2002 Canadian Professional Soccer League season

Canadian Professional Soccer League

Season	2002
Champions	Ottawa Wizards
Regular Season title	Ottawa Wizards (Eastern Conference) Toronto Croatia (Western Conference)
Matches played	133
Goals scored	456 (3.43 per match)
Top goalscorer	Darren Tilley (Mississauga Olympians)
Best goalkeeper	George Azcurra
Biggest home win	Ottawa Wizards 8-1 St. Catharines Wolves (July 7, 2002)
Biggest away win	North York Astros 0-8 Mississauga Olympians (June 16, 2002)
Highest scoring	Mississauga Olympians 6-4 St. Catharines Wolves (July 19, 2002)
← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the fifth season for the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The season began on May 23, 2002, and concluded on October 20, 2002, with Ottawa Wizards becoming the first expansion franchise to win the CPSL Championship (known as the Rogers CPSL Cup for sponsorship reasons) by defeating the North York Astros 2–0.^[1] For the first time the final was hosted at Esther Shiner Stadium, which granted the hosts the North York Astros a wildcard match.^[2] As the league was divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences the Wizards clinched the Eastern title, while Toronto Croatia won the Western Conference. The expansion of the league saw the return of professional soccer to Hamilton, and the addition of another Toronto franchise.^[3][4] On February 26, 2002, the CPSL signed a player agreement deal with the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League, which provided the Lynx access in order to use CPSL talent and provide players an opportunity to play at a higher level.^[5][6]

Changes from 2001 season

For the second straight season the CPSL expanded to 14 clubs to include the Hamilton Thunder and Metro Lions. Due to the increase of teams the CPSL management split the league into two Conferences the Eastern and Western.^[7] The Toronto Olympians moved to Erin Mills, Mississauga, which opened the Scarborough territory to the Metro Lions.^[8] Changes occurred in the York Region territory with Glen Shields changing their team name to Vaughan Sun Devils in order to fully represent the city of Vaughan. Meanwhile, their rivals the York Region Shooters were sold to Tony De Thomasis, and relocated the team to their original home at Highland Park in Aurora. While former Hamilton Bulldogs president Cary Kaplan was hired as a Management Consultant for the league.^[9]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Brampton Hitmen	Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea)	Victoria Park Stadium	Ed McLaughlin[10]
Durham Flames	Oshawa, Ontario (Vanier)	Oshawa Civic Stadium	Steve Hamill[11]
London City	London, Ontario (Westmount)	Cove Road Stadium	Jurek Gebczynski[12]
Hamilton Thunder	Hamilton, Ontario	Brian Timmis Stadium	Marko Maschke[13]
Metro Lions	Toronto, Ontario (Scarborough)	Birchmount Stadium	Anthony La Ferrara[14]
Mississauga Olympians	Mississauga, Ontario (Erin Mills)	Erin Mills Twin Arenas	David Gee[15]
Montreal Dynamites	Laval, Quebec	Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne	Mohamed Hilen[16]
North York Astros	Toronto, Ontario (North York)	Esther Shiner Stadium	Pavel Zaslavski[17] Dejan Gluscevic[18]
Ottawa Wizards	Ottawa, Ontario (Carp)	OZ Optics Stadium	Klaus Linnenbruegger
St. Catharines Wolves	St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle)	Club Roma Stadium	Lucio Ianiero[19][20]
Toronto Croatia	Mississauga, Ontario (Streetsville)	Memorial Park	Zarko Brala[21]
Toronto Supra	Toronto, Ontario (Brockton)	Centennial Park Stadium	Victor Cameira[22]
Vaughan Sun Devils	Vaughan, Ontario (Thornhill)	Dufferin District Field	Dave Benning[23][24]
York Region Shooters	Aurora, Ontario (Aurora Village)	Highland Park	Vito Colangelo[25]

Brampton Vaughan London Streetsville Mississauga Durham Ottawa St. Catharines Aurora Hamilton TORONTO class=notpageimage| Location of CPSL teams outside of Toronto for the 2002 CPSL season. Western Conference Eastern Conference

Metro Lions Toronto Supra North York Astros Vaughan Sun Devils class=notpageimage| Location of CPSL teams in Toronto for the 2002 CPSL season. Western Conference Eastern Conference

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ottawa Wizards	19	15	2	2	55	13	+42	47	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Montreal Dynamites	19	11	3	5	44	34	+10	36
3	Metro Lions	19	11	2	6	36	23	+13	35
4	York Region Shooters	19	8	4	7	29	33	−4	28
5	Durham Flames	19	7	2	10	28	44	−16	23
6	Vaughan Sun Devils	19	6	11	2	27	35	−8	29
7	Toronto Supra	19	4	4	11	23	48	−25	16

Updated to match(es) played on October 14, 2001. Source: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports02/02cpwk21.htm
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Croatia	19	10	4	5	36	23	+13	34	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Mississauga Olympians	19	9	5	5	49	30	+19	32
3	Hamilton Thunder	19	8	4	7	31	24	+7	28
4	St. Catharines Roma Wolves	19	6	6	7	35	41	−6	24
5	North York Astros	19	4	6	9	22	42	−20	18	Qualification for Playoffs
6	Brampton Hitmen	19	4	5	10	19	27	−8	17
7	London City	19	2	7	10	22	39	−17	13

Updated to match(es) played on October 14, 2001. Source: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports02/02cpwk21.htm
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Rogers CPSL Championship playoffs

Wildcard

Mississauga Olympians v Hamilton Thunder

October 8, 2002	Mississauga Olympians	3–2	Hamilton Thunder	Toronto, Ontario
8:00 ET	Darren Tilley 62' Hayden Fitzwilliams 68' David Diplacido 117'	(Report)	Jason Crnic 3' Miles O'Connor 25'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Attendance: 50 Referee: Manuel Orellano (Ontario

Montreal Dynamites v Metro Lions

October 16, 2002	Montreal Dynamites	1–3	Metro Lions	Kingston, Ontario
9:00 ET	Kyt Selaidopoulos 30'	(Report)

North York Astros v Mississauga Olympians

October 18, 2002	North York Astros	3–0	Mississauga Olympians	Toronto, Ontario
8:05 ET	Ryan Thompson 11' Maximiliano Andrada 58' Gabriel Salguero 84'	(Report)		Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 100 Referee: Mike Lambert (Ontario

Semifinals

Ottawa Wizards v Metro Lions

October 19, 2002	Ottawa Wizards	1–0	Metro Lions	Toronto, Ontario
2:05 ET	Samir Karaga 83'	(Report)		Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 125 Referee: Manuel Orellano (Ontario

Toronto Croatia v North York Astros

October 19, 2002	Toronto Croatia	0–1	North York Astros	Toronto, Ontario
4:05 ET		(Report)	Guillermo Compton Hall 89'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 150 Referee: Domenic Rosetto (Ontario

Rogers CPSL Championship

October 20

2:05 ET

North York Astros	0–2	Ottawa Wizards
	Report	Hart 46' Slobodan Ilic 89' (og)

Esther Shiner Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 450

Referee: Steve DePierro (Ontario)

GK 1 Luciano Miranda (c) RB 21 Slobodan Ilic  93' CB 14 Kurt Ramsey CB 2 Pablo Politi LB 3 Ryan Thomson RM 15 Zoltan Zsibok CM 19 Gabriel Salguero  87' CM 16 Andrei Malychenkov  79' LM 18 Dejan Gluscevic ST 17 Guillermo Compton Hall[26] ST 7 Lukasz Krakowiak  92' Substitutes: DF 5 Peter Zorbas DF 4 Tom Covello  92' FW 6 Marvin Azzopardi  79' MF 8 Jean Pierre Melotte  87' DF 13 Gurbir Singh  93' MF 20 Maximiliano Andrada Manager: Dejan Gluscevic Pavel Zaslavski

GK 1 Sa Brahima Traore RB 3 Kwame Telemaque CB 18 Shurland David (c) CB 22 Abraham Francois LB 23 James MacMillan RM 17 Urbain Some CM 7 Peter Mponda  88' CM 2 Danny Sanna  91' LM 21 Robin Hart CF 8 Kevin Nelson CF 9 Abraham Osman Substitutes: GK 33 Roberto Canales DF 5 Simon Bonk DF 16 Norm Gates MF 4 Russell Shaw  91' MF 14 Nikola Brkljaca  88' FW 10 Samir Karaga FW 19 Mario Andrijanic Manager: Klaus Linnenbruegger

Rogers CPSL Championship MVP:

Guillermo Compton Hall (North York Astros)

Assistant referees: Amato De Luca Denise Robinson Fourth official: Vito Curalli

All-Star Game

The 2002 CPSL All-Star match was arranged by the German consulate general in Toronto to have TSV 1860 Munich of the Bundesliga to come to Canada.^[27] London City head coach Jurek Gebcznyski was selected to assemble an All-Star roster with Dave Benning, Victor Cameria and Steve Nijjar serving as his assistant coaches. Jimmy Douglas was appointed the general manager for the team.^[28]

May 15, 2002

8:00 pm

CPSL All-Stars	0 - 6	TSV 1860 Munich
	Report	Roman Tyce 15' Markus Schroth 18' Paul Agostino 37' Michael Wiesinger 42' Martin Max 44' Daniel Borimirov 54'

Budd Stadium, Kitchener, Ontario

Referee: Michael Lambert (Ontario)

GK 31 Pieter Meuleman  45' RB 2 Jason Faria CB 3 Danny Sanna CB 4 Peyvand Mossavat LB 11 Bayete Smith RM 15 Gentian Dervishi  56' CM 9 Miles O'Conner CM 12 Abraham Osman  45' LM 8 Phil Ionadi ST 14 Carlo Arghittu  68' ST 16 Jimmy Kuzmanovski  58' Substitutes: GK 1 Luciano Miranda  45' DF 5 Orlando Rizzo  56' DF 6 Tyler Hemming  68' MF 7 Lucio Ianiero  45' MF 10 David Mancini FW 17 Dejan Gluscevic  58' FW 18 Denny Dragonic Manager: Jurek Gebczynski

GK 29 Simon Jentzsch  45' RB 4 Marco Kurz CB 7 Rodrigo Barbosa Rodrigues Costa LB 22 Didier Dheedene  45' RM 14 Michael Wiesinger CM 2 Martin Stranzl CM 17 Daniel Borimirov LM 6 Roman Tyce FW 21 Markus Schroth FW 9 Martin Max FW 18 Paul Agostino  45' Substitutes: GK 1 Michael Hofmann GK 31 Jurgen Wittmann  45' DF 24 Uwe Ehlers  45' DF 44 Torben Hoffmann  45' DF 41 Christian Holzer MF 36 Andreas Gorlitz MF 42 Stefan Kogler MF 26 Marcus Pürk FW 25 Achim Pfuderer Manager: Peter Pacult

Assistant referees: Steve Cahoon Frank Marcello Fourth official: Steve DePierro

2002 scoring leaders

Full article: CSL Golden Boot^[29]

Position	Player's name	Nationality	Club	Goals
1	Darren Tilley	England	Mississauga Olympians	20
2	Kevin Nelson	Trinidad and Tobago	Ottawa Wizards	18
3	Mladen Dikic	Croatia	Toronto Croatia	14
4	Carlo Arghittu	Canada	St. Catharines Wolves	13
5	Gus Kouzmanis	Canada	Vaughan Sun Devils	13
6	Khalid Mensah	Canada	Montreal Dynamites	13
7	Abraham Osman	Uganda	Ottawa Wizards	12
8	Kevin De Serpa	Canada	Mississauga Olympians	8
9	Tom Kouzmanis	Canada	Vaughan Sun Devils	8
10	Kurt Mella	Canada	Brampton Hitmen	8

CPSL Executive Committee

A list of the 2002 CPSL Executive Committee.^[30]

Position	Name	Nationality
President & Chairman:	Vincent Ursini	Canadian
League Administrator/Director of Media:	Stan Adamson[31]	English
Director at Large:	Walter Kirchner	Romanian
Director of Discipline:	Clifford Dell[32]	Canadian
Director of Officials:	Tony Camacho	Portuguese
Administrative Co-ordinator:	Josie Storto	Canadian
Treasurer:	Peter Li Preti	Canadian
Legal Counsel:	Ira Greenspoon	Canadian

Individual awards

Domagoj Sain was named the Defender of the Year

The annual CPSL awards ceremony was held on October 20, 2002, at the Hollywood Princess Convention in Concord, Ontario.^[33] Where the Mississauga Olympians received the most accolades with three wins. Darren Tilley a former English football and USL A-League veteran was given both the CSL Golden Boot and Rookie of the Year. After accumulating the fewest card bookings they received the Fair Play award, their third in the club's history. Toronto Croatia went home with two awards with George Azcurra adding his third Goalkeeper of the Year award to his resume. While Domagoj Sain was named the Defender of the Year.

Abraham Osman of the Ottawa Wizards became the first player to receive the MVP in two straight seasons. After a mediocre start to the season the Metro Lions utilized the services of Aldwyn McGill as manager, who transformed the expansion franchise into a title contender.^[34] While Michael Lambert's work as a match official was recognized by the league with the Referee of the Year award.

Award	Player (Club)
CPSL Most Valuable Player	Abraham Osman[35] (Ottawa Wizards)
CPSL Golden Boot	Darren Tilley (Mississauga Olympians)
CPSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award	George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia)
CPSL Defender of the Year Award	Domagoj Sain (Toronto Croatia)
CPSL Rookie of the Year Award	Darren Tilley (Mississauga Olympians)
CPSL Coach of the Year Award	Aldwyn McGill (Metro Lions)
CPSL Referee of the Year Award	Michael Lambert
CPSL Fair Play Award	Mississauga Olympians

References

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3. Peters, Ken. "CPSL preseason story on Hamilton Thunder from The Spectator". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
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13. "Thunder gets burned by Durham Flames". hamiltonthunder.com. August 9, 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-08-10. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
14. "Metro Lions Football Club 2002". www.caribbeanstars.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
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17. "All time coaches". North York Astros Soccer Club Powered by Goalline Sports Administration Software. Archived from the original on 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
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24. "Thunder Struck". Vaughan Sun Devils / Glen Shields Soccer Club. May 23, 2002. Archived from the original on 2006-05-25. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
25. "inforoster". yorkregionshooters.net. Archived from the original on 2003-02-12. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
26. cucumilstein (2006-07-14). "Compton Hall Guillermo". En Una Baldosa (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
27. Rumleski, Kathy. "London Free Press CPSL column April 26th, 2002". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
28. Glover, Robin (May 15, 2002). "International Friendly CPSL All-Stars vs TSV Munich 1860". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
29. "League statistics 2003-2002". CPSL - Canadian Professional Soccer League. 2003-11-21. Archived from the original on November 21, 2003. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
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35. "Featured player: Abraham Osman of Ottawa Wizards". CPSL - Canadian Professional Soccer League. 2003-08-10. Archived from the original on 2003-08-10. Retrieved 2016-12-31.

External links

• Rocket Robin's Home Page of the 2002 CPSL Season