Fitzwilliams’ Toronto Croatia Are CSL Champs

Posted on October 29, 2007
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Hayden FitzwilliamsToronto Croatia capped a remarkable season with a 2-game, total goals Canadian Soccer League championship victory over Serbian White Eagles following a scoreless tie in the second game of the CSL final played at Esther Shiner Stadium Sunday.

Croatia were almost assured of the title win following a 4-1 win in the first leg of the final played at the same ground 24 hours earlier.  In that game, Croatia midfielder Jonathan Bustamante struck two goals, while forward Peter Curic and Hayden Fitzwilliams each scored singles. Defender Dragorad Milicevic scored the lone Serbian White Eagles goal.

But while goals were in abundance in the first game, it soon became clear in Sunday’s game that if Serbia were to score, they would have to work for it while the Croatian defence stood firm in an attempt to keep Serbia off the scoresheet. They succeeded time and again throughout the 90 minutes.

Serbian Eagles did have chances, but the normally potent forwards Gabriel Pop and Sasa Viciknez failed to find the net on several occasions.
The single game CSL Championship became two games when the league decided to have a two-leg total goals series with Croatia fans attending the first game and Serbian White Eagles supporters attending Sunday’s clash. The separation follows games involving these two teams in 2006 when fans became disruptive and close to being violent.

The Toronto Croatia championship win comes following a season during which the Mississauga-based club was defeated just once, a 2-0 loss to Canadian Lions on October 5. The team traveled to Europe in June to win an inaugural tournament for Croatian teams from the Austria, Germany, Australia the United States and France. The Canadian team went undefeated in winning the trophy in Zagreb on June 30.

Toronto Croatia won the CPSL championship in 2000 and 2004, but the club is best known for winning the North American championship as Metros Croatia in 1976. At that time the team attracted several world soccer stars, including Portuguese superstar Eusébio. In 2006, the club celebrated 50 years in Canadian professional soccer.

Source: Canadian Soccer League Website

Toronto Croatia In Command

Posted on October 27, 2007
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Hayden FitzwilliamsMidfielder Jonathan Bustamante led Toronto Croatia with two goals in a 4-1 defeat of Serbian White Eagles in the first of a two-game total goals CSL Championship Final played at Esther Shiner Stadium Saturday.

Bustamante headed the first goal at 13 minutes, but Serbian White Eagles tied the game one minute later with a volley by defender Dragorad Milicevic from 40 yards.

Forward Peter Curic put Toronto Croatia 2-1 up with a drive from a similar distance at the other end and Bustamante scored his second, also a long range effort, just on half-time for a 3-1 lead at the interval.

Former Coaching Schooler Hayden Fitwilliams completed the scoring for Toronto Croatia when he beat Serbian goalkeeper George Radan at the 70th minute mark to put Croatia in a commanding position going into the second of the two-game series back at Esther Shiner Stadium on Sunday.

A two-game championship was decided earlier this week following concerns of a repeat of two regular season league games in 2006 when opposing fans of Toronto Croatia and Serbian White Eagles clashed at Lamport Stadium in Toronto and Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton. There was damage to seats and the playing surface at the Hamilton game.

Today’s game was restricted to Toronto Croatia fans only and Sunday is Serbian Eagles’ day when the teams meet again at 3 p.m.

Fitzwilliams Scores In Semifinal Victory

Posted on October 21, 2007
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Toronto Croatia took a big step toward the CSL Championship with a slim 3-2 victory over St. Catharines Wolves on Saturday, the first of two weekend semifinals being played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York.

The Croatia win will be followed by a second semifinal on Sunday when Serbian While Eagles take on the high flying Trois-Rivieres Attak making a bid for the CSL title in their inaugural year.

Forward Hayden Fitzwilliams opened the scoring for Croatia when he beat goalkeeper Claudio Perri at the 13th minute mark following several attacks on the St. Catharines goal assisted by a strong wind out of the west.

The wind again played a part in the second Croatia goal which came at 28 minutes when two attempts to score were deflected by two St. Catharines’ players giving Toronto Croatia a 2-0 lead. St. Catharines reduced the lead to 2-1, but Croatia went 3-1 up almost on half-time.

In the end, Toronto Croatia (played the entire regular season with just one defeat) held on to win 3-2 and advance to the final.

Hayden Fitzwilliams’ Surge Lifts Toronto Croatia

Posted on October 14, 2007
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Hayden FitzwilliamsTop teams Serbian White Eagles and St. Catharines Wolves, together with International Division runners-up Toronto Croatia, all scored quarterfinal victories to advance to the semifinals following three games in the CSL Championship playoffs on Sunday (14th October).

Coaching School’s foreign-based player Hayden Fitzwilliams campaigns for Toronto Croatia. And, in these quarterfinal games, Toronto Croatia scored a come-from-behind 4-2 win over North York Astros.

Toronto Croatia came back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to win 4-2 over North York Astros at The Hershey Centre in Mississauga. The Astros took a deserved lead on a goal at 17 minutes by midfielder Gill Vainshtein and forward Selvin Lammie made it 2-0 10 minutes later.

Croatia fought to get back into the game in the second half and it was Mario Pupic who scored at 64 minutes to narrow the lead at 2-1 and Hayden Fitzwilliams struck at 90 minutes for a 2-2 tie, taking the game into overtime. Fitzwilliams scored again five minutes into overtime and Pupic sealed the win with a goal at 105 minutes for a 4-2 final score.

The semifinals bring together Serbian White Eagles and Trois-Rivieres Attak, while St. Catharines Wolves will play Toronto Croatia. These games will be played at Esther Shiner Stadium, one game each on Saturday and Sunday, October 20 and 21 with the kickoff times to be announced on Monday, October 15.

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