Serbian White Eagles became the first First Division team to clinch a playoff spot with a 2-0 victory over London City, while in other game played Sunday, Brampton City Utd defeated Milton SC 4-0, Burlington SC won a see-saw struggle 4-3 over Niagara United and SC Waterloo crept closer to the top of the standings with a 4-2 win over Toronto Atomic FC.
Forward Milos Scepanovic opened the scoring for Serbian White Eagles at 79 minutes, near the end of a scoreless, well-played encounter at the Hellenic Centre in London. The veteran striker found the net past London goalkeeper Luka Besenic for the 1-0 lead and t was Scepanovic’s fourth goal of the season.
Sahjah Reid found the net to increase the lead for the visitors to 2-0, the score at the final whistle. The goal was Reid’s 15th of the season with the Serbian White Eagles’ striker running second in the CSL goalscoring race.
Serbian White Eagles have an impressive 12-2-4 record on the season for 40 points to now lead second place Toronto Croatia by seven points in the standings and have qualified for a playoff berth as a result of the win.
London have a 6-9-2 record for 20 points in 10th place.
Midfielder Juber Quinteros opened the scoring for Brampton City Utd at the ninth minute mark in the game against Milton SC at Victoria Park in Brampton for a 1-0 score at the break.
Forward Jean Tshimpaka increased the lead to 2-0 at 57 minutes and struck again 10 minutes later for a 3-0 Brampton lead.
Forward Jonathan Jebbison scored at 80 minutes, his ninth of the season, for a 4-0 lead, the result at the end of the game.
Brampton City Utd improve to a 7-7-5 record for 26 points in the table, while Milton SC are at 6-8-3 for 21 points.
It was a see-saw struggle between Burlington SC and Niagara United at Nelson Stadium in Burlington, with Nikola Stanojevic opening the scoring for Burlington at 13 minutes, and Vladimir Vujovic making it 2-0 at the 32 minute mark, a 2-0 score at the interval.
Midfielder Michael Vitaterna scored for Niagara United, beating Burlington goalkeeper Vladimir Vujasinovic for a 2-1 score at 49 minutes, and Vitaterna scored a second goal with a drive from outside of the box to level the score, 2-2 at 63 minutes.
Nenad Nikolic put Burlington in front 3-2 at the 80 minute mark and Erwin Uzunovic increased the lead for the home side one minute later, 4-2 for Burlington. Niagara’s Colin Dougan found the net past Vujasinovic to reduce the lead to 4-3 at 92 minutes, the score at the final whistle.
Burlington improve to 6-9-3 for 21 points, while Niagara United are at 1-12-3 for six points.
Dario Brezak opened the scoring for Toronto Atomic with a looping header over Waterloo goalkeeper Imad Hakura at 11 minutes at Warrior Field in Waterloo, and Waterloo’s Aleksandar Stojiljkovic tied the game 1-1 from a free kick at 29 minutes.
Stojiljkovic scored a second goal for the home side at 34 minutes, a 2-1 score in favour of Waterloo at half-time.
Two goals by Adis Hasecic at 48 and 75 minutes, his 14th and 15th of the season, gave Waterloo a 4-1 lead and Stas Katana reduced the lead to 4-2 with a goal for Toronto Atomic when he found the net past Waterloo’s substitute goalkeeper Jovan Stefan Brudiu in injury time. It was Katana’s fourth goal of the season. Brudiu replaced the injured Hakura late in the first half.
Waterloo move into third position in the standings as a result of the victory, they now have a 9-5-3 for 30 points, while Toronto Atomic are at 8-8-2 for 26 points.
There were three games in the CSL Second Division Sunday:
Brampton City Utd B 1, Milton SC B 1
Brantford Galaxy B 4, Toronto Croatia B 3
Burlington SC 4, B Niagara United B 2
SC Waterloo B and Milton SC B have qualified for a playoff berth in the Second Division.