September 21, 2003 CPSL news from CPSL website

NEWS
TEN OF 13 STILL IN PLAYOFF PICTURE

Following a full slate of seven games played over the weekend and as the Canadian Professional Soccer League moves into its last complete week of the regular season, no less than 10 of 13 teams are still part of the playoff picture.

While five teams are assured of five playoff berths, another five are in with a mathematical chance of taking the other two spots in the playoff campaign that gets underway the week of September 29.

Only three teams, Durham Flames, North York Astros and Mississauga Olympians are out.

READ ON FOR ALL THE WEEKEND RESULTS AND A COMPLETE WEEKEND RECAP.

ALL THE WEEKEND RESULTS:

SATURDAY:

Laval Dynamites 3, Durham Flames 2

Ottawa Wizards 3, Hamilton Thunder 0

SUNDAY:

St. Catharines Wolves 2, Laval Dynamites 1

Brampton Hitmen 5, London City 2

Vaughan Sun Devils 2, Metro Lions 1

North York Astros 0, Ottawa Wizards 0

Toronto Croatia 4, Durham Flames 0

They’re in:

OTTAWA WIZARDS, TORONTO SUPRA, HAMILTON THUNDER, BRAMPTON HITMEN, LONDON CITY. Possibles:

VAUGHAN SUN DEVILS, LAVAL DYNAMITES, ST. CATHARINES WOLVES, TORONTO CROATIA, Improbable but possible:

METRO LIONS No chance:

MISSISSAUGA OLYMPIANS, NORTH YORK ASTROS, DURHAM FLAMES

WIZARDS SLIP BUT STILL AHEAD

Eastern Conference leaders and defending CPSL champions Ottawa Wizards failed to take advantage of their second-half mid-field dominance over North York Astros and had to settle for a scoreless tie at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York on Sunday.

Good work by a tireless Astros’defence, particularly goalkeeper Luciano Miranda, combined with poor finishing by the team from Canada’s capital, produced the 0-0 result at a time when the Wizards were looking for three points to keep Toronto Supra at bay at the top of their eastern division.

The Wizards did click in front of goal 24 hours earlier against Hamilton Thunder at Brian Timmis Stadium, scoring three for a 3-0 shutout of Hamilton.

Ottawa now has a 11-0-5 WLT record for 38 points to remain unbeaten at the top of the Eastern Conference 5 points in front of also unbeaten Toronto Supra with their 33 points from 15 games

ST. CATHARINES WIN WHILE DYNAMITES SPLIT

League-leading scorer Carlo Arghittu added two more to his season tally in leading St. Catharines Wolves to a 2-1 win over Laval Dynamites at Club Roma. Laval took a 1-0 lead at the 9th minute mark on a goal by Nasson Theosmy and Arghittu tied the score for St. Catharines after 18 minutes.

The prolific Roma Wolves striker then struck the winner at 85 minutes in a game that saw Dynamites ‘keeper Nicolas Pinto make some spectacular saves to keep his team in the game.

St. Catharines improve to an 8-7-2 record for 26 points in the Western Conference, one point behind Brampton Hitmen following Sunday’s games. The Hitmen have two games in hand.

Les Dynamites split their weekend back-to-back weekend games, winning Saturday’s encounter 3-2 over lowly Durham Flames in a game played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke.

SUN DEVILS STAY IN TOUCH

Vaughan Sun Devils stayed in the playoff hunt with a 2-1 victory over Metro Lions at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough, a game in which Lions’ Hayden Fitzwilliams failed to convert a penalty kick in the dying minutes of the game.

Pop Gabriel put Metro Lions in the lead two minutes after the interval following a scoreless first half. Mathew Palleschi tied for the Sun Devils three minutes later at the 50th minute mark and Joey Todaro struck the winner at 67 minutes for a 2-1 final score. The Sun Devils still have a good chance for third position in the Eastern Conference with a 6-2-6 record for 24 points and two games in hand over Laval with 23 points from 16 games

HITMEN KEEP PACE

Brampton Hitmen picked up an important three points with a 5-2 victory over London City at Victoria Park in Brampton on Sunday.

Milodrag Akamazic (18 and 71 minutes) and Phil Ionadi (81 and 89 minutes) each scored a pair for the Hitmen, while Hugo Herrera scored the fifth at the 73rd minute mark. Keith Andrew at 33 minutes and Sergio Seguenza Velis at 51 minutes struck for London City.

While London City will take part in the CPSL playoffs by virtue of being the host of the final weekend, the Hitmen are favoured to be there also as they sit second in the Western Conference with a 8-4-3 record for 27 points, just points behind conference leaders Hamilton Thunder, but Brampton has a game in hand.

CROATIA WIN MEANS STRONG BID

Toronto Croatia sent a strong signal with a 4-0 emphatic victory over Durham Flames at Memorial Park on Sunday, for their fifth unbeaten game in September.

The team from Streetsville is determined to capture the Western Conference third place playoff spot and after picking up 13 points from the five games the team now has a 7-7-1 record for 22 points, just 4 points behind third place St. Catharines Wolves with two games in hand.

Jure Pavic opened the scoring for Croatia at the 41st minute mark for a 1-0 half-time score and Goran Grubisic (49 minutes), Tom Granic (73 minutes) and Edin Kalic (87 minutes) scored in the second half.

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