SHOOTERS, SERBIAN EAGLES A STEP AHEAD

York Region Shooters and Serbian White Eagles got the jump on their opposition with narrow victories in the first leg of quarterfinal playoff games Sunday, heading for the CSL Championship at the end of October.

 

The Shooters gained the advantage in the first of a two-game quarterfinals series with a 1-0 victory over CSL First Division winners SC Toronto at the St. Joan of Arc ground in Maple, just north of Toronto, while Serbian White Eagles gained a 2-0 victory over Brampton Lions a few hours later at Victoria Park in Brampton.

 

Dino Gardener was the goalscorer for the home side York Region Shooters, he struck just 4 minutes into the game with a drive from just five yards out and that goal held up throughout an encounter which could have gone either way.

 

The two teams will meet in the second leg on Friday, October 14 at Lamport Stadium, that’s an 8 pm kickoff.

 

An early send-off made things a little easier for Serbian White Eagles in the first leg game against Brampton City Utd at Victoria Park in Brampton when Brampton goalkeeper Roy Blanche was shown the red card at 33 minutes by referee Yusri Rudolf.

 

Referee Rudolf judged that Blanche fouled in preventing ‘an obvious goalscoring opportunity’,  which is an immediate send off and which reduced the home side to 10 men.

 

Serbian White Eagles went ahead at 41 minutes when Brampton substitute goalkeeper Kodzo Awitor’s attempted clearance was picked up by Serbian Eagles’ forward Alex Braletic who scored from 20 yards.

 

Following a 1-0 lead at the interval and a close encounter during the second half, Serbian Eagles’ Milos Scepanovic found the net with a drive from 18 yards at the 89th minute that entered the net to the left of Awitor, a 2-0 lead for the visitors and which was the final score.

 

Serbian White Eagles will host Brampton in the second leg at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 15 at 8 pm.

 

The first leg results and upcoming second leg games are:

 

CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs

Quarterfinal – First leg

 

Toronto Croatia 4, Mississauga Eagles FC 0

Montreal Impact Academy 1, Capital City FC 1

York Region Shooters 1, SC Toronto 0

 Serbian White Eagles 2, Brampton City Utd. 0

 

Second leg games:

 

Friday, October 14, Lamport Stadium 8 pm SC Toronto vs. York Region Shooters

Saturday, October 15, Centannial Stadium, 8 pm Serbian White Eagles vs. Brampton City Utd

Sunday, October 16, Terry Fox Stadium 3 pm Capital City FC vs. Montreal Impact Academy

Sunday, October 16, Centennial Stadium 7 pm Toronto Croatia vs Mississauga Eagles FC

 

In one First Division game played Sunday, London City defeated TFC Academy 2-1 to close their season on a winning note.

 

London City forward Mike Marcoccia gave his side one-up at the Polish Club in London, the goal coming in the first minute of play for a 1-0 home lead at half-time.

 

Midfielder Gent Miftari increased the lead to 2-0 at 80 minutes, he found the net past TFC goalkeeper Quillan Roberts, but the visitors came back to score at 86 minutes when striker Stefan Vukovic’s attempt appeared to be saved by London’keeper Fabian Knezevic, until the ball spun over the line.

 

The goal was number 18 for the season for Vukovic, who has been outstanding with the academy side since his transfer from Serbian White Eagles.

 

The win gives London City 21 points to complete the season, the best performance in five years for a team with a longstanding reputation for giving young players in southwestern Ontario an opportunity to experience first entry professional soccer. London City also fielded a team in the CSL Second Division.

 

TFC Academy has one game remaining in their 2011 campaign, a game with the Astros at Esther Shiner Stadium on October 17.