The 2009/2010 Toronto Futsal League season goes out with a bang this weekend as the Mens 1st and 2nd division playoff championships take place at West Humber Collegiate on Sunday March 21st. Both games will feature stop clock, 3 referees, and will be held on a futsal court that meets FIFA regulations. Opening up the festivities at 11:30am will be the battle for the 2nd division crown between Los Homies and League winners Toronto City Futsal Club.
These two rival squads have gone back and forth at each other all season with each team winning a game by a single goal and drawing 2 others, so we know to expect a really tight and competitive contest out of these two up and comers. With Homies losing their top goalkeeper during the transfer window and City suffering from numerous injuries this should be a whole different game to determine the playoff winners.
In the 1st division, Boca Juniors, fresh off their semi-final win over Club Deportivo Platense, look to complete the triple (OSA Futsal Cup Champions and TFL League Champions) by defeating the vastly improved VP Court Kings, who are coming off one of the biggest upsets of the year when they eliminated the heavily favoured Toronto Impact 6-3 last Sunday. VP have steadily garnered respect each and every game with their cohesive play, tight defense, and never-say-die attitude. Another defeat of a top 5 Canadian team would certainly put them on the radar to teams all over.
The winning team, in addition to receiving bragging rights and the playoff trophy, will win a spot to compete at the London Challenge Cup that takes place over the March 27-28th weekend in London. Every time these two have played this season it has been a chippy affair and VP are hungry for a chance to show that they are one of the top new teams in the province. Kickoff is 1:30pm. You don’t want to miss this one.
In what is easily one of the biggest upsets in Canadian futsal this year, the newly formed VP Court Kings defeated and eliminated the seasoned Toronto Impact 6-3 in the first semi-final on Sunday afternoon.
Owned and operated by Dino Rossi, owner of the 13th Canadian Soccer League franchise Milltown FC (www.milltownfc.com), the Court Kings are a newly setup team consisting of a mix of players that are playing in their first season in the TFL. They closed down the usually explosive Impact offense with a tight box formation and countered whenever they could. An amazing 4 of their 6 goals came from long range chips after the Impact keepers came too far out. It’s not something you see too often from such an experienced side like Toronto, which has numerous players that have represented Canada at international competitions.
The crowd was in absolute shock as they cheered the underdog VP team hoping to eclipse one of Canada’s elite clubs. They continued their composed play and showed tons of heart even when the Impact cut the lead to 3-2 and held on for the 6-3 victory. VP moves on to play Boca Juniors who earlier defeated a resilient Club Deportivo Platense side that lost 9-4. The VP win spoils the plan for what would’ve been a monstrous Game 7 showdown between Impact and Boca, a rivalry that has been vastly popular this season.
In the 2nd division, it was Los Homies overcoming a strong challenge by Atletico Alianza to advance to the finals with a 6-4 win. They will face the team that edged them out for the league title by 3 points, Toronto City Futsal Club. TCFC, whom are facing a rash of injuries and illnesses, defeated a significantly improved Futsallers United side 5-2.
The Championships will take place on March 21st at 11:30am for the 2nd Division and 1:30pm for the 1st Division. Both games will be with a stop clock.
11:30am 2nd Division Playoff Championship
Toronto City Futsal Club vs Los Homies
1:30pm 1st Division Playoff Championship
Boca Juniors vs VP Court Kings
The 5th battle in the Boca Juniors/Toronto Impact war this season was without question a huge titl with a lot on the line. With both teams beating each other twice this season in league play and at the final of Toronto Invitational Futsal Tournament this game was for the league title, the championship plate, and a cool $3000 prize. The games between these two clubs are always intense and this contest was no different. Both teams started off aggressively and the referees immediately issued accumulatives. Both squads played tight and conservatively looking to pick their openings and it wasn’t until midway through the 1st half that the deadlock was broken when a seemingly soft shot from Kevin Correa snuck in the bottom right corner to give Boca the lead. They scored another just 5 minutes after
and took a 2-0 lead going into halftime. The usually potent Impact offense attempted to come out stronger in the 2nd half as goalkeeper Roy Blanche
came in to lead the attack. Blanche spread the ball around the perimeter of the court while the team constantly rotated desperate for scoring opportunities. They finally had one around the 26th minute mark when Jonathon Bustamante had a glorious chance to cut the lead down to 1 but his shot just went wide of the net. Boca continued to play disciplined defence and countered quickly on one Impact mistake that blew the game open 3-0. Boca Juniors would not look back and walked away with a commanding 4-0 victory, the league plate, and, of course, the $3000. Something tells us that this result won’t rest lightly on the Impact’s shoulders and that we may see these two square off once again in the playoff championships.
1st Division Playoff Schedule
Boca Juniors vs Club Deportivo Platense 2:25pm
Toronto Impact vs VP Court Kings 12:20pm
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
1:30 pm West Humber Collegiate- Winners of Semi-Finals
The Toronto City Futsal Club clinched the TFL’s 2nd Division title this past Sunday in fine fashion with a 5-2 defeat of 3rd Atletico Alianza at West Humber CI. It was a tough game for a team who lost 3 key players this season but they were able to stay composed and pick apart the Alianza defence to win the championship plate. Leo Aleksandrov and Matt Pianella had particularly good performances. The team now goes into round 1 of the playoffs against an up and coming Futsallers United squad that clinched the 4th and final playoff spot after the Korean Shootdori lost to Los Homies.
2nd Division Playoff Schedule:
Toronto City Futsal Club vs Futsallers United 1:15pm
Los Homies vs Atletico Alianza 11:30am
Congratulations to the Boca Juniors as they walked out of the OSA Futsal Cup in Ottawa undefeated with a record of 5-0 and more importantly the title! The TFL is very proud to welcome them back this weekend with a small ceremony marking their achievement. Boca will use the momentum gained from title as they get ready to face off against their rivals the Toronto Impact in an epic game this Sunday that will determine the Division 1 League Championship. Come out to see the game of the year!