PICTURE: Striker Dusan Kovacevic of Serbian White Eagles struck an important hat-trick to move his club closer to the post-season championship playoffs while handing top club and 2019 CSL champions Scarborough its first defeat of the season.
Serbian White Eagles forward Dusan Kovacevic almost single handedly gave Scarborough a surprise they weren’t expecting at Centennial Stadium Saturday.
The former standout with McMaster University landed an impressive hat-trick on the east Toronto side at a time when it was expected the current Canadian Soccer League champions would cruise to yet another victory while leading the CSL First Division without dropping a point in the four games played to date.
But Kovacevic rocked the Scarborough side with a hat-trick for a 3-0 Serbian White Eagles’ victory, a score that reflected a cutting edge attack that gave promise the goals were coming as the match progressed.
Kovacevic beat Scarborough goalkeeper Vladimir Dragicevic to open the scoring at the 12th minute mark and it was 1-0 at the interval. Serbian White Eagles added a second at 73 minutes when defender Nemanja Simeuenovic moved the ball to Kovacevic who side-stepped a defender for a rising shot into the net while closing in with only Dragicevic to beat.
Scarborough rallied to get back on even terms, but Kovacevic completed his hat-trick at 82 minutes after collecting a pass from midfielder Vladimir Strizovic, and it was 3-0 at the final whistle.
“It is not easy to take points away from Scarborough or Vorkuta, “ said Serbian White Eagles’ head coach Uros Stamatovic when asked following the final whistle how his side played so well for a 1-1 with Vorkuta on September 12 to follow-up with a well-earned decisive 3-0 win over unbeaten Scarborough a week later. “ We did give thought to each game and that has paid off, but we have also added several new players to the roster. They and the entire team are playing well and deserved tonight’s result,” he said.
Kovacevic and Serbian White Eagles’ midfielder Vladimir Strizovic playing mostly on defense were rated the top players in the match.
Serbian White Eagles have a 2-3-1 WLT record following the victory, while Scarborough suffered its first defeat of the season with a 4-1-0 record, but remain on top of the First Division with 12 points.
In the opening game of the double header, Hamilton City won their third game of six in the abbreviated and depleted regular season involving five CSL teams, a 1-0 squeaker over Brantford Galaxy following a strike at 45 minutes by midfielder Ilija Bajcetic. Hamilton now has a 3-2-1 record for 10 points, while the Galaxy remain winless following Saturday’s fifth game.
The teams will each play eight games to complete their regular season early October, moving to post-season payoffs with the top four teams entering the two championship semifinals leading to the Canadian Soccer League Championship mid-October.
Scarborough, FC Vorkuta and Hamilton City have qualified for the playoffs. Serbian White Eagles or Brantford Galaxy will advance as the fourth team.
Upcoming mid-week games:
Tues. Sept. 22, Centennial Stadium 7.15 pm Brantford Galaxy vs Hamilton City
Wed. Sept. 23, Centennial Stadium 7.15 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Scarborough SC
