CSL Open Cup [R]

[reidjr]

What teams are in etc.It is comming up very fast and still no word.

[MM2]

Finally some news on the Canada Open Cup. BC teams added, seems to be less Ontario amateur teams then last year and not all CSL teams entered. Last year's champion, Ottawa Italia St. Anthony not back to defend.

http://www.canadiansoccerleague.ca/news.asp?c=2&id=5036

The Second Round of the Open Canada Cup was drawn at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan on Tuesday as the pro CSL teams join the amateurs for games to be played over the Canada Day holiday weekend, June 29 to July 2.

Preliminary Round games to be played are:

Jean Talon 2007 (Montreal) vs. Capital City Ambassadors (Ottawa)

G.S. United (Toronto) vs. AEK London (London)

Second Round:

Trois-Rivieres Attak vs. Jean Talon 2007 or Capital City Ambassadors

St. Catharines Wolves vs. Windsor Border Stars

Serbian White Eagles vs. North York Astros

Italia Shooters vs. GS United or London AEK

Portuguese Supra vs. Canadian Lions

Bye to Third Round: London City

The five surviving teams from Round Two will be joined by London City for three Third Round games and the three surviving teams will be joined by the winning team from British Columbia. In British Columbia, 24 teams will soon have their playdowns in the Athletic Club of BC Challenge Cup, the winner moving into the Open Canada Cup semifinals. The four semifinal teams, three from Ontario and Quebec and one from British Columbia will move to Cove Road in London, Ontario for the final weekend and the Open Canada Cup Final on Monday, September 3.

[Rocket Robin]

Well nine of ten CSL teams entered. Remember there's less CSL teams than last year.

Toronto Croatia is always missing because they have a commitment every Labour Day (when the Finals are held) to play in some North American Croatian tournament which rotates between cities each year.

[Elias]

I'm willing to bet when London loses in the 3rd round, they get a special playoff against one of the final 4.

I guess this tournament is better than nothing, but instead of growing, it's becoming less and less relevant. Sure the BC teams are nice, but this should have been at the point right now where it was the most important cup in Ontario men's soccer. Unless TFC gets involved, which I doubt will happen, this is pointless.

[MM2]

from the AEK website:

Open Canada Cup - Preliminary Round

GS Scarborough United SC - AEK London FC

Monday July 2nd 2007 - Kickoff 2:00 pm

Victoria Park, Brampton Ontario

[Rocket Robin]

One more game to fill in besides the ones below. I've heard the Astros vs White Eagles game will be played July 15th.

I also heard the owners backed off competing on the holiday weekend with the kickoff of the U-20s so they will play the round during the next month.

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The following Open Canada Cup games are scheduled for the Canada Day holiday weekend:

Open Canada Cup – Second Round

Friday, June 29 8:15 pm Club Roma, St. Catharines

St. Catharines Wolves vs Windsor Border Stars

Open Canada Cup – Preliminary Round

Sunday, July 1 10 am Jean Mance Park, Montreal

Jean-Talon 2007 (Montreal) vs Capital City Ambassadors (Ottawa)

Open Canada Cup – Preliminary Round

Monday, July 2 2 pm Victoria Park, Brampton

GS United (Toronto) vs AEK London (London)

The following games will be scheduled during July:

Open Canada Cup – Second Round

Italia Shooters vs. GS United or London AEK

Portuguese Supra vs. Canadian Lions

Serbian White Eagles vs. North York Astros

Trois-Rivieres Attak vs. Jean Talon 2007 or Capital City Ambassadors

London City have gained a bye to Round Three

Stan Adamson

Executive Director

Canadian Soccer League

The Soccer Centre

7601 Martin Grove Road,

Vaughan, Ontario

L4L 9E4

Tel: 905 856-5439 Fax: 905 856-9325

Email: stanadamson@canadiansoccerleague.

[soccerman2]

Sunday, July 1

There was one game in the CSL today:

OPEN CANADA CUP

Preliminary Round

Jean Talon 2007 (Montreal) 5, Capital City Ambassadors (Ottawa) 1

Jean Talon 2007 will now meet Trois-Rivieres Attak in the Open Canada Cup Second Round

[Aljarov]

Are there no USL (Mon, Van), PDL (4 of them) or TFC in this tournament?

[Aljarov]

Thanks Sigma. That's pretty weak. You;d think they'd push harder to get the bigger reputation teams involved. It would help the whole tournament.

[Rocket Robin]

Actually best BC team gets a place in the semi-final.

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Monday, July 2

There was one game in the CSL today:

OPEN CANADA CUP

Preliminary Round

GS United 2, AEK London 1

(GS United won on penalty kicks)

GS United will now meet Italia Shooters in the Open Canada Cup Second Round

[Guest HamiltonSteelers]

Damn, so much for another Hamilton Serbians "giant killing" cup run... for what it's worth.

[soccerman2]

ADDITIONAL GAME

The following game has been arranged in the Open Canada Cup competition:

OPEN CANADA CUP – SECOND ROUND

Thursday, July 12 8.30 p.m. The Soccer Centre

Portuguese Supra vs. Canadian Lions

[MM2]

Originally posted by soccerman2

ADDITIONAL GAME

The following game has been arranged in the Open Canada Cup competition:

OPEN CANADA CUP – SECOND ROUND

Thursday, July 12 8.30 p.m. The Soccer Centre

Portuguese Supra vs. Canadian Lions

/quote]

Portuguese Supra 2 Canadian Lions 1

Goals (POR Ryan Williams, Helio Pereira CAN Evan Milward)

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Thursday July 12, 2007 CSL game between Portuguese Supra and Canadian Lions played at The Soccer Stadium in Vaughan at 8:30pm. This was a second round match in the Open Canada Cup.

31 min…(9:03pm) Referee Mike Winstanley halts the game because of lightning in the distance. Better safe than story but neither team is pleased. As soon as the game is called the storm, which is south of where we are, moves from the west to the east and the lightning is even further away.

(9:20pm)…game restarts…not a drop of rain had fallen and the wind has suddenly stopped. Supra players had not left the field during the delay.

35 min…Lions Evan Milward GOAL…Lions Marko Milanovic 35 yard freekick from left has Milward running up middle one-touch 10 yarder into top right corner of net beyond goalie Michael Silva.

63 min…Supra Helio Pereira GOAL…Supra Winston Griffiths 20 yard shot from left hits bar and deflects back into play and Pereira boots 12 yarder into open left corner of net with goalie Matthew Willis down.

86 min…Supra Yami Williams GOAL…Williams 12 yard shot from left after he gets pass on rush and his shot is into right side of net.

Final Score:……Portuguese Supra………2………..Canadian Lions………1…………

Attendance was about 45 on this mild evening with a strong wind from the west. Some of the fans left their seats during the storm delay which was a good idea for an expected lightning storm in the stands made out of aluminium. Later in the game there were about the same number of fans which might mean everyone returned or were replaced by people coming over from the indoor facilities to see what was going on. Not that these teams have huge crowds but this was on a neutral site (home field of Italia Shooters) and I had less than a week’s notice for this game.

Both these teams are struggling in CSL league play after nine games each with Supra only winning one game so far this year and Lions with no wins. This game got rough at times with at one point before the Supra winning goal, three Supra players were down injured at the same time all in separate incidents.

Supra players calling out “Vancouver” as a nickname for Winston Griffiths reminded me of this player. Yep. He’s played for the USL Vancouver Whitecaps in the past with Jamaican national team experience. Carlos Zebollos was listed as a Supra sub for this game although I didn’t see him come into the game. In league play he would be serving a Red card suspension.

Rocket Robin

robing@eol.ca

[MM2]

From the Mid-Week report to be posted later today on www.insidesoccer.ca

The Italia Shooters of the Canadian Soccer League eliminated

GS United of the Ontario Soccer league from the Open Canada Cup. The Shooters now

advance to the 3rd round of the Cup. Jason De Thomasis, who will play for Canada at

the World University Games, scored one of the Shooters' goals. In other Open Cup

action the North York Astros eliminated the Serbian White Eagles on kicks from the

penalty spot. In an exciting game the teams had ended tied after 30 minutes of

overtime. Also qualified for the 3rd round are London City, Windsor Border Stars

and Portuguese Supra. The final 3rd round qualifier will be determined this week-

end when the Trois Rivieres Attak face Jean Talon 2007. The six third round teams

will playoff in August, with the three winners joining a British Columbia qualifier

for the Open Cup final 4 (or 5) on Labour Day weekend in London, Ontario. As host,

London City will receive a wildcard slot at the finals if they lose their 3rd round

match.

July

25::Italia Shooters [2] GS United [0]

Goals:: IS Jason De Thomasis, Desmond Humphrey

25::Serbian White Eagles [3] North York Astros [3]

North York Astros win 5-4 on kicks from the penalty spot

Goals::NY Paulo Astorga 2, Selvin Lammie

Goals::SWE Sasa Viciknez 2, Mirko Medic

[Rocket Robin]

oh oh. Wild card spot chance for London City to get to the semis.

........................................................................

LAST LEG TO THE SEMIS

Monday - July 30, 2007

Open Canada Cup draw

The draw for the Third Round of the Open Canada Cup has been released by the Canadian Soccer League for three games to be scheduled for the upcoming Civic Holiday Weekend August 4 -6.

The Toronto area will see Italia Shooters at home to North York Astros and Portuguese Supra will host Windsor Border Stars. London City will travel to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec for Third Round clash with the Attak.

Venues for these games will be announced in the next day or two, to produce three winners for the Open Canada Cup Final Weekend of semi-final games and the Open Canada Cup Final in London, September 1 – 3.

The winners will advance and be joined in London by the winner of the British Columbia Athletic Club of BC Challenge Cup competition played by 24 teams in that province.

Should London City fail to advance from Round Three, they will have a wild card game opportunity to play one of the three teams from central Canada in a further attempt to enter the semi-finals, in keeping with the Open Canada Cup rules as they relate to the successful bid team to host the Open Canada Cup weekend.

Open Canada Cup Summary:

Preliminary Round Results

Jean-Talon 2007 (Montreal)5,Capital City Ambass(Ottawa)1

GS United (Toronto) 2, AEK London (London) 1

Second Round Results

Portuguese Supra 2 Canadian Lions 1

Windsor Border Stars 2, St. Catharines Wolves 1

Italia Shooters 2, GS United 0

North York Astros 3, Serbian White Eagles 3

(North York Astros won 5-4 on penalty kicks)

Trois-Rivieres Attak 3, Jean-Talon 2007 1

Third Round Draw:

Italia Shooters vs. North York Astros

Portuguese Supra vs. Windsor Border Stars

Trois-Rivieres Attak vs. London City

[Guest Jeffery S.]

Here is the web for the BC tournament:

http://www.acbcfc.com/index_content.html

Not nearly as serious as in the east, sorry to say. First 24 teams registering and paying 1000 dollars are in. They say there are up to 45,000 in prizes, wonder if the winner gets all expenses paid to London.

Games played over the weekend of the 10th, on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (finals), at Burnaby Lake, on artificial turf.

Six groups of four, each team guaranteed three group stage matches. Six group winners and 2 best 2nd place teams go to quarter finals Sunday morn. Semis and final on the Monday.

Seems the games last a full 90 minutes, and they play once on Friday (some as late as 11PM), twice on Saturday (some starting at 8AM!), quarter finals Sun morn and semis in the afternoon. Finals Monday evening. There was some comment about having regulation kits for reasons of tv.

The links suggest there will be teams from all over the province, should be an interesting way to see talent but of course if the squads are not deep we are going to see some tired players.

[MM2]

I don't know why they just don't give the host a free pass directly

to the final weekend instead of this garbage.

That is the way that the W-league does it.

Wasn't this one of the big isssues that resulted in the Ottawa Wizard

withdrawing/being kicked out of the old CPSL.

quote:Originally posted by Sigma

Yet another free pass for London City. I'm shocked.

[MM2]

I don't know why they just don't give the host a free pass directly

to the final weekend instead of this garbage.

That is the way that the W-league does it.

Wasn't this one of the big isssues that resulted in the Ottawa Wizard

withdrawing/being kicked out of the old CPSL.

quote:Originally posted by Sigma

Yet another free pass for London City. I'm shocked.

[Rocket Robin]

http://22066.vws.magma.ca/03cpsl6j.htm

old Ottawa Wizards from 2003. They expected to get a place directly in the final--not the semi-final (nope they avoided a wild card game)...not satisfied so they dropped out. Haha. That's the year London City won the tourney. St Catharines won a Playoff in 2001 as a wildcard host (three games in three days and beat Ottawa in the semis. They won the final in overtime!

This year London City got a bye until the third round (ie the final eight) and even if they lose, they will get another chance. Could be a long weekend.

I know last year Bruno Ierullo owner of the Astros didn't push for his team to make the Playoff championship weekend when he hosted. Just collected the money from the White Eagles and Croatia fans. Of course he had the advantage of the tourney being in Toronto.

Still this Open Cup tournament in London is always well run and I've always been welcomed.

[Rocket Robin]

Wednesday, August 1

Following tonight’s regular league game between St. Catharines Wolves vs. North York Astros being played at St. Catharines, the following Open Canada Cup Third Round games represent games being played in the CSL during the next few days:

Open Canada Cup - Third Round (3 games) :

Saturday, August 4, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, 4 p.m. Trois-Rivieres Attak vs. London City

Monday, August 6, Centennial Stadium, Etobicoke, 4 p.m. Portuguese Supra vs. Windsor Border Stars

Monday, August 6, The Soccer Centre, Vaughan, 7 p.m. Italia Shooters vs. North York Astros

Stan Adamson

Executive Director

Canadian Soccer League

The Soccer Centre

7601 Martin Grove Road,

Vaughan, Ontario

L4L 9E4

Tel: 905 856-5439 Fax: 905 856-9325

Email: stanadamson@canadiansoccerleague.ca

[DarnCherry]

What a joke.

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the CSL Open Canada Cup Quarterfinal between Portuguese Supra and Windsor Border Stars played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 4:00pm.

23 min…Supra RED card…PS goalie Michael Silva loses ball on bad clearance to WBS Radek Papiez on right side of box who rounds goalie and rolls cross through goalmouth. PS defender Ronald Nicholas had slipped in box with feet in the net and as ball rolled past him, he stuck out his hand to stop ball rolling to left for a sure tap-in by WBS player. Referee Isaac Raymond has no choice other than to call a Penalty kick and give Ronald Nicholas a Red card.

24 min…WBS Aaron Byrd GOAL…Byrd’s Penalty kick is low to center of net under goalie who leaned right.

29 min…Supra goalie who was down on ground grabs ankle of WBS Radek Papiez as he’s running on left side of box. The goalie acted injured but the referee had to call another Penalty kick.

30 min…WBS Aaron Byrd GOAL…Byrd’s Penalty kick is low to left corner of net as goalie slides right.

39 min…WBS Gino Berardi GOAL…Berardi rolls in 7 yarder up middle to left post as WBS player had poked pass through defender from right.

66 min…WBS Robbie Nelson GOAL…WBS Aaron Byrd stepped over a 22 yard freekick leaving WBS Radek Papiez to blast the ball up the middle. His low shot had the diving goalie block but Nelson charged forward to boot the 5 yard rebound over the prone goalie.

Final Score:…Portuguese Supra………0………….Windsor Border Stars……….4……….

Attendance was about 50 on this very hot and humid day. This round of the Open Canada Cup was only announced on Tuesday so there was a minimum of publicity for this game.

This game had the Border Stars bring only three substitutions including team owner Pat Hilton listed as one of them. Supra started off strong enough and I would have imagined especially in the second half, the weather would have worn the Border Stars down. All that changed in the 23rd minute when it was the Supra who’d be ‘shorthanded’ the rest of the game. The rest of the game if they pressed, they risked being caught short at the back on a counter attack. Supra owner Isaac Cambos thought his team should have won and blamed his goalie for the mistakes that cost them the game.

Supra’s Gavin Fuller melted down in the second half soon after being injured at 51 minutes. Two minutes later he was Yellow carded for arguing with referee’s assistant Kim Babb about a throw-in. He was wisely replaced one minute later or I was sure he would have been ejected as he just didn’t stop shouting.

Anthony Santilli earned the shutout for the Border Stars. Many of these second half stops were from 20 yards or more so didn’t give him any trouble.

This big-score win by Windsor almost assures them of not having to play a Wild Card match on the Labour Day weekend against the host London City side on the Friday night before a semi-final Saturday and the final holiday Monday. Trois-Rivieres Attack did not have to worry as they beat London City earlier this weekend 6-0 and so had the best plus-minus record. London City immediately gets a second chance as hosts by forcing a Wild Card game. (As the later Shooters vs. Astros game ended 1-0, Windsor did avoid the extra Friday game). The British Columbia team that played down in their province to this point was always excluded from being in the Wild Card game.

Interesting that even this round was not completely random as Supra Victor Cardosa mentioned before the game how he had a choice of renting Centennial Stadium as a host for the second round or risk being drawn for a road game in Trois-Rivieres and the greater expense of transport and a hotel stay for his team.

Rocket Robin

robing@eol.ca

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Monday August 6th, 2007 CSL Open Canada Cup Quarterfinal game between Italia Shooters and North York Astros played at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan Ontario at 7:00pm.

46 min…Shooters Josue Jaramillo GOAL…Jaramillo rolls 12 yarder low and into net beyond goalie Ratko Ivanovic. (Very efficient as Jaramillo had just come in as a halftime sub).

Final Score:………Italia Shooters…….1………North York Astros………0……….

Attendance was about 100 on this hot and humid evening with a bright sun in the North West for the first 55 minutes. Attendance was quite good when considering this game was only announced Tuesday. There were some Astros fans helping boost it to this level.

Camilo Benzi earned the shutout for the Shooters and had to make some tough saves to preserve the win. Astros goalie Ratko Ivanovic also made some great saves. I didn’t get a great look at the goal because I was staring into the sun. At this field, I usually stand on the east side in the second half so I can see closely what subs come in although that makes it hard to see plays in the north goal until the sun sets.

Shooters forward Jason DeThomasis and Astros goalie Haidar Al-Shaibain were missing from this game as they are playing for Canada in the World University Games in Thailand for the next two weeks.

Shooters had veteran defender Rick Titus debut for them after his season with the PDL Toronto Lynx ended. Over the years I’ve known Titus has joined the CPSL/CSL season from the USL Toronto Lynx and Vancouver teams.

These two teams were evenly matched and as it wore on, it didn’t look like either team would win by a large margin. This close finishing game means that Italia Shooters have to play London City in the Friday night Wild Card game on the Labour Day weekend. Their plus-minus was the worst of the three other CSL teams. One team from British Columbia will be the fourth semi-finalist.

David Barrie who I’ve seen often as a referee’s assistant got the top job tonight and gave out a few cards but it wasn’t as rough as the last time I saw these two teams play each other here three weeks ago. Amato DeLuca who MLS Toronto FC fans will remember last night ruled that the LA Galaxy defender got back in time to save Andrea Lombardo’s goalie chip on the line was also a referee’s assistant tonight and his son Pasquale was the fourth official. I was 60 yards behind the play and many complaining fans were 110 yards away.

Rocket Robin

robing@eol.ca

[Johnnyranger]

BC Qualification Tourney this weekend in Burnaby...

Looking forward to it.