<![CDATA[
Tihomir Maletić, a prolific striker with CSL champions Toronto Croatia, was presented the league’s MVP for the second year in succession at the CSL awards night held at the Mississauga Convention Centre Sunday.
Canadian Professional Soccer League
<![CDATA[
Tihomir Maletić, a prolific striker with CSL champions Toronto Croatia, was presented the league’s MVP for the second year in succession at the CSL awards night held at the Mississauga Convention Centre Sunday.
Four players have been declared finalists for this year’s MVP in the Canadian Soccer League first division, the winner to be announced at the league’s upcoming awards night on November 13.
The players in contention are Stefan Vukovic of
The CSL has also announced candidates in other award categories with Clinton Irwin (Capital City FC), Scott Cliff (SC Toronto) and Camilo Benzi (York Region Shooters) in the running for the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year award and for the Defender of the Year the candidates are Mirko Medic of Serbian White Eagles, Sven Arapovic of Toronto Croatia and Jamaal Smith of SC Toronto.
First year players being considered for Rookie of the Year honours are Akil DeFreitas (Capital City FC), Joe Melo (Mississauga Eagles FC) and Wandrile Lefèvre (Montreal Impact Academy) and the CSL’s Coach of the Year will go to Velemir Crljen (Toronto Croatia) or Carmine Isacco of SC Toronto.
The league has also announced the finalists in its popular second division of mostly players considered developmental and bidding for a place in Division One. Candidates for the VIP Award are Derek Paterson (Niagara United), Jorgo Nika (SC Toronto B) and Filip Velasevic of Serbian White Eagles reserve team, while Chris Prouting (Mississauga Eagles FC reserves), Ryan Pumier (KW United FC) or Matthew Silva (SC Toronto B) will be chosen Goalkeeper of the Year.
The second division Defender of the Year award will go to either Nikola Paunic (Serbian White Eagles B), Robert Turnbull (Brantford Galaxy B) or
There are two candidates for the Coach of the Year in the second division, they are James McGillivray of Niagara United and Patrice Gheisar of SC Toronto B.
CSL coaches from all 17 CSL clubs nominate and vote for the individual awards, a year-end highlight of the season and number of tickets are still available for the presentation dinner which takes place at the Mississauga Convention Centre this coming Sunday. Call 905 564-2297 or email info@canadiansoccerleague.ca
CSL Dinner and Awards Night
To recognize and honour the best in the CSL during 2011
75 Derry W, (at Hwy
Tel: 905 564-1920
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Reception 5 pm
Midfielder Hayden Fitzwilliams scored the only goal of the match at 18 minutes, a header from 15 yards off a free kick with pace from the right wing by Tihomir Maletic that left Clint Irwin in the
It was a close, even game throughout that could have gone either way.
It was
Velemir Crljen, in his fourth year as head coach of
Crljen said he was pleased with the season, close to winning the First Division, winning in
Shaun Harris, head coach of
The CSL season started early May with 14 teams in each of two divisions and will announce its individual award winners November 13. Mississauga Eagles FC B, the club’s reserve team in the CSL, won the Second Division championship by defeating Brampton City Utd B on October 22.
<![CDATA[
It’s Toronto Croatia with a history going back 55 years and with a list of achievements unmatched in the annals of Canadian professional soccer. The opposition is Capital City FC, the team from Ottawa in its inaugural season in the Canadian Soccer League. They meet in the CSL Championship Final on Saturday.
<![CDATA[
Newcomer Capital City FC, in its inaugural season in professional soccer, and Toronto Croatia –
It was Second Division soccer – but a first class effort.
Two CSL reserve teams, Brampton City Utd B and Mississauga Eagles FC B, put on a fast-paced, exciting CSL Second Division Championship match that seemed to say let’s go for it, there’s no tomorrow – this is it.
In the end, after 90 minutes plus 30 minutes of extra time and penalty kicks,
Mike DiMatteo,
Erin Mills Soccer Club, with its 5,000 young players, 1,000 volunteers and 7,000 voting members has been the pride of Mississauga for some years and president Susan Rossiter believes many of her young players can be developed into very good players by following a path that takes players from the youth level to the reserve team on to the club’s professional side in the CSL First Division and in some cases, beyond.
“It’s a step by step, cradle to grave routine that creates a environment for promising players to move up within the club and our reserve team is an important level at which they can play before moving on to the First Division,” she explained.
The game, played at the St. Joan of Arc ground at Maple, just north of
A combined effort at 33 minutes by
Both goalkeepers, Luca Leone for Brampton and Christopher Prouting for Mississauga played a big part in regular time arriving with the game scoreless and the extra 15 minutes each way brought even more of a game worth watching.
At 14 minutes of extra time, referee Benjamin Jacobs pointed to the penalty spot for a hand ball in the box by Brampton Utd and it was
At 3 minutes of the second overtime period, Mississauga were judged also to have handled the ball inside the 18 yard line and Ardit Xhameni struck for Brampton to tie the score 1-1.
The 1-1 tie held until the end of extra time and a 5-3 score on penalty kicks gave
<![CDATA[
Whichever teams from this weekend’s semi-finals advance to the CSL Championship Final on October 29, it’s going to be an attractive, intriguing end to a six-month long campaign, which happens to be one of the longest in CSL history.
Toronto Croatia were highly favoured going into the second game with a 4-0 win from last week’s first leg and a 4-1 result on Sunday confirmed Croatia’s place in the semi-finals. Capital City FC and Montreal Impact Academy played their second leg on Sunday with the Ottawa side winning 2-1, which followed last week’s 1-1 tie for a 3-2 goals aggregate in favour of Capital City.
Midfielder Marin Vucemilovic Grgic opened the scoring for
Hayden Fitwilliams then scored twice, at 31 minutes when he headed home a cross from the right wing for a 2-0 lead and again at 43 minutes when he drove a low shot from 15 yards past Melford James Jr in the Mississauga goal, a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Capital City FC went ahead 1-0 after 10 minutes in their game with Montreal Impact Academy at the Terry Fox Stadium in Ottawa when midfielder Mahir Hadziresic lifted the ball from the centre line to Akil DeFreitas who drove the ball on to the crossbar and into the net. It was 1-0 at the break.
Hadziresic made it 2-0 for the home side when he beat
The semi-finals will be played the weekend October 21 -23 with venues to be announced:
Capital City FC vs. Serbian White Eagles
In the CSL Second Division Championship Final, it will be Brampton City Utd B vs. Mississauga Eagles FC B on Saturday,
October 22 at the St. Joan of Arc ground at Maple, a 3 pm kickoff.
Serbian White Eagles coasted to a 6-0 rout of Brampton City Utd in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the CSL playoffs at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, a victory that gave the Toronto-based team a 2-0 games aggregate and a place in the semi-finals of the CSL Championship following their 2-0 defeat of
Serbian Eagles pressed the visiting
Midfielder Kirie Dimitrov made it 2-0 two minutes later and Lammie struck his second at 39 minutes for a 3-0 Serbian Eagles lead at the break.
The home side’s dominance continued into the second half and at 51 minutes Alex Braletic put Serbian Eagles 4-0 ahead and Milos Scepanovic made it 5-0 at the 69th minute mark, scoring into an empty net.
Substitute goalkeeper Jodzo Awitor entered the game for
There are two second leg quarterfinals on Sunday, October 16, the semi-finals will be played the weekend October 21 – 23 and the CSL Championship Final will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Saturday, October 29 at 5 pm.
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs
Quarterfinals – second leg
Sunday, October 16, Terry Fox Stadium 3 pm Capital City FC vs.
Sunday, October 16, Centennial Stadium 7 pm
In the CSL Second Division Championship there was one game played a
It’s
– Saturday, October 22, St. Joan of Arc, Maple a 3 pm kickoff.
SC Toronto won the match but York Region Shooters took the spoils following a ding-dong 127 minutes of entertaining second leg quarterfinal playoff soccer at Lamport Stadium in
The second of a two-game home and away series to decide the team to advance to the semifinals in pursuit of the CSL Championship – the Shooters won the first clash 1-0 on October 9 – was described by Rogers TV commentator Zamir Karim as “One of the best games in the CSL all season.”
The score at the end of 97 minutes of regular time plus added time was 4-3 for SC Toronto, which added up to a 4-4 aggregate over the two games. 30 minutes of extra time were played to decide the winner – which it didn’t, so the 4-4 aggregate went into penalty kicks, won 4-2 by York Region Shooters.
There were nine attempts for the 4-2 penalty kick victory by York Region, but the game itself also saw three spot kicks and all found the net.
The first produced the opening goal of the game when SC Toronto’s Massimo Mirabelli scored following a tripping incident called by referee Gianni Facchini. That was followed by a similar infringement by SC Toronto and forward Kadian Lecky scored for the Shooters at 39 minutes, a 1-1 score at half-time.
SC Toronto went ahead at 52 minutes, a goal by Alexandros Halis, but the visitors tied the game 2-2 10 minutes later from the third spot kick and like the earlier one, Kadian Lecky made no mistake for his second of the match. Referee Facchini ordered the kick following a pushing incident in the SC Toronto box.
Mirabelli struck his second of the game at 73 minutes for a SC Toronto lead, but at 89 minutes Jason De Thomasis scored an untidy goal, but one which tied the game 3-3 for the Shooters and which appeared to be the quarterfinal decider.
But SC Toronto came back to score again when Halis headed past York Region goalkeeper Adam Majer and two defenders at the 96th minute mark, a last minute life-line that led to the 30 minutes of extra time. The goal came after the home side’s John Louis Perruzo was red-carded at 93 minutes and before Lecky was sent off the bench at 97 minutes.
SC Toronto lost coach Carmine Isacco when he was ordered out of the game just before half-time for dissent.
Playoff summary to date:
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs
Quarterfinals – First leg
Serbian White Eagles 2,
Quarterfinals – Second leg
SC
Teams tied 4-4 on aggregate, York Region Shooters advance to semi-finals on penalty kicks 4-2.
Upcoming games:
Quarterfinals – Second leg
Saturday, October 15, Centennial Stadium, 8 pm Serbian White Eagles vs.
Sunday, October 16, Terry Fox Stadium 3 pm Capital City FC vs.
Sunday, October 16, Centennial Stadium 7 pm
York Region Shooters and Serbian White Eagles got the jump on their opposition with narrow victories in the first leg of quarterfinal playoff games Sunday, heading for the CSL Championship at the end of October.
The Shooters gained the advantage in the first of a two-game quarterfinals series with a 1-0 victory over CSL First Division winners SC Toronto at the St. Joan of Arc ground in Maple, just north of
Dino Gardener was the goalscorer for the home side York Region Shooters, he struck just 4 minutes into the game with a drive from just five yards out and that goal held up throughout an encounter which could have gone either way.
The two teams will meet in the second leg on Friday, October 14 at Lamport Stadium, that’s an 8 pm kickoff.
An early send-off made things a little easier for Serbian White Eagles in the first leg game against Brampton City Utd at Victoria Park in
Referee Rudolf judged that Blanche fouled in preventing ‘an obvious goalscoring opportunity’, which is an immediate send off and which reduced the home side to 10 men.
Serbian White Eagles went ahead at 41 minutes when
Following a 1-0 lead at the interval and a close encounter during the second half, Serbian Eagles’ Milos Scepanovic found the net with a drive from 18 yards at the 89th minute that entered the net to the left of Awitor, a 2-0 lead for the visitors and which was the final score.
Serbian White Eagles will host
The first leg results and upcoming second leg games are:
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs
Quarterfinal – First leg
Serbian White Eagles 2,
Second leg games:
Friday, October 14, Lamport Stadium 8 pm SC
Saturday, October 15, Centannial Stadium, 8 pm Serbian White Eagles vs.
Sunday, October 16, Terry Fox Stadium 3 pm Capital City FC vs.
Sunday, October 16, Centennial Stadium 7 pm
In one First Division game played Sunday,
Midfielder Gent Miftari increased the lead to 2-0 at 80 minutes, he found the net past TFC goalkeeper Quillan Roberts, but the visitors came back to score at 86 minutes when striker Stefan Vukovic’s attempt appeared to be saved by London’keeper Fabian Knezevic, until the ball spun over the line.
The goal was number 18 for the season for Vukovic, who has been outstanding with the academy side since his transfer from Serbian White Eagles.
The win gives London City 21 points to complete the season, the best performance in five years for a team with a longstanding reputation for giving young players in southwestern
Forward Will Beauge put the visitors in the lead at 35 minutes for a 1-0 score in favour of
The two teams meet again in the second leg of a home and away two-game series and the game is scheduled for Sunday, October 16 at 3 pm at Terry Fox Stadium in
This is the second game of the CSL playoffs,
There was one First Division game played Saturday, with Windsor Stars and
Midfielder Sergio Camargo put
Three players were tossed out of the game by referee Archie Korbeil – red cards were shown to Camargo, defender Tyler Pasher of
Other games played in the CSL Saturday:
SECOND DIVISION – Playoffs
Quarterfinals
TFC Academy II 3, SC
while remaining games in the CSL this weekend are :
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs
Quarterfinals – First leg
Sunday, October 9, Maple, 4 pm
Sunday, October 9,
Regular Season
FIRST DIVISION
Sun, Oct 9 Polish Club
Two second half goals by prolific striker Tihomir Maletic assured
It was
The 4-0 win puts Toronto Croatia in a strong position in the home and away two-leg quarterfinals series which takes into account total points over the two games and if tied on points at the end of 90 minutes of the second game, total goals over the two games will decide.
The two teams move to Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke on Sunday, October 16, a 7 pm kickoff, for the second leg of the quarterfinals series and the winner will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for the weekend of October 21. The CSL Championship Final will be played the last weekend of October.
Remaining games in the CSL this weekend:
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs
Quarterfinals – First leg
Saturday, October 8, Marie Victorin 1 pm
Sunday, October 9, Maple, 4 pm
Sunday, October 9,
Regular Season
FIRST DIVISION
Sat, Oct 8
Sun, Oct 9 Polish Club
CSL Second Division Championship – Playoffs
Quarterfinals – One game only – winner advances to the semifinals
(Home teams listed first)
Sat, Oct 8 St. Joan of Arc 12:00 PM Brampton City Utd B vs York Region Shooters B
Sat, Oct 8 St. Joan of Arc 3:00 PM SC Toronto B vs TFC Academy II
Sat, Oct 8 Kalar 7:00 PM Niagara United vs KW United FC
The CSL Championship playoffs kickoff this weekend with the first leg of eight First Division teams playing a quarterfinals home and away series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
CSL CHAMPIONSHIP – Playoffs
Quarterfinals – First leg
(Home teams listed first)
Friday, Oct 7, Hershey Centre 8 pm
Saturday, Oct 8, Marie Victorin 1 pm
Sunday, Oct 9,
Sunday, Oct 9, Maple, 4 pm
The current CSL champions are Brantford Galaxy – they finished ninth in the standings and were eliminated from the upcoming post-season playoffs in September.
FOOTNOTE
There are three regular season First Division games still to be played involving teams not in the playoffs. These games are:
Sat, Oct 8 Windsor Stadium 7:00 pm
Sun, Oct 9 Polish Club London 1:00 pm
Mon, Oct 17 Esther Shiner Stadium 8:30 pm North York Astros vs