Toronto Croatia has won the CSL Championship four times in the past 10 years and took a big step in the direction of yet another title with a 2-1 victory over Kingston FC in the first semifinal of the CSL playoffs at the Hershey Centre Saturday night.
The win moves Toronto Croatia into the final to meet either York Region Shooters or North York Astros at Esther Shiner Stadium on October 26 – these two teams meet in the second semifinal at Maple, just north of Toronto Sunday evening.
Toronto Croatia pressed early, favoured by the strong wind in cold conditions at the Mississauga location and the home side came close to scoring in the first 10 minutes when forward Ante Zivkovic rattled the cross bar with hard drives that had Kingston goalkeeper Erwann Ofouya beaten.
Midfielder Shawn Brown did find the net to put the Toronto side into a 1-0 lead at 14 minutes, lifting the ball over Ofouya while closing in from 12 yards, and it was 1-0 at the interval.
Favoured by the wind advantage in the second half, Kingston defender Joseph Zupo equalized for the visitors, finding the net off a corner kick at 56 minutes and just when the game was looking at 30 minutes of overtime, Zivkovic struck at 89 minutes to give Toronto Croatia a 2-1 lead which they held until the final whistle.
Kingston, which won the reserve division with just one defeat in the regular season, still has a further opportunity to capture a title with a win in the Second Division semifinal against Niagara United B on Sunday, the winner going on to the Second Division championship final on October 26.
Sunday’s games:
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP- Semifinals
Sun Oct 19 St. Joan of Arc 6 pm York Region Shooters vs North York Astros
CSL SECOND DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP – Semifinals
Sun Oct 19 RIM Park 1 pm SC Waterloo B vs Milton SC
Sun Oct 19 Queen’s West Field 5:30 pm Kingston FC B vs Niagara United B