PICTURE – Sam Medeiros – ‘ We are here to create champions’…
The expansion teams fared well in the three-game header at Centennial Stadium Sunday when York Region Shooters defeated BGHC 1, 2-0 and Toronto Falcons resisted a late rally to defeat Continentals FC, 3-2. In the third match Serbian White Eagles struck twice in the final few minutes to overcome a 2-0 deficit for a 2-2 draw with Scarborough at the final whistle.
Scarborough pressed early in the opening match and the east Toronto side had the best opportunity to score when forward Gonzalo Matias Cabrera Celis drove past the left post from 10 yards at 40 minutes in a scoreless first half.
Scarborough midfielder Neven Radakovic scored with a volley from outside the box for a 1-0 lead at 46 minutes and forward Moussa Limane made it 2-0 six minute later, the score at the break. Serbian White Eagles pressed in the second half to reduce the lead and after having a penalty kick saved by Scarborough goalkeeper Bismark Koff Oppong following a foul in the box at 83 minutes, the away team eventually scored at 89 minutes with a deflection into the net by defender Adrian Cann and Dusan Kovacevic struck from outside the box for the equalizer at the 90th minute mark, a 2-2 draw.
York Region Shooters jumped into a 2-0 lead by midfielder Osman Hussein at 27 minutes and forward Gianpiero Sansonetti at 31 minutes against the BGHC 1 combined team from Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City to win its second game for an unbeaten three games which includes a 3-3 draw that opened the new season on May 29. With the two goal lead at the interval, the Shooters appeared to have an edge in the second half and the match ended 2-0 at the final whistle.
York Region Shooters’ head coach, the highly regarded Sam Medeiros who is considered one of the top technical members of the Canadian soccer community, was pleased with the result and the team’s impressive start to the new season. “While we don’t expect to win the CSL championship in this first year, we are here to create champions and that is what we intend to do,” he said following the game.
Midfielder Maksym Rohovskyi headed in to put Toronto Falcons into the lead against Continentals FC at the 40th minute, a 1-0 score at half-time, and Rinat Kasymgereev increased the lead to 2-0 at the 47th minute mark. The Falcons scored a third goal eight minutes later when Denys Diachenko took a cross to beat Continentals goalkeeper Andrei Ciurchin at 55 minutes.
Midfielder Sergii Ivliev reduced the lead for Continentals from the penalty spot following a foul in the box at 83 minutes and defender Mykyta Tkachev struck at 90 minutes for a 3-2 score in favour of Toronto Falcons at the final whistle.
Stan Adamson