Two games to be played on Saturday, October 3 at Centennial Stadium will bring the 2020 abbreviated Canadian Soccer League regular season games to an end and four teams will advance to the post-season playoffs. They are: Scarborough (current CSL champions), FC Vorkuta, Hamilton City and Serbian White Eagles for the two semifinals leading to the 2020 CSL Championship on dates to be announced.
When the regular season is completed on October 3, the top team will play the fourth team in the final standings, with the second team meeting the third team in the table.
The CSL tie-breaker rules will apply if any teams are tied on points in the final standings. They are, in the following order:
Total wins in regular season games.
Head to head record based on total points in regular season games.
Goal difference in regular season games
Goals scored in regular season games
In games played September 26, what was almost the last play of the match, a fighting effort paid dividends for Hamilton City when midfielder Ilija Bajcetic headed in from a free kick to tie the score 1-1 with FC Vorkuta in the second game of Saturday’s CSL double header at Centennial Stadium. In the opener, Scarborough defeated Brantford Galaxy 3-2.
Serhii Melnyk opened scoring at the 10th minute mark for Vorkuta following a right wing cross for Melnyk and a well-placed header into the net out of reach of Hamilton goalkeeper Alexandar Nicolic. The hard fought encounter appeared to be a victory for Vorkuta until the last minute equalizer.
Hamilton City has completed its regular season with a 4-2-3 record for 14 points, while Vorkuta has a 3-3-1 WTL record for 12 points in third position in the CSL First Division standings and the north Toronto team will complete its regular season against Scarborough on Saturday, October 3.
Defender Daniel McIntosh opened the scoring for Scarborough at the 19th minute, moving in from the right wing to beat Brantford goalkeeper Ognjeh Savic and forward Yordan Santa Cruc made it 2-0 at the 32nd minute mark. Brantford’s Aleksandar Bozovic headed in from a corner kick to cut the score to 2-1 at the 52nd minute and scored a second to tie the game 2-2 at 70 minutes.
McIntosh scored the winner for Scarborough at the 80th minute, a 3-2 score at the final whistle.
The victory was Scarborough’s fifth of the season, a 5-0-2 record to lead the First Division with 15 points with the one game remaining against FC Vorkuta.
The two games on October 3 to complete the regular season are:
Sat. October 3, Centennial Stadium 5.15 pm Scarborough vs FC Vorkuta
Sat. October 3, Centennial Stadium 7.15 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Brantford Galaxy