A thumping header winning goal off a free kick with lots of pace following 107 minutes of attractive semifinal soccer moved FC Vorkuta to the CSL Championship Final by a 2-1 victory at Centennial Stadium Saturday.

The goal, by the prolific scoring midfielder Serhii Melnyk, assured Vorkuta of a place in the final following three years highlighted by league or championship successes since entering the Canadian Soccer League First Division in 2017.

But Vorkuta was not assured of yet another successful season in the semifinal against the improving Serbian White Eagles, especially while the outcome was in doubt following a 1-0 first half lead stretching well into the second half. A strike by defender Branislav Vukomanovic put the White Eagles ahead with a free kick that penetrated the wall at the 37th minute mark. While Vorkuta rallied time and again for an equalizer, the Serbian White Eagles’ defence held firm until the 70th minute when Vorkuta forward Mykola Temniuk collected a long ball to beat goalkeeper Christian Maraldo with a low drive for a 1-1 tie that held to the end of regular time and setting up 30 minutes of overtime.

The Melnyk winning goal gives the north Toronto side the opportunity to repeat its post season 2018 championship victory and add to the 2017 and 2019 First Division league titles and similar impressive achievements with a reserve team in the CSL Second Division.

“It was a very good game, they played well but we just didn’t give up. We look forward to taking on Scarborough in the final,” said Vorkuta GM Samad Kadirov following the final whistle.

FC Vorkuta will meet current champions Scarborough SC in the post regular season 2020 CSL Championship Final at Centennial Stadium on Saturday, October 17 at 2 pm, a game that wraps up the brief First Division regular season of five teams with Scarborough finishing on top.

It will be just one semifinal leading to the Canadian Soccer League championship following the elimination of Hamilton City from the post-season playoffs following a disqualification of the steel city side at the end of the regular season on October 3.

Hamilton City ended the season with a Not-in-Good Standing status, a standing that according to CSL By-laws forfeits ‘benefits and privileges’, which can include playing in the league championship.

The one semifinal, FC Vorkuta vs Serbian White Eagles, with be played at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west end on Saturday, October 10 at 2 pm and the winner will meet the current CSL champion and winner of the 2020 First Division, Scarborough SC, at the same ground on Saturday, October 17, also at 2 pm.

Scarborough will be attempting to repeat its 2019 championship triumph, a victory that was forecast by many following the club’s strong performance in the CSL First Division since 2016 when GM Kiril Dimitrov moved the team to Birchmount Stadium. The Toronto east-end side defeated Ukraine United 2-0 in the 2019 championship final after being the runner-up in both 2017 and 2018 finals. FC Vorkuta has an enviable record in league play and won the championship in 2018, defeating Scarborough on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie, but the most successful of today’s teams in CSL championship playoffs is Serbian White Eagles which won in 2008 and 2016 and were finalists in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

The final game on October 17 will conclude an abbreviated 5-team league and championship competition shortened by the COVID 19 pandemic.

In the only game played in the Canadian Soccer League Wednesday, Serbian White Eagles picked it up where they left off on September 19 when the Mississauga-based side handed unbeaten Scarborough a  3-0 loss.

It was a different time, same teams, same ground, when Serbian White Eagles handed current CSL champions Scarborough a second 3-0 defeat on Wednesday.

It was an equally impressive performance for Serbian White Eagles in a game that was end-to-end for both teams, while the White Eagles had the edge when it came to finding the net.

Defender Branislav Vukomanovic’s decision to go up for the corner kick paid off with a header that found the net for Serbian White Eagles after just 5 minutes of play for a 1-0 lead at the interval.

Forward Milos Scepanovic made it 2-0 from a penalty kick awarded at 51 minutes after Scarborough midfielder Michael Fayehun saved a shot on goal with his hand to then be shown the red card by referee Norman Oliveira for the offence.

Short-handed Scarborough rallied late to get back into the game, including a good attempt by Stefan Stojiljkovic that scraped the top of the crossbar, but it was Marko Jankovic of Serbian White Eagles who found the net past Scarborough goalkeeper Aubrey Lowe at 89 minutes, a well-placed drive from 25 yards to complete the scoring. It was 3-0 at the final whistle.

Serbian White Eagles have a 3-3-1 WLT record for 10 points for fourth position in the First Division standings following the victory, while Scarborough suffered its second defeat of the season with a 4-2-0 record and are second in the First Division standings with 12 points.

Hamilton City, Scarborough, Vorkuta and Serbian White Eagles will be the semifinalists in the playoffs following the completion of the regular season.

The remaining regular season games are:

Sat Sep 26 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Brantford Galaxy vs Scarborough SC

Sat Sep 26 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Vorkuta vs Hamilton City

Sat Oct 3 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Scarborough SC vs FC Vorkuta

Sat Oct 3 Centennial Stadium 7 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Brantford Galaxy.

 

 

PICTURE: Midfielder Martin Mamic opened the scoring leading to a 3-1 victory lifting Hamilton City  to the top of the CSL standings.

Hamilton City defeated Brantford Galaxy 3-1 at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke Tuesday night, a result that eliminated the Galaxy from playoff contention in favour of Serbian White Eagles joining Scarborough, FC Vorkuta and Hamilton City in the Canadian Soccer League’s post-season championship.

Hamilton City went into an early 1-0 lead when midfielder Martin Mamic headed in from a free kick taken from the left of the box at the 5^th minute mark and the city increased the lead to 2-0 when Luke Rankin drove the ball into the net from 15 yards past Brantford goalkeeper Ognjeh Savic just before the interval. It was 2-0 at the break.

Milos Vuruna increased the Hamilton lead to 3-0 at 75 minutes, taking a pass from midfielder Raine Lyn for a left foot drive inside the left post well out of Savic’s reach.

Brantford defender Miljan Milovic reduced the lead to 3-1, a goal at 84 minutes from a free kick outside the box almost saved by Hamilton goalkeeper Alexandar Nicolic, but the hard drive slipped through into the net. It was 3-1 at the final whistle.

The victory lifts Hamilton City on top of the CSL First Division standings with a 4-2-1 WLT record for 13 points and one game remaining in the short 8-game regular season of five CSL teams participating. Brantford Galaxy remains winless with two games to play.

Hamilton City, Scarborough, Vorkuta and Serbian White Eagles will be the semifinalists in the playoffs following the completion of the regular season games on October 3.

Upcoming regular season games this week:

Wed Sep 23 Centennial Stadium 7:15 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Scarborough SC

Sat Sep 26 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Brantford Galaxy vs Scarborough SC

Sat Sep 26 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Vorkuta vs Hamilton City

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 12^th 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

 

PICTURE: FC Vorkuta were held to a 1-1 draw by Serbian White Eagles and slipped to second position in the standings to Scarborough SC which holds a 100 per cent record following a narrow win over Hamilton City.

Scarborough SC defeated Hamilton City 2-1 for a fourth win in as many games to move top of the Canadian Soccer League First Division standings, while Vorkuta were held to a 1-1 draw by Serbian White Eagles, both games played at Centennial Stadium at Toronto Saturday.

Scarborough, the current CSL champions, were down 1-0 to Hamilton City in the early going of the first game when forward Haris Redzepi found the net just inside the left post out of reach of Scarborough goalkeeper Aubrey Lowe. The goal came at the 9^th minute mark. Moussa Limane tied for Scarborough on a breakaway from a goal kick at 3o minutes  and it was 1=-1 at the break.

Scarborough player-coach Zoran Rajovic struck the winner from close-in after collecting a cross at 79 minutes from the right wing for a 2-1 result following a late end to end period in which both teams had scoring chances.

Scarborough have won all four game for 12 points to take the top position over second place FC Vorkuta which was held to the 1-1 draw in the second game against Serbian White Eagles. Hamilton City has 7 points from five games.

Vorkuta opened the scoring when midfielder Roman Sakhno struck from a free kick at the 37^th minute, a first half when Serbian Eagles appeared to have a slight edge. Following a 1-0 score at the interval, Vorkuta took control in the second half but failed to add a second goal. Serbian White Eagles leveled the score 1-1 at 73 minutes when forward Dusan Kovacevic drove the ball into the left corner of the net out of reach of Vorkuta goalkeeper Anatolli Starushchenko. It was 1-1 at the final whistle. Vorkuta has 11 points from six games played and Serbian White Eagles 4 points from five games.

The Canadian Soccer League continues its abbreviated 2020 schedule with a select group of five First Division teams with two games on Saturday, September 19. Regular season games are played through to early October, to be followed by post-season playoffs during October leading to the CSL Championship.

Sat. Sept. 19 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Hamilton City vs Brantford Galaxy

Sat. Sept. 19 Centennial Stadium 7 pm Scarborough SC vs Serbian White Eagles

PICTURE: Luke Rankin’s  winning goal and hat-trick led Hamilton City to victory with just seconds remaining to the final whistle Saturday 

Luke Rankin just beat the final whistle by one second to complete a hat-trick while scoring the winning goal to give Hamilton City a 4-3 victory over Serbian White Eagles in the second game of a Canadian Soccer League double header at Centennial Stadium Saturday, and in the opening game, FC Vorkuta scored a come from behind 5-2 win over Brantford Galaxy.

It was an end-to-end struggle for both teams with Arsen Platis opening the scoring for Hamilton at the 19 minute mark, Rankin increased the lead to 2-0 six minutes later, the score at the break.

Forward Milos Scepanovic struck for Serbian White Eagles to cut the lead to 2-1 at 54 minutes and Rankin found the net for his second goal and a 3-1 Hamilton City lead at 67 minutes.

Defender Branislav Vukomanovic scored a picture goal for the White Eagles at 78 minutes, heading just inside the left post from a cross by Scepanovic to close the gap to 3-2 in favour of the City.  Serbian White Eagles’  Igor Nedimovic, who entered the match as a substitute at 83 minutes, drove the ball inside the right post out of reach of Hamilton goalkeeper Alexandar Nicolic  just seven minutes later to make what appeared to be a game-saving 3-3 draw until Rankin headed in the winner, to be followed immediately by the final whistle for  a 4-3 victory for the Steeltown side.

In the opening match, Brantford Galaxy midfielder Slavko Knezevic scored from the penalty spot following a foul in the box at 19 minutes for a 1-0 lead over FC Vorkuta, and Knezevic struck again at 41 minutes, a 2-0 lead at the interval.

The Brantford Galaxy lead going into the second half evaporated quickly with Vorkuta goals by striker Mykola Temniuk at 51 minutes, midfielder Pavlo Chomomaz at 64 minutes, Iaroslav Solonynko at 66 and 74 minutes, and a fifth and final goal by Valerii Yarmosh at 76 minutes, a 5=2 score at the final whistle.

Games scheduled for the coming weekend:

Sat Sep 12 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Hamilton City vs Scarborough SC

Sat Sep 12 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Vorkuta vs Serbian White Eagles

Scarborough SC secured its third win in as many games of a shortened 2020 season with a 4-2 come from behind victory over Brantford Galaxy at Centennial Stadium, the only game played in the Canadian Soccer League Wednesday.

It was the third defeat for the Galaxy despite a well-played scoreless first half followed by an early goal in the second half that gave the visiting team a 1-0 lead.

Aleksa Markovic opened the scoring for Brantford at the 48^th minute mark and Scarborough equalized two minutes later, a strike from 15 yards inside the right post by midfielder Zoran Rajovic.

Gonzalo Matias Cabrera Celis put Scarborough into a 2-1 lead from 12 yards at 58 minutes when Galaxy goalkeeper Ognjen Savic failed to collect the ball and this was followed a minute later by an impressive Moussa Limame increasing the lead to 3-1 from close in.

Brantford midfielder Camilo Veloza cut the lead to 3-2 with a drive out of reach of Scarborough goalkeeper John Trye at 60 minutes and Stefan Stojiljkovic completed the scoring with Scarborough’s fourth goal at 73 minutes for a 4-2 result in favour of the east Toronto team at the final whistle.

There are two games remaining this week when Brantford Galaxy and FC Vorkuta meet on Saturday, a game followed by Serbian White Eagles at home to Hamilton City. These and all subsequent games will be played at Esther Shiner Stadium, a change from the Centennial Stadium venue announced earlier.

 Sat Sep 5 Esther Shiner Stadium 5 pm Brantford Galaxy vs FC Vorkuta

Sat Sep 5 Esther Shiner Stadium 7 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Hamilton City

 

 

PICTURE: Mykola Temniuk scored in the second half for a 1-1 draw to save the day for FC Vorkuta, an attractive hard-fought encounter  with Hamilton City that could have gone either way.

Hamilton City and FC Vorkuta played to a 1-1 draw at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke Tuesday  night, a well-played, hard fought encounter in doubt to the final whistle.

It was the first game of the season at Centennial Stadium following opening games of an abbreviated Canadian Soccer League campaign which kicked off at the Esther Shiner ground on August 15.

Hamilton forced the play in the early going and went ahead at the 29^th minute when Lucas Raposo took a cross to drive the ball into the net from 20 yards. It was end to end for the remainder of the first half with Hamilton leading 1-0 at the break.

Vorkuta pressed following the interval and came close to an equalizer when Oleksandr Voichkov headed over the bar at 49 minutes and just two minutes later a sharp cross from Vorkuta’s Vadym Gostiev on the right wing was headed in for the tying goal from close range by forward Mykola Temniuk,

Both sides came close to taking the lead, including a header just over the corner of the upright by Raposo who came even closer to the winner with an attempt off the post with minutes remaining.

It was 1-1 at the final whistle.

There are three games remaining this week when Scarborough, with two wins in as many games, meet a Brantford Galaxy side searching for its first win of the season, on Wednesday. The Galaxy also faces tough competition in its following game against FC Vorkuta at the weekend.

Also on Saturday, Serbian White Eagles are coming off a decisive 4-0 victory to meet Hamilton City with a win, one defeat and tonight’s draw from three games played.

Wed Sep 2 Centennial Stadium 7:15 pm Scarborough vs Brantford Galaxy

Sat Sep 5 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Brantford Galaxy vs FC Vorkuta

Sat Sep 5 Centennial Stadium 7 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Hamilton City

 

 

PICTURE: Midfielder Misel Klisara struck at 48 and 54 minutes to lead  Serbian White Eagles to a 4-0 victory over Brantford Galaxy at Esther Shiner Stadium.

Serbian White Eagles scored their first win of an abbreviated Canadian Soccer League season, a 4-0 result over Brantford Galaxy at Esther Shiner Stadium on Saturday, while in the second game Scarborough led FC Vorkuta 1-0 at the final whistle of a physical encounter cut short by the referee with several minutes remaining and the circumstances to be reviewed by league officials.

There was little to choose between Serbian White Eagles and Brantford Galaxy in the first half of the opening match, but Serbian White Eagles took control going into the second half to score an opening goal at 48 minutes when Misel Klisara struck his first of two goals with a low drive that entered the net inside the left post.

Klisara increased the lead for the White Eagles when the midfielder’s left foot drive from 10 yards made it 2-0 at the 54^th minute mark and Dusan Kovacevic  scored goal number three at 70 minutes. Forward Marko Stajic completed the scoring at 77 minutes for a 4-0 result at the final whistle.

It was a first meeting of the new season between the current CSL champions Scarborough SC and First Division 2019 league title winner FC Vorkuta and Scarborough took an early lead when midfielder Neven Radakovic took a cross from the right wing to find the net at the 10^th minute mark. It was 1-0 at the interval.

The play was strong going into the second half and more physical as the game progressed with Referee Tomic making numerous calls for foul play. One player from each side was shown the red card and with several minutes remaining the referee ended the game with the score 1-0. The league has indicated the extent of any inquiry will depend on the referee’s report to be submitted during the coming week.

There are four games this coming week, all at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke which has a change in kickoff time of the first two games played Tuesday and Wednesday from the original 7 pm  to 7 15 pm.

Tue Sep 1 Centennial Stadium 7:15 pm Hamilton City vs FC Vorkuta

Wed Sep 2 Centennial Stadium 7:15 pm Scarborough vs Brantford Galaxy

Sat Sep 5 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Brantford Galaxy vs FC Vorkuta

Sat Sep 5 Centennial Stadium 7 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Hamilton City