September 19, 2004 CPSL details of Sunday's games (from CPSL website)
NEWS
TORONTO CROATIA, BRAMPTON HITMEN WEEKEND WINNERS IN PLAYOFF BID
The three top teams from each conference of the Canadian Professional Soccer League will qualify for the playoffs scheduled to get underway the first week of October, but if Brampton Hitmen as host of the weekend championship finals finish out of the first three in the Western Conference, they will be provided with a wild card second opportunity to be included.
Brampton Hitmen and Toronto Croatia both registed big wins in their bid for a playoff berth on Sunday afternoon, with the Hitmen punishing Windsor Border Stars, 4-0, at Victoria Park in Brampton, and at almost the same time, Toronto Croatia left it to the last minute to turn a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 victory over London City at Memorial Park in Mississauga.
The two games played Friday night were also crucial to the playoff picture in the Western Conference and the three teams from the west taking part all came away with a point.
Toronto Croatia and Hamilton Thunder fought to a 2-2 tie at Memorial Park, while to the east of Toronto at the Civic Stadium in Oshawa, London City dropped two valuable points to tie 1-1 in their crucial game with winless Durham Storm.
Brampton striker Kurt Mella put his team on the road to victory and the playoffs with two goals at five and 38 minutes for 2-0 at the interval against Border Stars, and this was followed up with Hugo Herrara scoring the third at 54 minutes and Juan Raul Cruz completing the scoring at the 80th minute, a 4-0 win for the GTA club.
The win gives Brampton an improved 7-6-5 WLT record for 26 points, now just one point behind Border Stars and two points behind Toronto Croatia.
A goal by London's Paul Munster just four minutes into the game on Sunday was still intact until Toronto Croatia staged a remarkable comeback when awarded a penalty at the 90th minute mark. Antonijo Zupan hit the net for a 1-1 tie and it took just two more minutes for Croatia's Edin Kalic to score his seventh of the season to give his side the 2-1 victory.
The win vaults Toronto Croatia into second position in the Western Conference with a 8-7-4 record for 28 points, five behind leaders Hamilton Thunder.
London slips to fifth position in the standings with a 6-9-3 record for 21 points, five behind fourth place Brampton Hitmen.
Hamilton Thunder forward Sasa Milaimovic opened the scoring on Friday to put the team from Steeltown one-up at the 39th minute mark and Hamilton increased their lead to 2-0 on a penalty kick by midfielder Blazenko Bekevac.
Following the 2-0 score at half-time, Toronto Croatia came back with a goal by Zvjezdan Kresic at 72 minutes and Marko Milicevic scored a second five minutes later for a 2-2 tie that held up to the final whistle.
Hamilton Thunder remain on top of the Western Conference with a 9-3-6 WLT record for 33 points, six points ahead of Border Stars with 27 points from 16 games played. Hamilton have two games remaining, against Metro Lions and St. Catharines Wolves.
Durham Storm picked up their first point of the season at the Civic Stadium and took the lead with a goal at the 11th minute mark by Domico Coddington, but Fred Nunziata tied the score for London City almost on half-time for a 1-1 tie at the break and which held up to the end.
.
.