Stan Adamson

Toronto Croatia took control of the away clash with Milton SC to come away from St Jean Vanier Stadium with a 4-0 victory Friday night.

Midfielder Ivan Cutura opened the scoring at 21 minutes for Toronto Croatia and this was followed by the first of two goals in the game by forward Darren Chambers who found the net past Milton goalkeeper Zoran Pusica at 41 minutes, a 2-0 score at the break.

Josip Keran increased the Toronto Croatia lead to 3-0, scoring from the penalty spot at 53 minutes for the defender’s 10 goal of the season.

Chambers scored his second goal of the game and 11th of the season for a 4-0 Toronto Croatia lead at 68 minutes and the score held up to the final whistle.

Toronto Croatia have secured the runner-up spot in the First Division, they now have a 14-4-3 WLT record for 45 points and will complete the regular season on Sunday night at home against London City. They will be at home against the seventh place finisher in the standings in the opening round quarter-finals of the CSL Championship playoffs.

Milton SC are still bidding for one of the three playoff spots available and will complete their regular season schedule needing all three points from their last game against Brantford Galaxy, also Sunday night. Milton are presently tenth in the standings with a 7-11-3 record for 24 points.

The CSL First Division wraps up Sunday night and the CSL Championship playoffs will kick off with quarter-final games on Saturday, October 10.

Five First Division teams having secured playoff spots and they are Serbian White Eagles, Toronto Croatia, SC Waterloo, York Region Shooters and Toronto Atomic FC. The three remaining spots will be taken by three of the following teams: London City, Scarborough SC, Burlington SC, Milton SC and Brantford Galaxy.

The four top teams in each division have home advantage in the quarter finals and the home advantage carries through to the semifinals. By following the position in the regular season final standing, the quarterfinal games are arranged 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5.

The CSL Championship Finals take place at Warrior Field, Waterloo, on Sunday, October 25.

 

The CSL office is relocating to a new address, with a new telephone number and new fax number, while our Toll Free number for long distance calling remains the same.

Effective this weekend the CSL address, which is located north off Dundas St. just east of Hwy 403 in Mississauga, is:

 

 

Canadian Soccer League

3150 Ridgeway Drive

Unit#44

Mississauga, ON

L5L 5R5

Main telephone number: 905 607-0600

Toll Free: 1-888-216-9913

Fax: 905 607-0602

 

Serbian White Eagles B clinched the final playoff berth in the Second Division with a 3-1 victory over Toronto Croatia B at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke Thursday.

The Mississauga-based side join reserve teams SC Waterloo B, York Region Shooters B, Milton SC B, Burlington SC B, Brantford Galaxy B, Toronto Atomic FC B, and Niagara United B.

SC Waterloo B has already won the Second Division.

Thursday’s night’s game was an even contest in the first half with midfielder Hrvoje Jerkovic opening the scoring for Toronto Croatia reserves with a goal at 27 minutes. Milos Ljubenovic equalized for Serbian White Eagles reserves with a goal from the penalty spot at 43 minutes and Ljubenovic found the net a second time to make it 2-1 for the home side at the 60^th minute mark.

Serbian White Eagles took control as the second half progressed and Miroslav Jovanovic increased the lead to 3-1 at 71 minutes, the score at the final whistle.

The playoffs will get underway with the four quarterfinal games in both the First Division and the Second Division during the Thanksgiving Day weekend, October 9 – 12 and the quarterfinals will be followed by the semifinals the weekend October 16 -18. The finals will be played at Warrior Field, Waterloo – hosted by SC Waterloo – on Sunday, October 25.

Five First Division teams having secured playoff spots and they are Serbian White Eagles, Toronto Croatia, SC Waterloo, York Region Shooters and Toronto Atomic FC. The three remaining spots will be taken by three of the following teams: London City, Scarborough SC, Burlington SC, Milton SC and Brantford Galaxy.

The four top teams in each division have home advantage in the quarter finals and the home advantage carries through to the semifinals. By following the position in the regular season final standing, the quarterfinal games are arranged 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5.

For playoff matches that are tied at the end of regular time, there will be two periods of 15 minutes extra time and if still tied, the game will be decided by penalty kicks in keeping with FIFA rules.

York Region Shooters’ striker Richard West continued his scoring spree of Friday night to find the net five times in a 7-2 victory over London City on Sunday, resulting in a stunning 10-goal haul in just three days.

In one other game in the CSL First Division Sunday, Burlington SC defeated SC Waterloo 2-1.

West opened the scoring for York Region with a goal just four minutes into the match against London City at the Hellenic Centre in London and scored a second for a 2-0 lead at 24 minutes.

Aldin Kukic scored from the penalty spot for London City for a 2-1 score at 28 minutes, West completed his hat-trick four minutes later, a 3-1 lead for the visitors, and midfielder Shezan Singh increased the lead to 4-1 for York Region at 38 minutes.

West scored his fourth goal at 39 minutes for a 5-1 lead, then scored his fifth goal just before the interval for a 6-1 score.

The five-goal first half outburst repeated the five goals scored by West in the 9-1 domination of Niagara United on Friday night. The 30 year-old prolific striker jumps into the lead in the CSL First Division goalscoring race with 23 to his credit, while Zdenko Jurcevic of Brantford Galaxy drops to second position with 19.

Aleksander Stojanovski increased the York Region lead to 7-1 at 56 minutes and London’s Edin Kozika scored at 65 minutes to make it 7-2.

Referee Gus Espinal ejected a player from each side following an altercation at 68 minutes, the red card shown to forward Brandon Barbosa of London City and to goalscorer Richard West of York Region Shooters. The game ended 7-2 in favour of York Region.

York Region Shooters move up to third position in the First Division with a 12-8-1 WLT record for 37 points, while London City are at 8-11-2 for 26 points in sixth position.

Following a scoreless first half, SC Waterloo took the lead on a goal by Adis Hasecic who beat Burlington goalkeeper Andrew Stringer for a 1-0 score at 57 minutes. It was Hasecic’s 16 goal of the season.

Aaron Willichuck tied the game 1-1 for Burlington at 62 minutes and Silent Nyamushanya collected a cross from the left wing to strike the winner for Burlington at the 85 minute mark, a 2-1 score that held until the final whistle.

Burlington improve to 7-11-3 for 24 points and tied for ninth position in the table with Milton and Brantford Galaxy, while SC Waterloo now have an 11-7-3 record for 36 points, dropping to fourth spot in the standings.

The Brampton City Utd vs Niagara United First Division game scheduled for Sunday was cancelled.

There was one game played in the Second Division, with Burlington SC B defeating SC Waterloo B, 1-0 and the Brampton City Utd B vs. Niagara United B was also cancelled.

Toronto Croatia strengthened their bid for the runner-up spot in the standings with a 2-1 victory over Toronto Atomic FC, the only First Division game played in the Canadian Soccer League Saturday night.

Toronto Croatia forward Pero Menalo opened the scoring at 42 minutes at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, he found the net past Atomic goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk.

Midfielder Mykhailo Basarab equalized for Toronto Atomic for a 1-1 score at the 67^th minute after collecting a rebound from a save by Toronto Croatia goalkeeper Faris Efendic off a free kick. It was Basarab’s fourth goal of the season.

Defender Sven Arapovic struck the winner for Toronto Croatia at 73 minutes, a 2-1 score that held until the final whistle. The goal was number 4 this season for Arapovic.

The win gives Toronto Croatia an improved 13-4-3 for 42 points and second position to the First Division winner Serbian White Eagles in the standings, while Toronto Atomic are at 10-9-2 for 32 points and fifth in the standings.

There were two games in the Second Division Saturday, York Region Shooters B defeating Toronto Atomic FC B, 3-0, while Serbian White Eagles B played to a 1-1 draw with Milton SC B.

The following games previously scheduled for Sunday have been cancelled:

Sunday, Sept. 27 Victoria Park 3 pm Brampton City Utd B vs Niagara United B

Sunday, Sept. 27 Victoria Park 5 pm Brampton City Utd vs Niagara United

 

 

Serbian White Eagles defeated Milton SC 2-0 and in doing so won the CSL First Division title, York Region Shooters demolished Niagara United 9-1, which included five goals by Richard West, and Scarborough SC played to a 1-1 draw with visiting Brantford Galaxy, three games in the CSL Friday night.

Serbian White Eagles’ forward Sahjah Reid opened the scoring with a goal after seven minutes at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, he took a long pass from Milos Scepanovic to drive the ball from 16 yards into the bottom corner of the net. It was goal number 16 on the season for Reid.

Scepanovic increased the lead to 2-0 at 39 minutes following a play started by Marko Krasic who crossed to Branislav Vukomanovic. A pass to Scepanovic close in and the Belgrade-born forward lobbed the ball across the goalmouth over Milton goalkeeper Zoran Pusica and inside the far post. It was the eighth goal of the season for Scepanovic and the game ended 2-0.

Serbian White Eagles have won the CSL First Division as a result of the victory. With just one game remaining, the Mississauga-based club has a 15-3-4 WLT record for 49 points and will complete the regular season with a game at Centennial Stadium on October 3 against Toronto Atomic FC.

Milton SC now has a 7-10-3 record for 24 points and is ninth in the standings.

“We’ve had a great season with a great team and look forward to the playoffs and will do whatever we can to be at Waterloo for the championship, “ said Dragan Bakoc, president of Serbian White Eagles following the win against Milton.

York Region Shooters’ striker Richard West did most of the damage with five goals in the 9-1 victory over Niagara United at the Kalar Sports Park at Niagara Falls. West scored at 18, 42, 59, 62 and 66 minutes to bring his tally for the season to 18, now just one short of scoring leader Zdenko Jurcevic with 19.

Aleksander Stojanovski, defender Odain Simpson, Steven McDougall and Adrian Pena all scored singles.

Derek Paterson scored the only Niagara United goal. It was 4-1 at the interval.

York Region Shooters are in fourth position in the standings with an 11-8-1 record for 34 points, while Niagara United are at 1-16-3 for six points.

Following a scoreless first half at Downsview Park in north Toronto, Scarborough SC took the lead at 52 minutes, a goal by midfielder Jose Goncalves De Sousa, his 13 goal of the season.

Zdenko Jurcevic equalized for the visiting Brantford Galaxy at 62 minutes, goal number 19 this season to continue leading the CSL First Division goalscoring chart.

Scarborough now have a 6-7-8 record for 26 points and are in a three-way tie for sixth position in the standings, while Brantford Galaxy are 7-11-3 for 24 points and in a two-way tie for ninth position.

There are two game cancellations this weekend, both at Victoria Park in Brampton.

Brampton City Utd B vs. Niagara United B in the Second Division and scheduled for 3 pm has been cancelled, and so has the Brampton City Utd vs Niagara United fixture in the First Division, scheduled for Victoria Park with a 5 pm kickoff, been cancelled.

Two goals by Aleksander Stojiljkovic were enough to give SC Waterloo a 2-0 victory over Brampton City Utd at Victoria Park in Brampton, in a rare Thursday night encounter in the Canadian Soccer League.

The Serbian-born midfielder struck his first at 25 minutes with a quick sliding move to push the ball over the line and into the net for a 1-0 lead, the score at the break.

Stojiljkovic made it 2-0 at 52 minutes by taking a cross from the right wing to beat Brampton goalkeeper Cristian Montero Valez from eight yards and the 2-0 lead held up to the final whistle.

The goals were numbers 5 and 6 so far this season for Stojiljkovic to repeat the two goals scored five days ago in the Waterloo 3-0 defeat of Brantford Galaxy on Sunday.

Waterloo improve to 11-6-3 for 36 points and third place in the First Division standings and have two games remaining in the regular season schedule.

Brampton City Utd are bidding for a playoff spot while in seventh position with a 7-8-5 record for 26 points.

 

Robert Lewandowski, a Bayern Munich striker came on as a substitute against Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday to score five goals in just nine minutes.

Scoring goals in a high level of competition is tough and the sensational performance reminds us that top goalscorers are worth their weight in gold.

Goalkeepers and defenders often prevent sure goals, but such great plays are not seen on the scoresheet. Goalscorers take up most of the limelight, and often viewed as the real stars.

And it’s no different in the Canadian Soccer League

The scoring race in the CSL is usually pretty tight. The First Division has four players at the top, separated by just five goals, while the Second Division has the top three players separated by three goals. Leading in the First Division at this late stage of the season, is Brantford Galaxy’s Zdenko Jurvecic with 18 goals. Jurcevic, a 30 year-old Croatian-born central midfielder with extensive experience in Europe, has dominated the scoring race for most of the season.

After him in second place so far with 16 goals is Adis Hasecic, a native of Bosnia-Herzegovina playing for SC Waterloo, and third is Serbian White Eagles’ forward Sahjah Reid. a 25-year-old striker from Mississauga, with 15.

Reid deserves a special mention because while only three goals behind the leader Jurcevic, he has played five fewer games.

The 28-year-old Hasecic has played 19 games so far for his 16 goals output including hat-tricks.

Richard West, a 30 year old veteran striker with York Region Shooters, standing in fourth spot with 13 and in earlier years rated as one of the rising stars of the CSL, has also scored a hat-trick.

Bunched-up in the Second Division and at the top is 18 year-old SC Waterloo reserves midfielder Nicola Miokovic of nearby Kitchener, with 15. Miokovic scoring makes a statement that young players can play and score goals in the tough CSL.
Just behind him with 12 scored is the Burlington SC reserves forward Amardo Oakley who is 19 years old and a resident of Guelph, also with the same output is SC Waterloo B midfielder Edward Syllie.

The season’s top goalscorer in each division will be honoured at the CSL Annual Awards night at Kitchener on October 24 which is followed the next day by the CSL Championship Finals at Warrior Field in Waterloo.

At the top……

FIRST DIVISION

1. Zdenko Jurcevic, Brantford Galaxy 18
2. Adis Hasecic, SC Waterloo 16
3. 3  Sahjah Reid, Serbian White Eagles 15
4. Richard West, York Region Shooters 13
5. Jose Goncalves De Sousa, Scarborough 12
6. Vladimir Vujovic, Burlington 12
7. Jure Glavina, Toronto Croatia 11
8. Darren Chambers, Toronto Croatia 10
9. Oleksandr Semeniuk, Toronto Atomic 10
10. Jonathan Jebbison, Brampton City Utd 9
11. Josip Keran, Toronto Croatia 9
12. Ihor Melnyk, Toronto Atomic 9

 

SECOND DIVISION

1. Nikola Miokovic, Waterloo B 15
2. Amardo Oakley, Burlington B 12
3. Edward Syllie, Waterloo B 12
4. Adnan Smajic, Milton 9
5. Raphael Barboza Da Silva, York Region Shooters B 8
6. Milan Beader, Brantford Galaxy B 7
7. Lucky Maghori, Milton B 7
8. Aljay Sharkail Wilson,Toronto Croatia B 7
9. Matthew Arbin, Brampton City Utd B 6
10. Tenzin Dhondup,Toronto Atomic B 6

For a complete list of all goalscorers in the CSL, click Schedule & Results, then Stats in the drop-down.

 

 

Serbian White Eagles moved closer to the First Division title with a decisive 5-0 victory over Burlington SC and in one other game in the CSL top loop Sunday, SC Waterloo secured a playoff berth with a 3-0 win over Brantford Galaxy. First Division teams Serbian White Eagles, Toronto Croatia and Toronto Atomic FC have also clinched playoff berths, leaving four spots still to be decided.

Milos Scepanovic opened the scoring for Serbian White Eagles, heading into the net at 8 minutes for a 1-0 lead.

Djorjije Strunjas made it 2-0 at 36 minutes, the score at half-time. It was the second goal of the campaign for Strunjas.

Branislav Vukomanovic beat Burlington goalkeeper Andrew Stringer to make it 3-0 at 50 minutes, Miroslav Jovanovic increased the visitors’ lead to 4-0 at 73 minutes and Scepanovic struck his seventh goal of the season to round out the score to 5-0 for Serbian Eagles at the 87 minute mark.

Serbian White Eagles continue to lead the CSL First Division and have a 14-2-4 WLT for 46 points following Sunday’s win, leading Toronto Croatia in second spot by seven points.

Burlington have a 6-11-3 record in 11 position.

Two goals by midfielder Aleksander Stojiljkovic at 56 and 70 minutes moved SC Waterloo into a 2-0 second half lead over Brantford Galaxy at Warrior Field, Waterloo and this was followed by a goal by Adis Hasecic who found the net past Brantford Galaxy goalkeeper Luka Besenic at 74 minutes, a 3-0 score at the final whistle.

It was goal number 16 for Hasecic, just two short of the 18 goals scored by Zdenko Jurcevic the current leading scorer in the CSL First Division.

SC Waterloo are in third position in the standings with a 10-6-3 record for 33 points, while Brantford Galaxy are at 7-11-2 for 23 points and 10 in the standings.

There were three games in the CSL Second Division Sunday when York Region Shooters B defeated Toronto Croatia B, 2-0, SC Waterloo B nipped Brantford Galaxy B 1-0, and Burlington SC B edged past Serbian White Eagles B, 4-3.

SC Waterloo B, Milton SC B, Brantford Galaxy B, York Region Shooters B, Burlington SC B and Toronto Atomic B have clinched spots in the Second Division Championship playoffs. Two more teams are to be decided.

Toronto Atomic jumped into third position in the First Division standings with an emphatic 6-2 victory over Niagara United at the Kalar Sports Park at Niagara Falls, and in one other game in the top division Saturday night, Toronto Croatia defeated York Region Shooters 3-1.

Forward Ihor Mihalevskyy opened the scoring at 12 minutes for Toronto Atomic and Dario Brezak increased the lead to 2-0 three minutes later.

Derek Paterson struck for Niagara United for a 2-1 score at 21 minutes, and Niagara were reduced to 10 just four minutes later when Johnny Paiva was ejected following a second caution at 25 minutes.

It was 2-1 at half-time.

Toronto Atomic then scored four second half goals to jump into a 6-1 lead, two by Ihor Melnyk at 49 and 54 minutes – his eighth and ninth of the season – and two goals by Oleksandr Semeniuk at 55 and 60 minutes to increase his tally to 10 for the season.

Jacob Therrien reduced the lead to 6-2 with a goal at 71 minutes for Niagara United and it was 6-2 at the final whistle in favour of the visitors.

Toronto Atomic moved up to third spot in the First Division table with a 10-8-2 WLT record for 32 points, while Niagara United are at 1-15-3 for six points.

Defender Sven Arapovic opened the scoring for Toronto Croatia just two minutes into the match and York Region Shooters leveled the score 1-1 with a goal by Steve McDougall at the 26 minute mark.

Defender Josip Keran was then in the spotlight by scoring two goals from the penalty spot before being sent off after receiving a second caution.

Keran scored his first at 30 minutes for a 2-1 score at half-time, then found the net from the spot at 83 minutes, both for hand ball infringements by York Region. The goals were Keran’s eighth and ninth of the season. The defender was then sent off for two yellows at 87 minutes.

The game ended 3-1 in favour of Toronto Croatia to strengthen claim on the second position with a 12-4-3 record for 39 points, four points behind the league-leading Serbian White Eagles.

York Region Shooters now have a 10-8-1 record for 31 points in fourth position.

There was one Second Division game played Saturday, with Niagara United B and Toronto Atomic B playing to a 2-2 tie.

Teams bidding for a spot in the CSL championship playoffs came up with important victories Friday night, with Milton SC scoring a 1-0 home victory over SC Waterloo and Scarborough SC defeating London City by the same score.

Following a scoreless game through to the dying minutes at Jean Vanier Field, Milton’s Adrian Smajic broke the deadlock with a goal at 80 minutes. The midfielder picked up a pass down the middle to beat Waterloo goalkeeper Imad Hakura with a drive from 8 yards that entered the net inside the left post.

The 1-0 lead held up to the final whistle.

The win moved Milton closer to a playoff position (the top eight qualify) with a 7-9-3 WLT for ninth in the standings, while Waterloo are at 9-6-3 for 30 points and remain fourth in the table.

It was a similar outcome at Downsview Park where Scarborough SC gained three points with a late goal scored by midfielder Jose Goncalves De Sousa who took a pass from Dobrin Orlovski and in a one on one with London goalkeeper Vladimir Markotic the ground shot was just inside the post.

De Sousa’s goal came at 78 minutes and it was his 12th of the campaign.

Scarborough improve to 6-7-7 for 25 points in eighth position, while London City are at 8-10-2 for 26 points in sixth spot in the standings.

York Region Shooters moved into third position in the league standings following a 2-1 victory over Burlington SC, while London City also secured three points with a 1-0 win over Brantford Galaxy, two games in the CSL First Division Sunday.

Richard Edwards opened the scoring for York Region Shooters at 13 minutes from a well-taken free kick from 35 yards that beat Burlington goalkeeper Andrew Stringer and it was 1-0 at half-time and Edwards’ second goal of the season.

Steven Craig tied the game 1-1 with a goal for Burlington at 75 minutes, finding the net from a free kick taken just outside the penalty box.

Forward Adrian Pena struck the winner from the penalty spot at 86 minutes after referee Goran Babic pointed to the spot for a hand ball infringement by a Burlington defender, a 2-1 lead which held until the final whistle. It was Pena’s sixth goal of the season.

York Region Shooters, the current CSL champions, move into third position for the win, they now have a 10-7-1 record for 31 points, while Burlington have a 6-10-3 record for 21 points in tenth position in the standings.

Serbian White Eagles and Toronto Croatia, in first and second position in the standings, both have clinched playoff positions.

Following a scoreless first half at the Hellenic Centre, London City went ahead at 69 minutes on a goal by Igor Kmar who found the net past Brantford goalkeeper Luka Besenic, and the 1-0 score remained to the final whistle.

London improve to a 8-9-2 record for 26 points to move into sixth position in the standings, while Brantford Galaxy have a 7-10-2 record for 23 points in eighth position.

There was one First Division match postponed Sunday, the Brampton City Utd vs SC Waterloo encounter cancelled due to a waterlogged surface at Victoria Park in Brampton.

There were three Second Division games scheduled for Sunday, with the Toronto Croatia B vs Niagara United B clash ending in a 3-3 draw, and in the late game York Region Shooters B defeated Burlington SC B, 4-0. The third game, Brampton City Utd B vs SC Waterloo B was postponed due to wet ground conditions.

 

Two games have been postponed in the Canadian Soccer League Sunday due to the weather. The Brampton City Utd vs SC Waterloo match and the Brampton City Utd B vs SC Waterloo B reserve encounter, both scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Victoria Park in Brampton, have been called off due to water on the playing surface.

One CSL game was postponed Saturday when a transportation delay of the visiting team for the Toronto Croatia vs Niagara United game scheduled for a 7.30pm kickoff at the Loyola HS Stadium, caused the game to be cancelled.