VORKUTA BIDS FOR CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE FOLLOWING SATURDAY SEMIFINAL VICTORIES
FC Vorkuta is bidding for the CSL double following a clean sweep of the two semifinals played Saturday.
Vorkuta defeated SC Waterloo in the CSL Championship semifinal at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan Saturday night, a thriller tied 1-1 at 90 minutes, it was 2-2 following 30 minutes of overtime, and Vorkuta advanced on penalty kicks. Vorkuta will meet the winner of the second semifinal between FC Ukraine United and Scarborough SC set for 2 pm at Centennial Stadium, Etobicoke Sunday.
Vorkuta B scored a 3-1 victory over Brantford Galaxy B in the afternoon Second Division semifinal encounter at the St. Robert Field in Vaughan and will meet the winner of the Halton United B vs Scarborough SC B being played at the Norton Field at Burlington on Tuesday, October 9, a 9 pm kickoff.
Both championship finals will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 13 – the CSL Second Division Championship Final at 1 pm and the CSL Championship Final at 3 pm.
In the afternoon game, Vorkuta B took a 1-0 lead in the Second Division semifinal with a goal at eight minutes by Kristijan Kezic who found the net after taking a pass from Denys Diachenko.
Brantford Galaxy B levelled the score at the 17th minute mark following a quick counter-attack, a goal by Donare Beqere, and Kezic struck his second goal to put Vorkuta B 2-1 up before the interval. It was 2-1 at the break. The game was quick and physical during the second half as Brantford B pressed for an equalizer, but Vorkuta B increased its score at 90 minutes, a goal by Kyrylo Antonenko for a 3-1 result in favour of the home side.
SC Waterloo took the initiative in the early stages of the CSL Championship semifinal, a well played, physical first half with few goalscoring opportunities until Waterloo broke away on a counter attack to score at 42 minutes. Miodrag Kovacevic closed in on Vorkuta goalkeeper Oleksandr Musiienko and the Waterloo midfielder slotted the ball into the net.
Vorkuta tied the game three minutes later, a cross by Volodymyr Bidlovskyi who found Vadym Gostiev on the far post to put the ball into the Waterloo net. The goal came at 45 minutes and it was 1-1 at the break.
Vorkuta came close to scoring late in the second half when at 87 minutes Gostiev drove a hard low pass to the far post for midfielder Serhii Ursulenko to smash the ball against the crossbar. It was 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
Waterloo took a 2-1 lead in extra time, a free kick found Sven Arapovic on the 6-yard line to tap the ball into the net and the visitors held the lead until 117 minutes when Vorkuta was awarded a penalty kick for a foul on defender Oleksandr Volchkov. Waterloo goalkeeper Marko Jelic made the save from the penalty taken by captain Oleh Ivliev, but Serhii Ursulenko took the rebound and found the net to equalize 2-2, a score which held until the final whistle. Vorkuta won on penalty kicks, a 4-3 score.
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Quarterfinals
SC Waterloo 2, Serbian White Eagles 1
Scarborough SC 4, Hamilton City 1
FC Ukraine United 0, Brantford Galaxy 0 (after extra time) FC Ukraine United won 8-7 on penalty kicks
FC Vorkuta 2, Real Mississauga 1
Semifinals
FC Vorkuta 2, SC Waterloo 2 (after extra time) Vorkuta won 4-3 on penalty kicks
FC Ukraine United vs Scarborough SC game to be played Sunday October 7 at 2pm Centennial Stadium Etobicoke.
CSL SECOND DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Semifinals
FC Vorkuta B 3, Brantford Galaxy B 1
Halton United B vs Scarborough SC B to be played on Tuesday October 9 at 9 pm Norton Field, Burlington
The CSL Second Division Championship Final will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 13 at 1 pm, to be followed by the CSL Championship Final at 3 pm.
