3. Goal difference in regular season games.
  4. Goals scored in regular season games.

If still tied, team with the lowest disciplinary points according to FIFA Fair Play rules.

Playoff quarter-finals: The first two teams in the final league standings will receive a bye to the semi-finals. Serbian White Eagles will end the season first or second and will qualify. Either York Region Shooters or Continentals will also qualify for a bye.

The third team in the final league standings will play the sixth team. York Region Shooters, Scarborough or Continentals will occupy the third position in the standings. BGHC 1 will occupy the sixth position .

The fourth team in the league standings will play the fifth position. Scarborough or Continentals will occupy the fourth position. Toronto Falcons will occupy the fifth position.

The status of the Continentals vs York Region Shooters game and the early playoff games with venues will be announced during the week of August 8

 

 

WEEKEND GAMES TRANSFERRED TO ESTHER SHINER STADIUM

While the repair work continues at Centennial Stadium, it is necessary to again transfer Canadian Soccer League games to another location. This coming Saturday, August 6 we relocate to Esther Shiner Stadium in North York.

Sat. Aug 6     2 pm  Esther Shiner Stadium     Continentals FC vs York Region Shooters

Sat. Aug 6     4 pm  Esther Shiner Stadium     Scarborough SC vs BGHC 1

Sat. Aug 6     6 pm  Esther Shiner Stadium     Serbian White Eagles vs  Toronto Falcons

This represents the final games in the regular season standings and details for the playoffs leading to the CSL Championship to be followed by the Enio Perruzza Memorial Trophy will be released during the week of August 8

DUSAN KOVACEVIC HITS FOUR IN 10-1 SWE ROMP……..Shooters, Continentals win

Serbian White Eagles, the team which in earlier times had trouble finding the opponent’s net, continued its recent transformation to become the most prolific team in the Canadian Soccer League so far this season with a crushing 10-1 defeat of BGHC 1 Saturday.

In the other two matches played at the Churchill Meadows and Mattamy Sports Park in Mississauga, Scarborough suffered its first defeat in regular season play since the 2020 season, losing 1-0 to Continentals FC, and York Region Shooters beat Toronto Falcons 3-1 in a physical encounter that resulted in three players being shown the red card.

Serbian Eagles’ forward Dusan Kovacevic led his team with four goals in the one-sided opening match, finding the net twice in the first half and twice following the interval. Vladimir Strizovic and  Marko Pavicevic each scored twice while midfielder Nikola Durkovic and Adam Waithe each struck  singles. The score at the break was 4-1.

Tomislav Pinjuh struck for BGHC at the 23rd minute.\

Three players with Serbian White Eagles now league the league’s goal scoring with Kovacevic on top with seven, Durkovic and Strizovic each have six. Serbian White Eagles move to second in the standings with a 4-1-4 WLT record for 16 points, while BGHC are 0-7-2 for two points.

Forward Mahmoud Mehdi opened the scoring at the 35th minute for York Region Shooters in the second match for a 1-0 lead and Falcons’defender Vadym Kucherevskyi  beat Shooters’ goalkeeper Gieson Njehia from outside the box to tie the game at the 82nd minute mark.

Jordan Davis Ewan gave Shooters a 2-1 lead at 88 minutes and midfielder Michael Nwobosi increased the lead to 3-1 at 93 minutes, the score at the final whistle.

A physical game overflowed into an altercation resulting in injury during the second half which brought charges of Serious Foul Play and Violent Conduct. There were also Unsporting Behaviour decisions by the referee, one of which resulted in a second yellow card to Gumen Osypenko of Toronto Falcons who was ejected at 63 minutes, to be followed by a Serious Foul Play call against Carlex Mbobda of York Region Shooters at 77 minutes and a Violent Conduct decision against Vallerii Yarmosh of Toronto Falcons, both of whom were also shown the red card.

The victory moves York Region Shooters to a one point lead in the standings with a 5-2=2 record for 17 points, while Toronto Falcons are in fifth position with a 1-4-4 record for seven points.

It was well-played and a result in doubt most the late game between Scarborough and Continentals FC until striker Mykola Temniuk broke the scoreless encounter with a goal at 75 minutes, a strong drive that caught the top left corner out of reach of Scarborough goalkeeper Christan Moraldo.

Continentals FC improve to a 4-2-3 record for 15 points, now third in the standings, while Scarborough with a 3-1-5 record and 14 points drop to fourth following the long, unbeaten streak in regular season games.

There are three games scheduled to end the regular season on Saturday, August 6, to be followed by the CSL Championship playoffs, then the Enio Perruzza Memorial Trophy competition through to October.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE MOVED…..CSL matches relocated and re-arranged

Due to vandalism that has resulted in damage to the playing surface at Centennial Stadium, all three matches scheduled to be played at that ground this coming Saturday, July 30 have been relocated to the Churchill Meadows Community Centre and Mattamy Sports Park in Mississauga.

The games scheduled at this location with a re-arrangement of the schedule with changed kickoff times for two of the three games are:

Location of the Churchill Meadows Community Centre is 5320 Ninth Line, Mississauga, and further details can be obtained by accessing:

Churchill Meadows Community Centre and Mattamy Sports Park Direction

Due to the uncertainty  of the timetable for the repairs to be completed to the playing surface at Centennial Stadium, there may be additional  relocation of games in the near future. All changes will be announced.

SHOOTERS, SCARBOROUGH SHARE TOP SPOT……..The Weekend Games

York Region Shooters struck two late goals to defeat BGHC 4-2 to take a position tied on points with Scarborough at the top of the standings following Saturday’s three games in the Canadian Soccer League. Scarborough tied 1-1 with Serbian White Eagles and it was the same 1-1 score in the Toronto Falcons vs Continentals late game, all three games at Centennial Stadium in Toronto.

It was an attractive opening match with both teams conceding little most of the first half until Scarborough’s Milos Scepanovic took a left wing cross to shoot just wide,  then two minutes later at 42 minutes midfielder Neven Radakovic drove the ball into the net from 20 yards and out of reach of Serbian White Eagles goalkeeper Adrian Ibanez for a 1-0 lead at the break.

Scarborough had three new signings in the game roster with midfielder Maximilian Never in the starting lineup, forward Murillo Gabriel entering the game as a substitute at 18 minutes and defender Joao Emmanuel.

Scarborough had a second goal ruled offside at 49 minutes and Vladimir Zelenbaba shot just wide for Scarborough 10 minutes later, but Serbian White Eagles scored an equalizer at 76 minutes when Vladimir Strizovic headed in a cross from the right wing past Scarborough goalkeeper Christan Moraldo. It was Strizovic’s 4th goal of the season. It was 1-1 at the final whistle.

York Region Shooters took a 1-0 lead at 27 minutes when defender Yussuf Yussuf found the net past BGHC goalkeeper Janko Milosevic at 27 minutes and Petar Djordjevic equalized for BGHC 10 minutes later. Aleksandar Bozovic struck for a 2-1 BGHC lead at 45 minutes, the score at the interval.

Shooters equalized with a goal by midfielder Osman Hussein at the 70th minute mark. A 2-2 score, and two late goals, the first at 89 minutes when Faris Abubaker scored, then at 92 minutes when Mahmoud Mehdi completed the scoring for a 4-2 final in favour of York Region Shooters.

Two first half goals within less than three minutes decided the outcome of the late game, an opening goal at 37 minutes by Continentals FC  when forward Mykola Temniuk beat Falcons’ goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk and the equalizing goal scored by Toronto Falcons’ midfielder Aubrey Mpala. There were two opportunities during the second half when Continentals’ forward Oleksii Boiko drove the ball just wide from 15 yards at the 59th minute mark and at 88 minutes defender Borys Orlovskiy had a shot saved by Shpuk. The game ended 1-1.

ANY ONE OF THREE FOR TOP POSITION – Saturday’s games

It’s a very close race at the top of the standings with just two points separating the top three which means either of these three could end the day at Centennial Stadium on top, or second or could be the trailing team of the three.

Scarborough is back on top and continues to be the only unbeaten side, but Serbian White Eagles now second in the standings are in fine form defensively and in attack to be unbeaten in the last five games while scoring 14 goals. It’s not surprising that three of the top five in the leading goalscorer chart, Durkovic, Kovacevic and Strizovic, are with Serbian Eagles. Scarborough and Serbian White Eagles tied 2-2 in their game of June 12.

York Region Shooters are favoured to win over winless BGHC 1, the team formed by Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City on a temporary basis during the restrictions of COVID 19. The Shooters will be out to make amends after running into in-form Serbian White Eagles, losing narrowly on July 16.

Continentals FC and Toronto Falcons clash in the late game Saturday when Falcons will be out to repeat a narrow, but impressive victory on June 12 for the side’s first win in its inaugural CSL season.

A day admission for all three games is $10 and parking at Centennial Stadium is free.

‘ It’s just the sport – this is how it brings us together’: coach Malychenkov

Outstanding sports journalist Morris Dalla Costa once commented about the many complements received from readers with ‘yes, but it’s only sports’.

Yet sports is many things positive, like entertainment, fitness with good health implications and a huge industry that has other benefits often overlooked. It teaches us the meaning of skills and talent.

A war between two countries was once settled over a soccer match. It was called football diplomacy. Soccer and other sports teach us fairness with guidelines and rules that participants must follow. The rules of soccer on the field of play are universal.

Jim Kernaghan, for many years the soccer writer for the Toronto Star and columnist for the London Free Press once said that in his experience soccer people are very loyal. They support each other.

Which brings us to an article in The Athletic, written by Sean Fitz-Gerald. The Athletic is a prestigious subscription-based sports website owned by the New York Times that provides sports coverage in 47 North American cities and elsewhere.

Fitz-Gerald sets the scene for his story in the stands at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at Toronto’s west end. Igor Demitchev has a full view of the field below where his team, Continentals FC, is playing York Region Shooters. Continentals FC is the team’s new name, having been known prior to this 2022 campaign as FC Vorkuta, named after a community in northern Russia where Demitchev was born and raised, writes Fitz-Gerald.

Andrei Malychenkov is the team’s Russian-born coach and there are Russian players in the team. But most are from Ukraine on a visa and work permit which allows them to play professional soccer in Canada for income.

Continentals FC won the game by a 3-2 score and that pleases Demitchev in an environment and mood where the camaraderie is obvious at games’ end despite the heavy burden in the minds of just about  everybody on the winning team and on its bench.

Demitchev, a practicing lawyer in Toronto, is frank with his comments when interviewed by Fitz-Gerald. “They call it ‘special military operation’ in Russia and if you say otherwise, you may get charged and be jailed for it, which is very strange, but that’s how it is over there. I’m here, in Canada, and let’s put fish on the plate: This is a war,” he said.

“And unfortunately, we’re sitting here in Canada, and people are dying over there. I don’t know how I can be more supportive than I can be other than a little bit of sponsoring, donating money,” Demitchev added.

FC Vorkuta was successful, winning championships, but world events took the focus off the field this year, writes The Athletic reporter. Players have been scrambling for updates from family in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February.

Demitchev said the team’s starting goalkeeper is from Mariupol, a Ukrainian port besieged for nearly three months and ultimately occupied by Russian forces, and went 40 days without any contact with his family. He said the player recently returned from Europe, where relatives were able to escape through humanitarian corridors.

“Pretty much every single guy here has two, three, four — sometimes more than that — people brought in,” said Demitchev. “Obviously, their mindset is not with soccer. It’s hard. It’s not going to be easy.”

The team, he said, has not been able to practise regularly.

“Do I think about the Cup as of right now? No,” said Demitchev. “Do I think about soccer? No. My job is to try to hold all these people together; help them as much as I can to live like human beings. Bring their families over here and help them as much as I can, especially when somebody’s asking for it,” continues Fitz-Gerald in his article.

Andrei Malychenkov, the team’s Russian-born coach, said he has been in Canada for two decades.

“If you talk about the war, nobody would support the war,” he said. “It’s very sad. It’s very painful.”

He said the team tries not to discuss the day’s news in the dressing room.

“When they come to the field, there’s no politics, it’s just the sport,” said Malychenkov. “This is how it brings us together. It’s a good thing.”

 

 

SCARBOROUGH LEADS……..Serbian White Eagles defeat York Region Saturday

There were two games played in the Canadian Soccer League Saturday, with Scarborough SC scoring a decisive 3-0 victory over Toronto Falcons to move to the top of the standings, while Serbian White Eagles continued its recent winning form to defeat York Regions Shooters 2-1.  A third game, BGHC 1 vs Continentals FC scheduled mid-afternoon, was postponed.

Forward Milos Scepanovic opened the scoring for Scarborough from a free kick at 12 minutes and Gonzalo Matias Cabrera Celis increased the lead to 2-0 at the 31st minute mark. The goal resulted from  a rebound when a Falcons’ goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk clearance resulted in a rebound off the Scarborough forward. It was 2-0 at the break and Scarborough continued to press in the second half until midfielder Neven Radakovic struck for a 3-0 lead at 56 minutes.

Toronto Falcons had few opportunities to find the net until substitute midfielder Oleh Kivalo took a late pass eight yards out but his attempt was saved by Scarborough goalkeeper Christan Moraldo. It was 3-0 at the final whistle.

Scarborough leaps into the top position in the standings with a 3-0-4 WLT record for 13 points while unbeaten in regular season games since 2020. Toronto Falcons are at 1-1-3 and six points in fifth position.

Serbian White Eagles’ forward Vladimir Strizovic opened the scoring at the 23rd minute against York Region Shooters, lifting the ball over the Shooters’ defence and out of reach of goalkeeper Daniel Gosciniak. It was 1-0 at the interval following an even first half. Strizovic also struck the second goal to lift Serbian White Eagles to a 2-0 lead at the 49th minute. York Region cut the lead to 2-1 at 82 minutes with a goal by forward Mahmoud Mehdi and Mehdi almost scored an equalizer with a strong drive  from 20 yards on the right wing just before the final whistle, but the ball skimmed the left post with Serbian White Eagles goalkeeper Dan Pelc well beaten.

Serbian White Eagles are now four games without a loss and second in the table with a 3-1-3 record for 12 points, while York Region Shooters drop to third in the standings with a 3-2-2 record for 11 points.

Games will return to Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west end next Saturday, July 23 at 2 pm

SCARBOROUGH WILL ATTEMPT TO EXTEND UNBEATEN STREAK…Saturday’s Games

Picture: Scarborough will meet Toronto Falcons and  attempt to extend a regular season unbeaten  streak.

The Canadian Soccer League makes a return to The Soccer Centre for three games on Saturday with an afternoon into evening schedule beginning at 2 pm with a second match at 4 pm and the late game at 6.

Current CSL champions Scarborough will be attempting to extend a 17-game unbeaten streak in regular season competition going back to 2020. The east Toronto side is the only team unbeaten in this current campaign after completing a seven match abbreviated regular season in 2021 without a loss. Toronto Falcons is the opposition on Saturday, the expansion team coming off a 2-2 draw with a late equalizer against BGHC 1 on July 3.

BGHC 1 will meet Continentals FC in the mid-afternoon match as Continentals continue to improve its side with new acquisions including Andrii Sorokyn, a 31 year old Ukrainian midfielder signed this week on a two-year contract.  GM Denys Yanchuk sees an improvement following his club’s early season struggle with just two wins to date.

Following a slow start at the beginning of the season, Serbian White Eagles has shown good form in its last three matches with a resounding 7-3 victory over BGHC 1 on June 18 followed by a draw with Toronto Falcons a week later and a 2-1 win over FC Continentals on July 3. White Eagles are up against York Region Shooters in the late game on Saturday, a team holding on to the top position in the standings and demonstrating that the expansion team’s early successes spells a side now playing at a level that can be expected throughout the season.

Footnote: The CSL Discipline Panel has released its findings and decisions following the postponed  BGHC 1 vs Scarborough SC game of June 26 due to the BGHC 1 team being delayed en route following a traffic accident. The panel decided the postponement was avoidable, the game was placed in default and awarded to Scarborough SC by a 2-0 result in keeping with CSL Rules and Regulations  for postponed, suspended and abandoned games.

Admission to the stadium at The Ontario Soccer Centre, located at 7601 Martin Grove Rd, Woodbridge, just east of Hwy 27 and south of Hwy 7, is $10 for the day and parking is free.

SHOOTERS REMAIN ON TOP……Serbian White Eagles defeat Continentals Sunday

PICTURE: Shooters remain on top following 1-1 tie with Scarborough

York Region Shooters scored a penalty kick equalizer to tie 1-1 with Scarborough in Sunday’s opening game at Centennial Stadium, BGHC 1 tied 2-2 with Toronto Falcons and Serbian White Eagles defeated Continentals FC 2-1.

Scarborough took the lead at six minutes on a goal by forward Gonzalo Matias Cabrera Celis who tipped  a corner kick inside the right post out of reach of York Region Shooters goalkeeper Gieson Njehia. A trip in the box resulted in a penalty kick for the Shooters and Sebastien Lopez drove the ball inside the left post for a 1-1 equalizer at the 24th minute mark, the score at the break.

Scarborough held an edge in the play for most of the second half with good chances to score. There were near misses, including at 70 minutes when Moussa Limane took a pass 18 yards out and the drive was saved by Shooters’ goalkeeper Njehia. Another opportunity came at 83 minutes when substitute forward Kiril Dimitrov collected a pass on the right wing with a cross to Limane closing in but saved again by Niehia. Another winning goal opportunity came at 87 minutes, but the drive by Scarborough defender Odain Omaro Simpson went just wide for a 1-1 draw at the final whistle. York Region Shooters continue to hold top position in the standings with a 3-1-2 WLT record for 11 points.

Petar Djordjevic opened the scoring for BGHC 1 against Toronto Falcons in the second game, a drive from 30 yards to beat Falcons’ goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk. The Toronto side tied the score immediately following the re-start at 13 minutes with a goal by midfielder Clayton Brown. Diordievic struck a second goal for BGHC for a 2-1 lead at the 44th minute mark, the score at the interval, and defender Vadym Gostiev tied the game for Toronto Falcons at 86 minutes, 2-2 at the final whistle.

Continentals FC had a slight edge in the early stages of the game with Serbian White Eagles, but failed to find the net in a well played late game scoreless first half. Serbian White Eagles eventually scored at 67 minutes when forward Vladimir Strizovic took a pass, then won a one-on-one encounter with Continentals’ goalkeeper Anatolii Starushchenko to slide the ball in for a 1-0 lead. Forward Adam Abouali made it 2-0 for the White Eagles at 80 minutes and Continentals reduced the lead with a goal by Bogdan Borovskyi at 84 minutes for a 2-1 score at the final whistle in favour of Serbian White Eagles, now unbeaten since June 5 and  second in the standings with a 2-1-3  WLT record for nine points.

SHOOTERS WILL BE TESTED – Sunday’s Upcoming Games

Despite the comments of Sam Madeiros, head coach of York Region Shooters on June 12 that while the return of his team to the CSL does not forecast a CSL Championship winning performance, the team from just north of Toronto is still on top of the standings despite its recent loss to Continentals FC, a narrow 3-2 score on June 26.

Madeiros is well focused on his roster and particularly those he identifies as promising players that may have a future at high level and which – as one of Canada’s top technicians in the game — he can help along the way. As soccer coach Gerry Gentile once said ‘there’s nothing in the DNA of a Canadian that says he cannot be a great soccer player’.

The Shooters will be tested on Sunday in the opening game against CSL current champions Scarborough SC, now the only team without a loss and anxious to play its next match following an unexpected postponement of its fixture last week. The two teams met in the opening game of this current campaign, the game ending in a 3-3 tie. The Shooters were ahead 2-0 during the first half and led 3-1 at the break before conceding two goals in the second half.

Toronto Falcons held Serbian White Eagles to a 1-1 draw in its last game, an achievement considering the explosive seven goals scored by White Eagles in the 7-3 rout of BGHC 1 on June 18. The Falcons meet BGHC 1 in the second game of Sunday’s triple header at Centennial Stadium. Commenting on the progress of Toronto Falcons as an expansion team, GM Samad Kadirov said “We are building and with the right people are going in the right direction.”

Serbian White Eagles will be attempting to repeat the form demonstrated in the 7-3 victory when on Sunday they meet Continentals FC, an interesting encounter when it appears Continentals form is trending up also.

Individual statistics following Week 5 in the Canadian Soccer League shows Nikola Durkovic of Serbian White Eagles leads the goal scoring with 5, Scarborough SC are undefeated and BGHC 1 are without a victory.

CONTINENTALS DEFEAT YORK REGION 3-2, Falcons tie with Serbian White Eagles

PICTURE: Marko Stajic of Serbian White Eagles struck tying goal from penalty spot

There were two games played in the Canadian Soccer League Sunday when Continentals FC defeated York Region Shooters by a 3-2 score and Toronto Falcons played to a 1-1 draw with Serbian White Eagles. A third game scheduled at the Centennial Stadium ground, BGHC vs. Scarborough SC, was postponed when BGHC encounted traffic accident difficulties en route.

There were several scoring opportunities that failed to find the net in the opening game when in the first two minutes of play Continentals FC forward Oleksii Boiko collected a long ball to outpace the York Region Shooters defence but shot wide with only ‘keeper Daniel Gosciniak to beat.

In the early stages also, Sebastien Lopez of York Region Shooters almost scored from a well-taken free kick which just skimmed the left post.

Continentals opened the scoring, when at the 18th minute mark Boiko drove the ball inside the right post for a 1-0 lead, his fourth goal of the season.  This was followed minutes later when the always dangerous Lopez struck an equalizer for York Region Shooters to tie the game 1-1.

Continentals’ defender Ernest Astakhov missed one of the scoring opportunities at 32 minutes and there was another near miss when at 37 minutes Continentals’ midfielder Sergii Ivliev drove the ball to goalkeeper Gosciniak from 10 yards.

Ivliev struck for Continentals for a 2-1 lead at 44 minutes, a well=placed free kick from 20 yards that had Gosciniak well beaten just inside the right post.

Mykola Temniuk increased the lead to 3-1 for Continentals at the 68th minute mark and York Region Shooters cut the lead to 3-2 at 87 minutes with a goal by forward Mahmoud Mehdi, the score at the final whistle and the first defeat for the league leading Shooters.

Toronto Falcons midfielder Clayton Brown struck early to give his team a 1-0 lead at just three minutes in the second game, a well=played encounter that was in doubt through to the final whistle.

Falcons held a precarious lead until Serbian White Eagles equalized at 60 minutes on a goal from the penalty spot by midfielder Marko Stajic, a penalty called when White Eagles’ defender Srjan Simovic was brought down in the box.

Toronto Falcons came close to taking the lead when White Eagles’ former Canadian national team defender Dejan Jakovic  cleared the ball off the line with goalkeeper Adrian Ibanez beaten.

Jakovic, now 36,  is in the twilight of a sparkling career that came from a community setting in Toronto,  attracted Canadian  team selectors in Canada and Red Star Belgrade in Serbia as early as 2008. Jakovic became a national team regular with 46 U-23 and men’s national team caps and a career in North America which included 98 appearances for DC United followed by seasons with New York Cosmos and Los Angeles FC.

The third game scheduled as the late game between BGHC 1 and Scarborough was postponed during Sunday afternoon after the visiting BGHC 1 side was held following accident difficulties in traffic en route. The delay is subject to a league inquiry and its decision on the disposition of the game.