Stan Adamson

FC Vorkuta completed its regular season with a 2-1 victory over nearest rivals Scarborough SC Saturday, to register an unbeaten 18 games and a nine-points margin at the top of the table.  Waterloo completed its regular season with a 5-0  win over Brantford Galaxy and in one other game Real Mississauga kept its playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 defeat of Hamilton City.

Vorkuta took 1-0 lead midway through the first half at Esther Shiner Stadium, a goal by Sergei Ivliev who took a corner kick by Bogdan Borovskyi to volley the ball into the corner out of reach of Scarborough goalkeeper John Trye.  Scarborough equalized at the 33^rd minute mark, a goal by the prolific Aleksandar Stojiljkovoc, his 13th of the season to be second in the First Division scoring behind Vorkuta’s Mykola Temniuk, the scoring leader with 18. It was 1-1 at the break.

Vorkuta was on the attack for most of the second half and the winning goal came at 75 minutes from the penalty spot. Vorkuta’s Serhii Melnyk was brought down in the box and captain Liubomyr Halchuk found the net from the spot. The 2-1 Vorkuta lead held to the final whistle.

Vorkuta ended the regular season with a 15-0-3 WLT record for 48 points, while Scarborough ended with 13-2-3 for 39 points in the runner-up position.

Forward Petar Dordevic opened the scoring at the 20^th minute at Heritage Field for Waterloo, a 1-0 score at the break. Sven Arapovic made it 2-0 for the visitors at 50 minutes and Aleksandar Milovanovic increased the lead to 3-0 seven minutes later.

Dado Hadrovic increased the Waterloo lead to 4-0 at 71 minutes and forward Aleksandar Bozovic completed the scoring at 78 minutes, a 5-0 result in favour of Waterloo at the final whistle.

Waterloo completed the regular season with a 10-7-1 record for 31 points, while Brantford Galaxy has a 2-14-1 record for 7 points, with one game remaining.

Real Mississauga won a 1-0 squeaker over Hamilton City at Heritage Field to keep playoff hopes alive. Real Mississauga has a 3-12-1 record for 10 points and in ninth position in the table with two games remaining in the regular season, while Hamilton City has a 4-9-3 record for 15 points and also two games remaining.

Teams having clinched a playoff spot are:

FC Vorkuta

Scarborough SC

SC Waterloo

FC Ukraine United

Serbian White Eagles

Kingsman A

CSC Mississauga

Hamilton City or Real Mississauga will clinch the last playoff spot to complete the eight First Division teams in the CSL Championship playoffs.

Brantford Galaxy has been eliminated from the playoffs.

Quarterfinals for the CSL Championship will be played the weekend October 11 to 13, the semifinals the following weekend October 18 to 20.

The CSL Championship Final and the Second Division Championship will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 26 and the Second Division Championship will kickoff at 1 pm to be followed by the CSL Championship at 3 pm

UPCOMING GAMES IN THE FIRST DIVISION

Tuesday, Oct. 1 Centennial Stadium 8 pm FC Ukraine United vs Real Mississauga SC

Wednesday, Oct. 2 Centennial Stadium 7.30 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Kingsman A

Wednesday, Oct 2 St. Marcellinus HS Field 9 pm CSC Mississauga vs Hamilton City

 

 

 

 

CSC Mississauga clinched a playoff spot with a 6-2 victory over Kingsman A, and in an earlier game in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Friday night, FC Ukraine United defeated Serbian White Eagles 3-1.

Following a scoreless first half at Centennial Stadium, Ukraine United striker Molham Babouli found the net from close in against Serbian White Eagles to open the scoring at 62 minutes and Viktor Lee beat Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper Goran Skaric to make it 2-0 ten minutes later.

Forward Nazar Milishchuk increased the lead to 3-0 for the home side at the 86^th minute mark and at 90 minutes Serbian White Eagles reduced the lead to 3-1 when Marko Stajic found the net past Ukraine United goalkeeper Oleksandr Popravka and the 3-1 score in favour of Ukraine United held to the final whistle.

The win moves Ukraine United up to third in the table, a 9-6-2 WLT record for 29 points with one game remaining in the regular season, while Serbian White Eagles drop to fifth in the standings with an 8-5-4 record for 28 points, also with one game remaining.

CSC Mississauga earned a place in the post season CSL Championship playoffs with an easy 6-2 defeat of Kingsman A in the late game played at the Hershey Centre.

Matthaus Garcia struck twice for CSC Mississauga, Pero Manalo. Mykhaylo Berezovyy, Edgar Osorio Rios and substitute Vitalii Koliesnikov each scored singles, while Serhil Pitel and Pavlo Shulhan scored the two goals for the visitors.

CSC Mississauga has a 6-10-1 record for 19 points in the standings, while Kingsman A has a 6-8-1 record, also for 19 points.

Teams having clinched a playoff spot to date are:

FC Vorkuta

Scarborough SC

FC Ukraine United

SC Waterloo

Serbian White Eagles

Kingsman A

CSC Mississauga

Hamilton City or Real Mississauga will clinch the last playoff spot to complete the eight First Division teams in the CSL Championship playoffs. Brantford Galaxy has been eliminated from the playoffs.

Quarterfinals for the CSL Championship will be played the weekend October 11 to 13, the semifinals the following weekend October 18 to 20.

The CSL Championship Final and the Second Division Championship will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 26 and the Second Division Championship will kickoff at 1 pm to be followed by the CSL Championship at 3 pm

UPCOMING GAMES IN THE FIRST DIVISION

Saturday, Sept. 28 Esther Shiner Stadium 6 pm   FC Vorkuta vs Scarborough SC 

Saturday, Sept. 28 Heritage Field 6.30 pm Hamilton City vs Real Mississauga SC 

Saturday, Sept. 28  Heritage Field 8.30 pm Brantford Galaxy vs SC Waterloo        

Tuesday, Oct. 1 Centennial Stadium 8 pm FC Ukraine United vs Real Mississauga SC        

Wednesday, Oct. 2 Centennial Stadium 7.30 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Kingsman A     

Wednesday, Oct 2 St. Marcellinus HS 9 pm CSC Mississauga vs Hamilton City

 

While Real Mississauga is not officially out of the playoff picture, the team’s chances of clinching a spot in the post season championship games changed for the worse following the Mississauga side’s 4-1 home defeat by Hamilton City Tuesday night.

Real Mississauga must win all three of its remaining regular season matches to be involved at best in a tie-breaker determination to be one of the top eight teams. One defeat or a draw automatically eliminates Real Mississauga. Kingsman A have clinched a playoff spot and Brantford Galaxy is the first team to be eliminated as a result of Hamilton City’s 4-1 win.

Hamilton City scored twice in each half and won handily despite losing Vukasin Kovacevic when shown the red card following a second caution in the match at Esther Shiner Stadium Tuesday night. The victory improved Hamilton City to a 4-8-3 WLT record for 15 points in eighth position, while Real Mississauga are at 2-12-1 with 7 points in ninth position in the table.

Teams having clinched a playoff spot are:

FC Vorkuta

Scarborough SC

SC Waterloo

Serbian White Eagles

FC Ukraine United

Kingsman A

 The following teams still have an opportunity to secure a spot in the playoffs:

CSC Mississauga

Hamilton City

Real Mississauga

 The following team has been eliminated from the playoffs:

Brantford Galaxy.

 Quarterfinals for the CSL Championship will be played the weekend October 11 to 13, the semifinals the following weekend October 18 to 20.

The CSL Championship Final and the Second Division Championship will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 26 and the Second Division Championship will kickoff at 1 pm to be followed by the CSL Championship at 3 pm.

FC VORKUTA B WINS SECOND DIVISION 

FC Vorkuta B dominated Kingsman B 12-2 at the Ontario Soccer Centre Wednesday night and in doing so won the Second Division title to add to the First Division regular season title secured over the weekend.

UPCOMING GAMES IN THE FIRST DIVISION

Friday, Sept. 27 Centennial Stadium 7 pm  FC Ukraine United vs Serbian White Eagles

Friday, Sept. 27 Hershey Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga vs Kingsman A     

Saturday, Sept. 28 Esther Shiner Stadium 6 pm   FC Vorkuta vs Scarborough SC  

Saturday, Sept. 28 Heritage Field 6.30 pm Hamilton City vs Real Mississauga SC  

Saturday, Sept. 28  Heritage Field 8.30 pm Brantford Galaxy vs SC Waterloo         

Tuesday, Oct. 1 Centennial Stadium 8 pm FC Ukraine United vs Real Mississauga SC         

Wednesday, Oct. 2 Centennial Stadium 7.30 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Kingsman A      

Wednesday, Oct 2 St. Marcellinus HS 9 pm CSC Mississauga vs Hamilton City       

 

 

 

 

Scarborough SC secured the runner-up position with a 2-1 victory over Serbian White Eagles in the only match played in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Sunday night.

The win leaves Scarborough with one game remaining in the regular season, a visit to Esther Shiner Stadium to complete its regular season against FC Vorkuta on Saturday, September 28.

Vorkuta and Scarborough have occupied the top two positions in the First Division for most of the regular season.

Vorkuta and Scarborough will enter the CSL Championship quarterfinals with home advantage during the weekend of October 11-13 and an additional two teams – expected to be from Waterloo, Serbian White Eagles or FC Ukraine United – will also have home advantage during the post-season playoffs. With five playoff spots confirmed – Vorkuta, Scarborough, Waterloo, Serbian White Eagles and Ukraine United, the remaining three have yet to be decided.

The quarterfinals will be followed by the semifinals during the weekend of October 18-20 and the CSL Championship Final will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 26.

The CSL Second Division league title has yet to be decided to establish the top two teams gaining a bye into the playoff semifinals. The remaining four teams will play their quarterfinal matches, with the two winners and the top two teams in the standings meeting in the semifinals.

 FIRST DIVISION GAME TUESDAY        

Tuesday, Sept. 24 Esther Shiner Stadium 9 pm Real Mississauga vs Hamilton City

UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES 

Wed,, Sept. 25 Iceland Field 9 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Hamilton City B           

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs FC Vorkuta B   

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Cardinal Newman 9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs  CSC Mississauga B  

              

 

 

PICTURE: The opening goal from the penalty spot almost immediately following the evening kickoff between visiting FC Vorkuta and Real Mississauga at Huron Park in Mississauga on Saturday night, was scored by FC Vorkuta captain Liubomyr Halchuk. The goal led to the 7-1 victory  and the First Division title for Vorkuta, a fitting achievement for the now 37 year old Ukrainian-born defender with almost 200 professional appearances in Europe, more that 100 of which was for FC Lviv of the highly rated Ukrainian Premier League. Halchuk is today surely one of the most experienced defenders playing in Canadian soccer and is a big reason for the continuing success of Vorkuta in the Canadian Soccer League.

Unbeaten FC Vorkuta emphasized its season-long superiority with a 7-1 victory over Real Mississauga Saturday night and in doing so won the Canadian Soccer League First Division title. It was the 14^th regular season win for the current CSL champions, and with three draws it leaves one game to be played by Vorkuta before the post-season championship playoffs begin in October. In one other First Division match on Saturday, SC Waterloo nipped FC Ukraine United 1-0, scoring in the closing minutes of a hard-fought contest.

Vorkuta lost no time in finding the Real Mississauga net at the Huron Park ground, scoring from the penalty spot in the first minute of play following a foul in the box by Mississauga defender Vadim Gozbunov on Vorkuta’s Mykola Temniuk. Vorkuta captain Liubomyr Halchuk scored from the spot. Serhii Melnyk made it 2-0 for Vorkuta, scoring his first goal of the season for the visitors at 15 minutes, a powerful low strike which quickly found the corner of the net. Temniuk added a third minutes later, his 17^th goal of the season after taking a pass from Vadym Gostiev and at the 32^nd minute mark Volodymyr Bidlovskyy drove a perfect curling free kick over the wall to increase the lead to 4-0.Temniuk scored goal number 18 on the season from the penalty spot following a hand ball offence by Real Mississauga’s Vadim Gozbunov for a 5-0 score at 41 minutes, the score at the break.

A third penalty kick in the game resulted in Real Mississauga’s only goal, the penalty taken by Arlind Ferhati after Valerii Haidarzhi of Vorkuta drew the referee’s whistle for a foul in the box. Iaroslav Solonynko’s one touch volley off a cross by Bidlovskyy made it 6-1 and the final goal came at 65 minutes when Bidlovskyy took a pass from Sergei Ivliev to find the corner, a 7-1 result in favour of Vorkuta at the final whistle.

Vorkuta wins the First Division with a 14-0-3 WLT for 45 points with one regular season game to be played, while Real Mississauga are at 2-11-1 for 7 points in ninth position in the table and four games remaining in the regular season schedule.

Defender Vladimir Zelenbaba struck the winner at 88 minutes for SC Waterloo in a hard fought encounter against visiting FC Ukraine United at RIM Park, to lift Waterloo into third position in the standings with a 9-7-1 for 28 points. Ukraine United has an 8-6-2 record for 26 points and fifth in the table. The top four teams at the completion of the regular season have home ground advantage in the post-season playoffs.

Midfielder Maksym Rohovskyi of Ukraine United was shown the red card by referee Javier Prior for a second half send-off.

There was one game in the Second Division Saturday, CSC Mississauga B defeated FC Vorkuta B, 4-0

REMAINING FIRST DIVISION GAME THIS WEEKEND:        

Sunday, Sept. 22 Birchmount Stadium 8 pm Scarborough SC vs Serbian White Eagles

Tuesday, Sept. 24 Esther Shiner Stadium 9 pm Real Mississauga vs Hamilton City

UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES 

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Iceland Field 9 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Hamilton City B           

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs FC Vorkuta B   

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Cardinal Newman 9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs  CSC Mississauga B  

              

 

 

 

 

CSC Mississauga moved much closer to a playoff spot with a 3-0 victory over Brantford Galaxy, the one Canadian Soccer League First Division match played Friday.

With a record of 5-10-1 WLT following the win, the Mississauga side has two games remaining in the regular schedule, at home against Kingsman A on Friday, September 27, followed by an away encounter with Hamilton City.

Brantford Galaxy, with a record of 2-13-1 for 7 points following Friday’s defeat, has two games remaining, at home against SC Waterloo on September 28 and Real Mississauga on October 5.

The regular season is expected to end during the first week of October and the post season playoffs will begin with the quarterfinals the Thanksgiving weekend of October 11, 12 and 13, followed by the semis the weekend 18, 19, 20. The CSL Championship Final and Second Division Championship Final will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 26.

On completion of the First Division regular season, the top four teams will have home team advantage in the playoffs and the opening round quarterfinals will be arranged 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5.

In the Second Division, all teams are in the playoffs and the top two teams at the end of the regular season will gain a bye to the semifinals.

The position of teams tied on points at the end of the regular season will be decided using the CSL Tie-Breaking Rule 2009:  Total wins during the regular season is the first decider, and if still tied, it’s the head to head record based on points. If still tied, the best goal difference in regular season games is used and if still tied, the total goals scored in regular season games is what counts.

Playoff games will be the usual regular time plus added time at 90 minutes (as with regular season games). If the score is tied, the teams will play 15 minutes each way extra time. If still tied, penalty kicks will be taken as per FIFA guidelines, to decide the winner.

REMAINING FIRST DIVISION GAMES THIS WEEKEND:     

Saturday, Sept. 21 Huron Park 7 pm  Real Mississauga SC vs FC Vorkuta 

Saturday, Sept. 21 RIM Park 7 pm  SC Waterloo vs FC Ukraine United      

Sunday, Sept. 22 Birchmount  8 pm Scarborough SC vs Serbian White Eagles

Tuesday, Sept. 24 Esther Shiner Stadium 9 pm Real Mississauga vs Hamilton City

 UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES

Saturday, Sept. 21 St. Roberts Field 1 pm FC Vorkuta B vs CSC Mississauga B        

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Iceland Field 9 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Hamilton City B           

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs FC Vorkuta B   

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Cardinal Newman 9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs  CSC Mississauga B  

              

 

PICTURE: Aleksander Stojiljkovic of Scarborough (seen here) and Molham Babouli of FC Ukraine United each scored 4 goals in recent regular season action, a good sign the teams are in form and confident of the upcoming post season playoffs which begin weekend October 11, 12, 13.

With five teams, FC Vorkuta, Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles, FC Ukraine United and Waterloo having clinched playoff berths for the post season Canadian Soccer League Championship, the remaining five teams in the CSL First Division are completing their regular season in a late attempt to clinch the three remaining spots still open.

Brantford Galaxy will play the first of its three games remaining in the regular season on Friday and with just 7 points they need a win to stay in contention. Real Mississauga, while also having 7 points and needing wins, are in a more favourable position, have played just 13 games  with five games still outstanding.

CSC Mississauga – Galaxy’s opponents on Friday –  is also in a better position for a playoff spot, as is Kingsman A, a team that’s not playing this weekend, it is idle until September 27. Hamilton City, will continue its bid for a playoff spot in a rare midweek game against Real Mississauga on Tuesday, September 24.

Defending champions FC Vorkuta continues to be a force in both divisions of the CSL and are considered favourites for a repeat of the 2018 CSL Championship victory. Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles and FC Ukraine United and SC Waterloo are all confident after clinching early playoff berths and showing recent strong form.

Individual players in two of these teams, FC Ukraine United and Scarborough SC, each struck 4 goals in recent games and thast’s always a good sign. They are Molham Babouli, playing in his first game with Ukraine United on September 8 and Aleksander Stojiljkovic scored 4 in the 6-1 Scarborough victory over Brantford Galaxy on September 14. Stojiljkovic has some history of finding the net four times in CSL games.

UPCOMING FIRST DIVISION:

Friday, Sept.20 Hershey Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga vs Brantford Galaxy

Saturday, Sept. 21 Huron Park 7 pm  Real Mississauga SC vs FC Vorkuta

Saturday, Sept. 21 RIM Park 7 pm  SC Waterloo vs FC Ukraine United

Sunday, Sept. 22 Birchmount Stadium 8 pm Scarborough SC vs Serbian White Eagles

Tuesday, Sept. 24 Esther Shiner Stadium 9 pm Real Mississauga vs Hamilton City

UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES

Saturday, Sept. 21 St. Roberts Field 1 pm FC Vorkuta B vs CSC Mississauga B

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Iceland Field 9 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Hamilton City B

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs FC Vorkuta B

Wednesday, Sept. 25 Cardinal Newman 9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs  CSC Mississauga B

 

FC Ukraine United jumped into fourth position in the standings with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Kingsman A in the Canadian Soccer League First Division, the only game played on Sunday.

Forward Maksym Kowal opened the scoring for Ukraine United at the 4^th minute mark at Centennial Stadium and defender Ivan Kucherenko made it 2-0 for the home side ten minutes later. Kowal struck again at 37 minutes for a 3-0 score at the break.

Mulham Babouli increased the score to 4-0 at 55 minutes, his fifth goal of the season,  and Svlatoslav Dziadykevych added a 5^th goal for a 5-0 lead at 71 minutes.

Dmytro Polyuhanych found the net for Kingsman at 75 minutes, his ninth goal of the season, to reduce the score to 5-1 which held to the final whistle.

Ukraine United moved into an improved fourth is the standing as a result of the win, for a 8-5-2 WLT record for 26 points.  Ukraine United has three games remaining in the regular season against Waterloo, Serbian White Eagles and Real Mississauga.  Kingsman has a 6-8-1 record for 19 points in sixth position, with also three games remaining against CSC Mississauga, Hamilton City and Serbian White Eagles.

Ukraine United has secured a playoff spot in the CSL Championship, with Vorkuta, Scarborough, Serbian White Eagles and Waterloo. Three teams have yet to be decided.

UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES:

Wednesday, Sept. 18 12 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Brantford Galaxy B         

Wednesday, Sept. 18 9 pm Hamilton City B vs Kingsman B         

 

 

PICTURE: Despite early and relentless attacks on the  Hamilton City goal, Vorkuta was kept off  the scoresheet for most of the first half due to outstanding goalkeeping by Aleksandar Nikolic.

FC Vorkuta stretched its unbeaten streak to 16 games with a 3-1 victory over Hamilton City, SC Waterloo defeated Real Mississauga 4-0 and Scarborough SC dominated Brantford Galaxy 6-1, three games in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Saturday night.

FC Vorkuta was on the attack from the kickoff at Heritage Field, but top goalkeeping by Hamilton City’s Alexandar Nikolic kept the game scoreless until the 43^rd minute when Vorkuta midfielder Valerii Yarmosh found the net, a tap in from a low cross by Mykola Temniuk. It was 1-0 at the break.

Temniuk made it 2-0 at 49 minutes after breaking through the Hamilton defence on his way to sending a hard drive into the corner of the net. Temniuk struck again at 55 minutes after taking a pass from Bohdan Borovskyi to beat goalkeeper Nikolic to the ball, then placing it into the net for a 3-0 Vorkuta lead. Temniuk’s two goals were his 15th and 16th of the season and the Ukrainian-born striker continues to lead the CSL First Division scoring.

Hamilton City reduced the lead to 3-1 at 80 minutes, a penalty kick following a foul in the box by Vorkuta’s Oleksandr Volchkov and Ilija Bajcetic scored for Hamilton from the spot. The 3-1 Vorkuta lead held to the final whistle.

Vorkuta remains unbeaten with a 13-0-3 WLT record for 42 points at the top of the First Division, six points clear of Scarborough in second place following the east Toronto team’s 6-1 victory over Brantford Galaxy in the late game played at the Heritage Field. Scarborough has an 11-2-3 record for 36 points, while Brantford Galaxy has a 2-12-1 record for 7 points at the foot of the standings.

Aleksandar Milovanovic opened the scoring for Waterloo against Real Mississauga at RIM Park at the 17^th minute mark and midfielder Miodrag Kovacevic made it 2-0 at 41 minutes, the score at the break. It was Kovacevic’s 8^th goal of the season.

Milovanovic scored a second goal for a 3-0 score at 48 minutes and defender Milos Urta completed the scoring at 59 minutes, a 4-0 result in favour of Waterloo at the final whistle.

Waterloo has an 8-7-1 record for 25 points in fourth position in the table, while Real Mississauga is in 9^th position with a 2-10-1 record for 7 points.

FC Vorkuta,  Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles,  FC Ukraine United and SC Waterloo have clinched a position in the  post season playoffs for the CSL Championship. Three additional teams will qualify

REMAINING FIRST DIVISION GAMES DURING THE WEEKEND:    

Sunday, Sept. 15 Centennial Stadium 5 pm FC Ukraine United vs Kingsman A     

 UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES:

Wednesday, Sept. 18 12 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Brantford Galaxy B          

Wednesday, Sept. 18 9 pm Hamilton City B vs Kingsman B          

PICTURE: CSC Mississauga’s attacking midfielder, Pero Menalo, played a big part in his side’s hard earned surprise victory over third place Serbian White Eagles, a win that gives  lowly Mississauga a boost as it strives to clinch its first playoff spot in the  post-season CSL Championship. Menalo set up the opening goal for the home side and struck the winner just before the final whistle at 94 minutes.

A last minute winner by Pero Menalo gave CSC Mississauga a 3-2 victory over Serbian White Eagles in a well-played tough encounter at the Hershey Centre, the only game played in the Canadian Soccer League Friday night. Menalo was on the end of a left wing cross to put the ball over the line at the 94^th minute and it was the forward’s sixth goal of the season, which may prove to be the most important one as CSC Mississauga seeks its first playoff game to compete for the CSL Championship.

Menalo was part of the opening goal also, moving the ball to Nicola Brtan who found the net for a 1-0 CSC Mississauga lead at the 6^th minute mark.

Serbian White Eagles equalized at 34 minutes, a goal by Marko Stajic and went into the lead from the penalty spot, a goal by Maris Scepanovic to put the visitors up 2-1. CSC Mississauga rallied to tie the game 2-2 when Zdravko Puljic struck from a tight angle and at the end of an attractive game played at good pace, Menalo hit the winner.

The win improves CSC Mississauga to a 4-10-1 WLT record for 13 points in seventh position, while Serbian White Eagles are third in the table with a 8-3-4 record for 28 points.

Serbian White Eagles have already clinched a playoff spot, Friday’s winning team, CSC Mississauga, has not yet made it to the top eight. With three games remaining, (vs Brantford Galaxy, Kingsman A and Hamilton City), the Mississauga side will be attempting to pick up enough points to enter the group of eight as the regular season comes to a close.

The regular season is expected to end during the first week of October and the post season playoffs will begin with the quarterfinals the Thanksgiving weekend of October 11, 12 and 13, followed by the semis the weekend 18, 19, 20. The CSL Championship Final and Second Division Championship Final will be played Saturday, October 26 or Sunday, October 27.

On completion of the First Division regular season, the top four teams will have home team advantage in the playoffs and the opening round quarterfinals will be arranged 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5.

In the Second Division, all teams are in the playoffs and the top two teams at the end of the regular season will gain a bye to the semifinals.

The position of teams tied on points at the end of the regular season will be decided using the CSL Tie-Breaking Rule 2009:  Total wins during the regular season is the first decider, and if still tied, it’s the head to head record based on points. If still tied, the best goal difference in regular season games is used and if still tied, the total goals scored in regular season games is what counts.

Playoff games will be the usual regular time plus added time at 90 minutes (as with regular season games). If the score is tied, the teams will play 15 minutes each way extra time. If still tied, penalty kicks will be taken as per FIFA guidelines, to decide the winner.

First Division teams in bold have secured a playoff spot following the game of Friday, September 13:

               FC Vorkuta

               Scarborough SC

               Serbian White Eagles

               FC Ukraine United

               SC Waterloo 

Three additional teams from the following will make up the eight to enter the quarterfinals during the weekend October 11 – 13.

Kingsman A

CSC Mississauga

Hamilton City

Real Mississauga

Brantford Galaxy

REMAINING FIRST DIVISION GAMES DURING THE WEEKEND:     

Saturday, Sept.14 Heritage Field 6.30 pm Hamilton City vs FC Vorkuta     

Saturday, Sept. 14 RIM Park 7 pm SC Waterloo vs Real Mississauga SC    

Saturday, Sept. 14 Heritage Field 8.30 pm Brantford Galaxy vs Scarborough SC   

Sunday, Sept. 15 Centennial Stadium 5 pm FC Ukraine United vs Kingsman A      

 UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES:

Wednesday, Sept. 18 12 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Brantford Galaxy B           

Wednesday, Sept. 18 9 pm Hamilton City B vs Kingsman B           

PICTURE: A jubilant Scarborough SC in earlier times failed  in Friday night’s match to secure three points in the encounter with Serbian White Eagles, leaving a severely diminished opportunity to now overhaul league-leading FC Vorkuta on the brink of the First Division title.

Serbian White Eagles and Scarborough SC played to a 2-2 draw in the only match scheduled in the Canadian Soccer League Friday night, a result that severely diminishes any opportunity for FC Vorkuta to be caught and lose top spot and a title laid claim to for most of the current campaign while holding a runaway margin at the top of the table.

With Scarborough and Serbian White Eagles positioned as the only teams with any chance of catching the unbeaten Vorkuta, any possibility of success required one of these teams to launch a late season bid with nothing less than a victory and three points from Friday’s match that ended with a 2-2 result.

It was an even, well played encounter at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west-end with Scarborough’s Gonzalo Cebrera Celis finding the net past Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper Goran Skaric to put the visitors ahead 1-0 at 13 minutes. It was the Scarborough forward’s 8^th goal of the season.

Bozidar Tadic equalized for Serbian White Eagles at 18 minutes and it was 1-1 at the break.

Serbian Eagles went ahead 2-1 at 64 minutes, a spectacular goal by Vladimir Strizovic scored with a diving header at almost ground level coming off a low cross from Milos Scepanovic. It was Strizovic’s 10^th goal of the season.

Scarborough player-coach Zoran Rajovic, who entered the field as a substitute half-way through the second half, struck the equalizer with his fifth goal of the season at 81 minutes after collecting a rebound from a drive by Kiril Dimitrov.  Dimitrov’s shot struck the upper right corner of the upright and crossbar to come back into play.

Scarborough remains in second position in the standings with a 10-2-3 WLT record for 33 points, trailing Vorkuta by six points, each team having three games remaining in the regular season. Serbian White Eagles has a 8-2-4 record for 28 points with four games remaining.

The remaining weekend First Division matches are:

Sunday, Sept. 8  Esther Shiner Stadium 7 pm Kingsman A vs Hamilton City

 Sunday, Sept. 8 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Ukraine United vs Brantford Galaxy

UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES

Tues. Sept 10 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga B  vs Hamilton City B            

Wed. Sep 11 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs Serbian White Eagles B       

Wed. Sep 11 Cardinal Newman  9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs FC Vorkuta B     

Scarborough SC and Serbian White Eagles have not yet conceded the First Division title to FC Vorkuta, but that may change Friday night when the second and third place teams meet for the first time this season during this coming weekend. Vorkuta is idle in the top division and will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the result. A draw at Centennial is not the best outcome for either team and a defeat will be even worse during this late stage of the schedule when every point counts if there is still a chance to dislodge the still unbeaten side that bears the name of a community north of the Arctic Circle in Russia.

Waterloo, with three games remaining in the regular season schedule, like Vorkuta, is not playing this weekend. Waterloo is out of the First Division title picture, but has secured with Vorkuta, Scarborough and Serbian White Eagles its place in the post season playoffs and will be out to win the championship as it did during a 2013 banner year. That’s the year the southwestern Ontario team won both the CSL and Second Division championships.

FC Ukraine United, which won the First Division in 2018 and the Second Division in 2017 after being the First Division runner-up in its inaugural year 2016, have slumped this season with five defeats to date, and with the remaining clubs in the league table are becoming more focused on the post-season playoffs in October leading to the CSL championship. Ukraine United is at home to Brantford Galaxy, a team which still has an opportunity to be one of eight teams in the post-season playoffs.

Hamilton City, visiting Esther Shiner Stadium on Sunday for the match with Kingsman A, is in a similar position needing points to  clinch a playoff spot,

The weekend First Division matches are:

Friday, Sept. 6 Centennial Stadium 7 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Scarborough SC   

Sunday, Sept. 8  Esther Shiner Stadium 7 pm Kingsman A vs Hamilton City

Sunday, Sept. 8 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Ukraine United vs Brantford Galaxy

UCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES

Tuesday, Sept 10 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga B  vs Hamilton City B             

Wednesday, Sep 11 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs Serbian White Eagles B        

Wednesday, Sep 11 Cardinal Newman  9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs FC Vorkuta B