CSL NEWS

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      

 

PICTURE: Vorkuta defender Vadym Gostiev sealed the win with a goal at 92 minutes and was prominent with an assist and strong defensive play.

Photo by Samad Kadirov

FC Vorkuta stretched its unbeaten streak to 15 games with a 3-0 away victory over FC Ukraine United, while in one other match played in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Sunday, Scarborough defeated Hamilton City 2-0.

League leading scorer Mykola Temniuk of Vorkuta struck twice, a goal in each half to raise his total on the season to 14, while the Vorkuta third goal was scored by defender Vadym Gostiev.

Vorkuta went on to the attack early with Ukraine United counter attacking at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west-end and the opening goal was scored when Temniuk dispossessed a Ukraine United defender to then find the net past goalkeeper Oleksandr Popravka. It was 1-0 at the break.

Ukraine United went on the attack during the second half in an attempt to get back on even terms, but at 86 minutes Temniuk headed in a corner kick by Vadym Gostiev to increase the lead to 2-0 for the visitors.

Gostiev sealed the win for Vorkuta with a goal at 92 minutes, scored when Vorkuta cleared a free kick by Ukraine United  and Ihor Melnyk made a quick pass to Gostiev who closed in to beat Popravka. The 3-0 score held to the final whistle.

Vorkuta leads the First Division with a 12-0-3 WLT record for 39 points followed by Scarborough’s 10-2-2 for 32 points following the Toronto east-end team’s 2-0 victory over Hamilton City.

Kavin Bryan scored both goals in the first half for Scarborough in the match at Birchmount Stadium, the first at 23 minutes off a corner kick by Jamaican national team player Marvin O’Neil Morgan and the second goal at 38 minutes, driving the ball into the net from inside the box.

Ukraine United now has a 6-5-2 record for 20 points in fifth position in the standings following Sunday’s loss, and Hamilton City has a 3-6-3 record for 12 points following the 2-0 defeat by Scarborough.

In Second Division action, a 5-3 victory on Sunday afternoon by FC Vorkuta B over Serbian White Eagles B — the top team’s nearest rivals in the Second Division standings — puts Vorkuta B very much in control with an 8-0-0 WLT 100 per cent record for 24 points in the standings, while Serbian White Eagles B are still in second position in the Second Division table with 16 points.

Kristijan Kezic scored a hat-trick for the Vorkuta reserve team at the St. Roberts ground, while Denys Yanchuk and Illia Piltenko added a goal apiece. Serbian White Eagles B goals came from Marko Stajic (2) and Miroslav Jovanovic.

Vorkuta’s top scorer last season, Kristijan Kezic, returned for his first game in two months following an ankle injury, which means the top club in both divisions will be even stronger now to finish off the season.

All six Second Division teams will qualify for the post season playoffs, with the two top teams gaining a bye to the semifinals in pursuit of the Second Division Championship.

UPCOMING MIDWEEK LEAGUE GAMES IN THE SECOND DIVISION            

Wed. Sep 4 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs Brantford Galaxy B             

Wed. Sep 4 Cardinal Nrwman 9 pm Hamilton City B vs FC Vorkuta B           

Wed. Sep 4 Iceland Field 9 pm  Serbian White Eagles B vs CSC Mississauga B           

SC Waterloo took over fourth spot in the First Division standings with a 4-1 victory over Brantford Galaxy, one game scheduled in the Canadian Soccer League Saturday.

Waterloo took an early lead when at 5 minutes forward Ali Sahat scored for the home side and midfielder Miodrag Kovacevic made it 2-0 at the 21^st  minute mark..

Defender Milos Urta struck a third goal  for Waterloo at 36 minutes and it was 3-0 at the interval.

Brantford Galaxy cut the lead to 3-1 when midfielder Camilo Veloza found the net past Waterloo goalkeeper Dalibor Ivanovic at the 61st minute mark, but just a minute later the home side increased the score to 4-1, a second goal by Kovacevic and the score held to the final whistle. It was goal 7 on the season for Kovacevic.

Waterloo increased its record to 7-7-1 WLT for 22 points and fourth position in the table as a result of the win, while Brantford Galaxy now has a 2-10-1 record at the foot of the standings.

REMAINING MATCHES IN THE CSL FIRST DIVISION OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Sunday Sept. 1 Birchmount Stadium 8 pm Scarborough SC vs Hamilton City        

Sunday Sep 1 Centennial Stadium 9 pm FC Ukraine United vs FC Vorkuta

UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION  

Sunday Sep 1 St. Roberts 3 pm   FC Vorkuta B vs Serbian White Eagles B 

Wed. Sep 4 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm    Kingsman B vs Brantford Galaxy B           

Wed. Sep 4 Cardinal Nrwman 9 pm Hamilton City B vs FC Vorkuta B           

Wed. Sep 4 Iceland Field 9 pm  Serbian White Eagles B vs CSC Mississauga B           

PICTURE: Mykola Temniuk struck the winner for still unbeaten league-leading FC Vorkuta, increasing his personal output to 12 goals while staying on top of the CSL First Division scorers.

FC Vorkuta continued its winning way with a 1-0 away victory at Waterloo, Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City both scored home victories to improve their playoff chances, and in a hard fought game FC Ukraine United and Serbian White Eagles settled for a 1-1 draw, which did little in their bid for a late-season  opportunity to acheive First Division honours.

Waterloo kicked off in attacking style against league-leading Vorkuta at RIM Park in Waterloo and goalkeeper Olexandr Musiienko’s early saves kept the home side off the scoresheet.

Vorkuta took the lead at 37 minutes when league-leading goalscorer Mykola Temniuk collected a pass from Sehii Ursulenko to send a powerful drive from 25 yards into the far corner of the net out of reach of Waterloo goalkeeper Dalibor Ivanovic. It was Temniuk’s 12^th goal of the season.

Temniuk came close more than once in an effort to increase the 1-0 lead, but Ivanovic’s goalkeeping  was a good reason for the score remaining 1-0 through to the final whistle.

The victory for Vorkuta improves the league leader’s record to 11-0-3 WLT for 36 points to now lead second place team Scarborough by 7 points. Scarborough has a game in hand. Waterloo is at 6-7-1 for 19 points in fifth position.

The 1-1 deadlock by Ukraine United and Serbian White Eagles was well-played and physical at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, with both teams anxious to pick-up points in the First Division race.

Following a goalless first half, midfielder Vladimir Strizovic opened the scoring for Serbian White Eagles at 54 minutes, a drive from inside the box off a corner kick, and Ukraine United midfielder Eugen Ischak equalized at 70 minutes, heading in off a corner kick. Ukraine found the net earlier in the second half, but Ihor Sorotoskyi’s strike was ruled offside.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with two players from each side, Ivan Kucherenko and Bohdan Skotskyi of FC Ukraine United and Mirko Medic and Vladimir Strizovic of Serbian White Eagles were shown red cards for Violent Conduct at 90 minutes following an altercation.

Serbian White Eagles are in third position in the standings with a 7-4-3 record for 24 points, while Ukraine United has a 6-4-2 record for 20 points in fourth position in the table.

Midfielder Andrej Prpa struck twice for Brantford Galaxy in its important 3-1 victory over Kingsman at the Cardinal Newman ground, two goals at 53 and 55 minutes to give the home side the win and a chance to obtain a playoff spot during the late season games. The goals came after Donart Beqiri of the Galaxy opened the scoring to give the home side a 1-0 lead at 31 minutes. Midfielder Denys Diachenko scored the lone Kingsman marker at 85 minutes to cut the score to 3-1 in favour of Brantford Galaxy.

The Galaxy has six games remaining with a record of 2-9-1 for 7 points and tied at the foot of the table with Real Mississauga, while Kingsman are in sixth position with a 5-7-1 for 16 points.

Hamilton City, a side also bidding to be one of eight to qualify for the post-season playoffs, gained its third win of the season with the 3-2 victory over CSC Mississauga at the Cardinal Newman ground. Hamilton now has a 3-5-3 record for 12 points in seventh position, while CSC Mississauga is in eighth position with a 3-10-1 record for 10 points.

Midweek Games in the CSL

EXHIBITION GAME POSTPONED

Wed., August 28 Ontario Soccer Centre  8 pm  FC Vorkuta vs Sure Sports FC (Maryland) – postponed. A new venue early September is being considered.

 CSL SECOND DIVISION

Tues. August 27 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga B vs Kingsman B

 Wed. August 28, Cardinal Newman 7 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs Hamilton City B

PICTURE: FC Vorkuta (red) in recent action, will be one of several teams bidding this weekend to win the First Division, while others will be playing with the objective of being included in the eight teams to qualify for the post season playoffs.  PHOTO: Samad Kadirov

Four games scheduled for the weekend in the First Division of the Canadian Soccer League will all be played on Saturday night and there is high interest as clubs continue a late bid for league title honours or the opportunity to be included in the post season playoffs.

Three teams playing this weekend which are not yet assured of a playoff position, are Hamilton City and CSC Mississauga – they meet at the Cardinal Newman ground at 6 pm – while  playoff-seeking Brantford Galaxy will be on the same ground at 8 to play visiting Kingsman A.

Clubs playing on Saturday and still bidding to win the First Division are Vorkuta FC at the top of the standings and Waterloo – they come together at 7, also FC Ukraine United and Serbian White Eagles – and they meet at 5. Kingsman A cannot win the First Division, but can finish the regular season closer to the top than the present sixth position.

Teams not playing this weekend are Scarborough SC (second in the standings and in a position to be still bidding for the First Division title) and Real Mississauga – ninth in the standings and bidding to be one of eight teams to gain a playoff spot.)

Weekend Games in the First Division

Sat. August 24, Centennial Stadium 5 pm FC Ukraine United vs Serbian White Eagles       

Sat. August 24  Cardinal Newman 6 pm  Hamilton City vs CSC Mississauga            

Sat. August 24 RIM Park 7 pm SC Waterloo vs FC Vorkuta            

Sat. August 24 Cardinal Newman 8 pm   Brantford Galaxy vs Kingsman A              

Midweek Games in the Second Division

Tues. August 27 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga B vs Kingsman B

Wed. August 28, Cardinal Newman 7 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs Hamilton City B