August 18, 2008 CSL Week 14 Summary (from CSL media release)
Trois-Rivieres win 1-0 at St. Catharines while Brampton defeats North York Astros, also by 1-0........Border Stars improve playoff chances with a victory over Portugal FC Saturday night ........Astros, Serbia, Croatia all win Friday
2008-08-17
Trois-Rivieres Attak opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the National Division standings following a 1-0 win over St. Catharines Wolves on Sunday, and they were assisted by a 1-0 defeat of North York Astros by Brampton Lions two hours earlier. On Saturday night, Windsor Border Stars nudged their way back into the top eight teams for a chance at a playoff berth with a 2-1 victory over Portugal FC at Windsor Stadium, while 24 hours earlier on Friday night, North York Astros scored three late goals to overcome a 3-1 deficit and defeat TFC Academy 4-3 in a cliffhanger at Lamport Stadium. At the same time, Serbian White Eagles snapped the 13-game unbeaten streak of Trois-Rivieres Attak with a 1-0 victory at Centennial Park in Etobicoke and Toronto Croatia nipped Windsor Border Stars 1-0. In a fourth game Friday, London City and Portugal FC fought to a 2-2 tie in London. CSL teams are now beginning to focus on the playoffs when eight of the 11 clubs will have an opportunity to battle for league championship honours. When the regular season concludes the beginning of October, the division winners will be seeded 1 and 2 and the next six teams in order of points gained during the regular season, regardless of their divisional standing, will have playoff berths and will be seeded 3 – 8.
The top seeded four teams will have home advantage. No. 1 team will be at home to No. 8, it will be 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 5.
This home advantage awarded to the top teams will carry through to the semifinals when the division winners will play at home and North York Astros will host the CSL Championship Final.
A goal by Trois-Rivieres striker Nicolas Lesage at 46 minutes was enough to give his side the 1-0 win over St. Catharines Wolves at Club Roma in St. Catharines on Sunday afternoon and a strike by the league's leading scorer Daniel Nascimento at the 44th minute at Victoria Park in Brampton was also enough to give his side three important points in the 1-0 win over the improving North York Astros.The win maintains Brampton's third place in the National Division and a more secure overall 6th spot in the race to be one of eight teams to gain a playoff berth.
St. Catharines on the other hand, hold a more precarious ninth place in the overall standings following the loss to the team from Quebec.
Windsor Border Stars defeated Portugal FC 2-1 on Saturday following five straight losses. Portugal captain Danny Amaral opened the scoring for the Toronto team at 31 minutes, Border Stars drew level just two minutes later on a goal by midfielder Tony Crnjac and the winning Border Stars' goal was scored when forward Blake Ordell drove home a rebound from the Portugal cross bar at 84 minutes, a 2-1 final score.
Windsor moved back into the top eight in the overall standings with 17 points.
North York Astros staged one of the most remarkable comebacks seen for some time on Friday night, starting with a goal at six minutes by defender Alex Kawalitwho headed into the net from close range. TFC's Adrian Pena struck a picture goal for the equalizer one minute later, Eros Olazabal made it 2-1 for the academy team 15 minutes later and at 65 minutes Junior Ellis increased the TFC lead to 3-1.
North York bounced back with a well-struck free kick by Jonathan Hurtisat 73 mintes and he scored a second for the north Toronto team at 83 mintes to level the score, 3-3.
Martin Artale scored the winner at 89 minutes for a 4-3 Astros' victory to put his team in a stronger position in the bid for a favourable home draw in the playoffs.
The Attak had its 13-game unbeaten streak snapped by Serbian White Eagles, a 1-0 score on the strength of a goal at 10 minutes by forward Darryl Gomez. The win gives Serbia 29 points in a playoff race that tightens at the top as clubs favoured to clinch a playoff spot bid for home advantage.
Toronto Croatia also won 1-0 when defender Halburto Harris struck the winner at 49 minutes against Windsor Border Stars, a result that helps Croatia's playoff opportunity even though they remain in third position in the International Division.
Portugal FC and London City played to a 2-2 tie at Cove Road in London, a result that does little for their playoff aspirations. Andrew Loague scored twice for the home side, his ninth and 10th of the season, while Danny Amaral also scored two for the Portuguese team.
The Playoff Race following Sunday's games: Place Team G Points 1 Trois-Rivieres Attak 16 34 2 Italia Shooters 14 31 3 Serbian White Eagles 14 29 4 North York Astros 16 26 5 Toronto Croatia 15 25 6 Brampton Lions 15 20 7 Windsor Border Stars 16 17 8 Portugal FC 13 16 9 St. Catharines Wolves 14 16 10 TFC Academy 15 16 11 London City 16 2
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