Stan Adamson

Serbian White Eagles and FC Vorkuta both registered victories and both teams remain unbeaten  following weekend games now well into the second half of the  Canadian Soccer League First Division season. York Region Shooters also kept pace in their bid for the title with a 7-1 win over Milton and SC Waterloo gained a 3-0 home win over Royal Toronto FC

Following a scoreless first half at Esther Shiner Stadium Friday night, the visiting Serbian White Eagles took the lead at the 51 minute mark when Miroslav Jovanovic found the net past Scarborough goalkeeper Milos Vkurkovic. But the lead was short-lived for just four minutes when Scarborough forward Stefan Stojiljkovic struck an equalizer, beating Serbian Eagles goalkeeper Goran Skaric.

Branislav Vukomanovic scored the winner for the visitors with a penalty penalty  at 63 minutes after Vukomanovic was brought down in the box. Referee Joshua Jaramillo quickly pointed to the spot and it was a 2-1 score at the final whistle.

Serbian White Eagles, the current CSL champions, continue to hold top position with 21 points from nine games in the CSL First Division, a one-point lead over FC Vorkuta with 20 points from eight games and York Region Shooters with 20 points from 10 games.

Sergii Ivliev  scored twice to lead FC Vorkuta to a 4-0 win over Brantford Galaxy in Sunday’s game at Birchmount Stadium, with Yaroslav Svorak and Denys Diachenko scoring the other two.

York Region Shooters had an easy time against Milton SC at the Milton Community Park Sunday, coming away with a 7-1 romp including a hat-trick by forward Alton Ellis. Other York Region goals were scored by Evan Butler, Kevin Bryan and two goals by Dorian Bothelo, while the lone Milton goal came in the second half from Danny Jirta.

In the Sunday night late game SC Waterloo defeated Royal Toronto 3-0 at RIM Park on goals by Elia Basicic at 70 minutes, John Wojcik at 83 minutes and Adis Hasecic at 90 minutes.

There were three games in the CSL Second Division, all on Saturday, Ukraine United FC B defeating Brantford Galaxy B 6-1, Vorkuta FC B outscored Royal Toronto FC B 7-3 and SC Waterloo B beat Burlington SC B 2-1.

 

 

First half goals by Oleh Kerchu and Iaroslav Solonynko assured FC Vorkuta of maintaining its unbeaten streak with a 2-1 victory over SC Waterloo, York Region Shooters defeated Brantford Galaxy, also by a 2-1 score and Royal Toronto struck twice late in the game to tie Milton SC 4-4, three games in the Canadian Soccer League First Division over the weekend.

FC Vorkuta led by a 2-0 score at halftime in the Saturday game at Esther Shiner Stadium and Jure Glavina struck for Waterloo in the second half for the 2-1 result.

FC Vorkuta and York Region Shooters are tied each with 17 points in the First Division standings, one point behind first place Serbian White Eagles who remain at 18 points while idle over the weekend.

Evan Butler scored a late winner at 85 minutes for York Region in the 2-1 away win over the Galaxy at Lions Park in Brantford, also played on Saturday.

Luka Grgic opened the scoring for Royal Toronto just one minute after the kickoff and Mateo Beslic made it 2-0 five minutes later in the game with Milton SC at The Soccer Center at Vaughan Sunday night.

Ivan Juric struck for Milton at 9 minutes and Adnan Smajic tied the game 2-2 just before the interval.

James Natham gave Milton a 3-2 lead at 50 minutes and Scott Damion Tristan made it 4-2 at 65 minutes.

Royal Toronto’s Dario Brezak reduced the lead to 4-3 at 75 minutes and Dymtro Chyzhevsky struck for Milton at the 80 minute mark for a 4-4 tie.

There were four games in the CSL Second Division over the weekend, Serbian White Eagles B controlled Royal Toronto B 7-0, but Serbian White Eagles B went down 3-0 in their second game over the weekend, losing 3-0 to Brantford Galaxy B on Saturday.

FC Vorkuta B defeated SC Waterloo B 3-0 and in the late game Sunday night Ukraine United B played to a scoreless tie with Burlington SC B.

 

 

Undefeated Serbian White Eagles jumped to a three-point lead in the First Division standings following a late scoring 2-0 victory over Brantford Galaxy Friday night to kickoff a busy weekend in the Canadian Soccer League. SC Scarborough won by a 2-0 margin over Royal Toronto over the weekend, while York Region Shooters were held to a 2-2 tie at home by SC Waterloo.

Dusan Kovacevic at 81 minutes and  Goran Svonja at 86 minutes were the scorers for a fourth consecutive win for Serbian White Eagles in the game with the Brantford Galaxy at Centennial Stadium at Etobicoke. There was one red, which means Djordje Jocic of Serbian White Eagles will miss their next game at least after being ejected by referee in the dying minutes of the game.

In a game at Birchmount Stadium, Aleksander Stojiljkovic gave Scarborough an early lead against Royal Toronto, finding the net at the 4 minute mark for a 1-0 score at the break and Krum Bigishkov made it 2-0 at 65 minutes, the final score.

Stojiljkovic was shown the red card by referee at the 87th minute mark.

Midfielder Evan Beutler struck for York Region Shooters at 23 minutes in the game against SC Waterloo played at the St. Joan of Arc Stadium, Maple, and midfielder Jure Glavina tied the game at 44 minutes for the visiting SC Waterloo side. It was 1-1 at halftime.

Defender Odain Omaro Simpson of York Region Shooters was shown the red card by referee at 70 minutes for Serious Foul Play and one minute later Glavina scored a second goal to put  Waterloo into a 2-1 lead with a free kick from 40 yards.

York Region lost a second player at 76 minutes when forward Richard Edwards was ejected by referee, reportedly for dissent, and at 82 minutes York Region tied the game, a second goal by Evan Beutler – 2-2 at the final whistle.

There were four games in the CSL Second Division over the weekend when on Saturday FC Ukraine United B destroyed Royal Toronto B 12-2 and Burlington B defeated Branford Galaxy B 2-1. Taras Hromiak (5) and Pavlo Lukianets (4) accounted for nine of the Ukraine United goals.

This was followed by another Goalfest on Sunday when Vorkuta B demolished Serbian White Eagles B 11-1 and on the same day SC Waterloo B scored a 3-1 victory over London City B.

There will be a rare midweek game in the CSL First Division when Milton SC are at home in the Milton Community Park this coming Wednesday, July 12 at 9 pm for a game against Scarborough SC.

FC Vorkuta and Serbian White Eagles scored narrow victories over the weekend to remain unbeaten at the top of the CSL First Division, while York Region Shooters kept pace with a 3-0 defeat of Royal Toronto FC and Brantford Galaxy defeated SC Waterloo 4-0.

A goal by forward Sergii Lvliev at 13 minutes was all that was needed for Vorkuta to come away with an away victory and three points in the game against Scarborough SC Saturday. The former FC Ukraine United striker lifted the ball from 40 yards over the advancing Milos Djurkovic in the Scarborough goal and the 1-0 lead held until the final whistle.

Vorkuta was reduced to 10 men at the 85 minute mark when Oleksandr Volchkov  was ejected after being shown a second yellow card.

Serbian White Eagles held a two-goal lead at 14 minutes of the first half in the game with Milton at Milton Community Park Sunday, both scored by forward Vukasin Lukic. Milton’s Leandro Aguilar reduced the lead to 2-1 at 21 minutes and Lucky Maghori tied the game for the home side, scoring on the counter attack at the 26 minute mark.

Djordje Jocic put Serbian White Eagles into a 3-2 lead at 30 minutes and Miroslav Jovanovic made it 4-2 for the visitors just before the interval. Maghori struck a second goal for Milton at 51 minutes for a 4-3 score, the result at the final whistle.

Theofanis Sotiris scored twice for York Region Shooters in the Vaughan team’s 3-0 victory over Royal Toronto, also on Sunday, finding the net just before halftime for a 1-0 lead at the break. The second goal by Sotiris came at 50 minutes before Abdulumumini made it 3-0 at the 80 minute mark.

The visiting Brantford Galaxy were in control most of the game against SC Waterloo at RIM Park in Waterloo Sunday, goals coming from Maksim Boksic, Nemaja Simeunovic, Stefan Vukovic and Bojan Samardzija.

There was one CSL Second Division game played over the weekend, a 2-1 victory for Burlington SC B over London City B Friday night.

 

 

There were three games in the CSL First Division over the weekend when Vorkuta FC and Serbian White Eagles scored important wins to take first and second position respectively in the standings.  Vorkuta defeated York Region Shooters, 2-1, while Serbian White Eagles came back from an early 1-0 setback to score three goals, ending with a 3-1 victory over Royal Toronto FC, both games played Friday. On Saturday, Brantford Galaxy enjoyed a 4-1 home victory over Milton at the Kiwanis ground in Brantford.

Dario Brezak scored with a flying header from close in at 11 minutes for Royal Toronto in the game against Serbian White Eagles at Centennial Stadium, the ball finding the net inside the right post out of reach of Serbian Eagles goalkeeper Goran Skaric. The 1-0 lead held up until 43 minutes when the home side made it 1-1 with a goal by Goran Svonja. The play started from a corner kick by the ever prominent Djordje Jocic that was cleared by the Royal defence to Filip Velasevic of Serbian Eagles. Velasevic drove the ball from 22 yards and it was diverted by Svonja into the net.

Luka Bojic put Serbian Eagles into a 2-1 lead with a goal at 74 minutes, taking a pass from newcomer Dusan Kovacevic, recently acquired from McMaster University. Kovacevic entered the game as a substitute 10 minutes earlier and was playing his first game for the home side.

Kovacevic made it 3-1 for Serbian White Eagles with a near solo effort when he beat several players at 77 minutes. It was 3-1  the final whistle.

Midfielder Camaal Reid opened the scoring for the home side York Region Shooters against Vorkuta at the Joan of Arc Stadium in Maple, beating visiting goalkeeper Ruslan Zarubin at the 25 minute mark and this was followed up five minutes later with a tying goal by Vorkuta defender Volodymyr Rudyi when he found the net past York Region keeper Adam Majer. It was 1-1 at the break. Vorkuta forward Kristijan Kezic struck the winning goal at 84 minutes for a 2-1 Vorkuta victory.

Brantford Galaxy took a 3-0 halftime lead in the games against Milton SC at the Kiwanis ground in Brantford on goals by Maksim Bosic at 17 minutes, midfielder Dragan Milovic at 35 minutes and Miroslav Cabrilo at the 41 minute mark.

Striker Stefan Vukovic increased the Galaxy lead to 4-0 at 75 minutes before Harris Fazlagic found the net for Milton three minutes later, beating Stefan Avramovic in the Galaxy goal for a 4-1 final score.

There were three games in the CSL Second Division over the weekend with Serbian White Eagles B bouncing back after being crushed 12-0 by  FC Ukraine United B on June 18 to defeat SC Waterloo B 6-3 , Royal Toronto FC B defeated Brantford Galaxy B 5-2, both games on Saturday, while on Sunday,  it was Burlington SC B 2, Vorkuta B 1 at the St. Robert ground in Thornhill.

York Region Shooters are on top of the First Division with a 2-0 defeat of SC Waterloo at RIM Park, Waterloo on goals by Bryan Kevin and Darren Chambers,  FC Vorkuta defeated Royal Toronto 5-1 at Esther Shiner Stadium on 4 goals by Sergii Ivliev goals coming at 10, 13, 16 and 82 minute mark and a single by Vadym Gostiev at the 86 minute mark, Royal Toronto only goal was scored by Jerry Gbodume at the 81 minute mark, Serbian White Eagles also scored a decisive away win, a 6-1 result over Brantford Galaxy at the Kiwanis Field in Brantford goal scorers where Djordjije Jocic with two singles by Filip Velasevic, Zoran Pesic and two goals by Miroslav Jovanovic, to wrap-up games played in the Canadian Soccer League over the weekend.

Vorkuta, Serbian White Eagles and York Region Shooters are the only unbeaten First Division teams, while the Shooters are the only team yet to concede a goal since the season kickoff May 26.

There was one other game scheduled in the CSL First Division over the weekend, the Milton SC vs. Scarborough SC encounter was called off at the Milton Community Park after several Scarborough players were held up due to an incident in traffic en route the game. The game will be rescheduled.

There were two high scoring games in the CSL Second Division when Burlington SC B dominated Royal Toronto FC 9-0 and FC Ukraine B demolished Serbian White Eagles B, 12-0. Amardo Oakley struck four of the nine goals for Burlington.

Two additional games in the CSL Second Division, SC Waterloo B vs Brantford Galaxy B scheduled for Saturday and Vorkuta B vs London City B to be played Sunday, were both postponed.

Midfielder Djordjije Jocic opened the scoring to give Serbian White Eagles a 1-0  lead at 75 minutes in the weekend’s opening game in the CSL First Division played at Centennial Stadium at Etobicoke on Friday night, but Iourii Stepaniuk tied the game 1-1 at 93 minutes for Vorkuta. The goal came following a free kick by the visitors and miscue by the Serbian Eagles’ defense that allowed Stepaniuk to find the net past Serbian Eagles’ goalkeeper  Goran Skaric.

SC Scarborough traveled to the Kiwanis Field in Brantford for the first of two First Division games played Sunday and the Toronto team came away with a 5-2 victory over Brantford Galaxy, while in the late game at Centennial Stadium Royal Toronto were held to a 2-2 draw by  visiting SC Waterloo. Vladimir Zelenbaba and Drazen Vukovic struck first half goals for Waterloo, while Chris Simm scored twice in the second half to salvage a 2-2 draw for the home side.

There is one game scheduled for Monday night when York Region Shooters host Milton SC at the St. Joan of Arc Stadium at Maple, an 8.30 pm start.

There were four CSL Second Division games over the weekend, with Serbian White Eagles B winning a 7-6 squeaker over London City B at the Hellenic Centre in London, FC Vorkuta B also gained an away win with a 4-1 defeat of Royal Toronto B at the Lakeshore Sports Centre in Toronto, Burlington SC B dumped SC Waterloo B 7-2 and FC Ukraine United B dominated Brantford Galaxy B 10-0 at Centennial Stadium on Sunday.

Expansion team FC Vorkuta surprised Milton SC by a 7-0 score at Esther Shiner Stadium Saturday, one of three games played in the opening weekend of a five-month long Canadian Soccer League First Division season.

On Friday night at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, Serbian White Eagles were held to a 1-1 tie at home by SC Waterloo, and on Saturday SC Scarborough were held to a scoreless tie at home by York Region Shooters, a game played at Birchmount Stadium.

A fourth game scheduled in the CSL First Division for the opening weekend, Royal Toronto FC vs Brantford Galaxy, was postponed on Sunday due to ground conditions at Varsity Stadium. The game will be played Monday night at 8 pm.

Vorkuta midfielder and captain Oleh Kerchu struck twice in his team’s dominance, opening the scoring after nine minutes, and scoring the seventh goal at 89 minutes. Defender Danylo Lazar found the Milton net at 16 minutes, midfielder Oleh Shutov scored twice, at 36 and 39 minutes, and it was 4-0 at the break.

Defender Vadym Gostiev made it 5-0 at 52 minutes and midfielder Yaroslav Svorak scored at 82 minutes before Kerchu’s goal to end the scoring seven minutes later.

There were four games to open the CSL Second Division season over the weekend. SC Waterloo B defeated Royals Toronto FC B 6-1, Brantford Galaxy B won 4-1 over London City B, FC Ukraine United B opened its season with a 3-1 defeat of FC Vorkuta B and Burlington SC B sored a 4-0 victory over Serbian White Eagles B to close the CSL opening weekend on Sunday night.

Two expansion teams, FC Vorkuta and Royal Toronto FC, will give a new-look to the Canadian Soccer League 2017 kickoff set for the weekend May 26 -28.

Eight teams will form a strong CSL First Division for a five-month long regular season campaign, to be followed by playoffs leading to the Givova Championship Cup Final early October.

Vorkuta FC, formed in Toronto in 2008, derives its name from a Russian town situated just north of the Arctic Circle.  The local group adopted the name as a dedication to that Russian community and its troubled past, and to represent the Russian speaking community in Canada.

Vorkuta FC played in the early days in a downtown Toronto senior amateur league before moving to the northern outskirts of Thornhill and Richmond Hill, winning league title wins along the way. Players being signed for the CSL team are from the broader Eastern Europe and Canada.

Samad Kadirov has been an ever present force in the development of the Vorkuta team both on and off the field, while lawyer Igor Demitchev has been a leading sponsor to help move the club into the CSL, Canada’s only professional soccer league.

Royal Toronto FC has a strong academy background with a reputation for skills training and emphasizing a lifestyle for young players aiming to make an impression at higher levels. It’s a ‘total preparation’ attitude at Royal Toronto –  being ready when the opportunity comes along at the professional level in Canada and elsewhere.

Dario Brezak and Luka Majstorovic are the principals in a club that’s now reached a stage of adding a professional dimension to the organization, ready to step into the tough Canadian Soccer League. Each has experience with several CSL clubs, including Toronto Croatia, Milton and Toronto Atomic

“We want our young academy players to be in a position of taking advantage of an opportunity that may come their way from Europe and other parts of the world and playing in the CSL is going to provide that necessary experience as they interface and eventually play with our professionals,” explained Brezak.

Returning teams in the CSL First Division from last season are Brantford Galaxy, Milton SC, Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles, York Region Shooters, while SC Waterloo is back after using 2016 to reorganize, and new teams FC Vorkuta and Royal Toronto FC rounding out the eight.

The CSL Second Division, considered a developmental loop for players moving into professional ranks, has in its 2017 league formation Brantford Galaxy B, Burlington SC, London City, Royal Toronto FC B, Serbian White Eagles B, Ukraine United, FC Vorkuta B and SC Waterloo B.

Serbian White Eagles are the current CSL title holders following their championship victory over Hamilton City at Birchmount Stadium last October, while the York Region Shooters reserve squad defeated Toronto Atomic reserves to capture the Second Division championship.

 

While Serbian White Eagles would eventually win the CSL title, there was little to suggest in the opening game of the 2016 season on May 28 when losing 3-0 to Scarborough at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough that the longstanding team going back to the 70s in the forerunner National Soccer League would eventually be crowned champions on the same ground six months later.

Two home defeats followed, a 1-0 home loss to Brantford Galaxy on June 3 and the same result at home one week later against York Region Shooters looked bleak for the team that won the CSL First Division just one year earlier, won the championship in 2008 and was the finalist a year later.

But 2016 was unpredictable year in the CSL with two unlikely finalists in the championship game at the Birchmount location on October 28. Serbian Eagles ended their regular season fourth of eight teams in the CSL First Division, and Hamilton City a lower sixth spot after struggling for most of their regular season campaign.

An unpredictable end to the season came on other fronts, the most notable being in the First Division goalscoring race won by unknown striker Sergii Ivliev of expansion team FC Ukraine United who found the net 15 times in the regular season to finish on top and ahead of more seasoned CSL players Richard West of York Region Shooters with 13, Milton’s Adrian Smajic with 12 and Adis Hasecic of Scarborough who scored 11. West was the CSL’s top scorer in 2015. The scoring ability of Ivliev became apparent during Ukraine United’s first CSL victory against Hamilton City on June 12 when the Canadian-born forward struck twice.

While York Region Shooters captured the First Division title with no surprise following their outstanding unbeaten performance in 2014 and third place finish in 2015, the winning margin of 18 points in front of second place FC Ukraine United was a startling, unexpected wide gap not previously experienced in the professional CSL. The Shooters’ defensive record of allowing just 10 goals in 21 games resulting in only two defeats was responsible for creating the rare margin of victory.

Despite their season-long remarkable performance, York Region failed to reach the CSL championship final in 2016, but were Second Division champions when their reserve squad survived a penalty in extra time to score a 2-1 overtime victory over Toronto Atomic reserves on October 23.