Toronto Croatia tied Brampton Lions 1-1 at Victoria Park in Brampton, while Italia Shooters defeated St. Catharines Wolves 2-1.
Croatia’s 1-1 tie followed a 3-0 victory on September 27 for a 4-1 points aggregate win and this means a semi-final match-up with Serbian White Eagles. The semi-finals are also a 2-game total points aggregate series and the first game will be played the Thanksgiving Day weekend October 9 – 12 with the return games the following weekend.
Italia Shooters defeated St. Catharines Wolves 2-1 at Maple on Sunday and their win followed a 5-0 Italia romp at Club Roma in St. Catharines on September 25 for a 6-0 points aggregate. Italia will meet Trois-Rivieres Attak in their semi-final series and the first game will be at the Shooters' home ground at Maple.
Brampton’s strong bid to get back into contention at Victoria Park produced some fast-paced attractive soccer, but it was Toronto Croatia that scored first at the 51st minute, a goal by Hayden Fitzwilliams who took advantage of a miscue by Lions’ goalkeeper Kevin Doyle to pick up the ball and roll it into the net.
Toronto Croatia’s Jonathan Busamante was ordered off at 63 minutes for serious foul play and at the 75 th minute mark Brampton’s Andy Garcia scored the equalizer for a 1-1 tie which held until the final whistle.
Forward Geron Duporte scored twice for Italia Shooters in their 2-1 victory, both goals coming after Matthew Cain put the visiting St. Catharines up 1-0 at 15 minutes.
Duporte struck the equalizer at the 26th minute mark from the penalty spot. Referee John Oliva ordered the penalty after Shooters’ defender Desi Humphrey was brought down in the box.
The winner came at 83 minutes when Duporte drove the ball from 22 yards just inside the right post for a 2-1 final.
Playoff Summary to date:
Playoffs - Quarter-final – 2nd Leg
Sunday's Results:
Italia Shooters 2, St. Catharines Wolves 1
(Italia Shooters advance to the semi-finals on a 2-game total points aggregate 6-0 win)
Brampton Lions 1, Toronto Croatia 1
(Toronto Croatia advance to the semi-finals on a 2-game total points aggregate 4-1 win)
Saturday’s Results
Serbian White Eagles 4, TFC Academy 1
(Serbian White Eagles advance to the semi-finals on a 2-game total points aggregate 6-0 win)
Trois-Rivieres Attak 1, Portugal FC 0
(Trois-Rivieres Attak advance to the semi-finals on a 2-game total points aggregate 6-0 win)
The semi-finals are also a 2-game total points aggregate series and the first leg will be played during Thanksgiving Day weekend, October 9 – 12 and the games during that weekend will be (home teams listed first):
Italia Shooters vs, Trois-Rivieres Attak
Toronto Croatia vs. Serbian White Eagles
TFC ACADEMY WIN RESERVE CHAMPIONSHIP
The TFC Academy II team confirmed their regular season superiority with a 5-1 victory over Italia Woodbridge Strikers to win the CSL Reserve Division championship at Maple on Sunday afternoon.
TFC scored three times in a 30-minute overtime following a 1-1 deadlock at 90 minutes.
The academy team had won the CSL Reserve Division title in the 7-team division and Sunday’s championship win concluded the Reserve Division season.
