The 2001 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the fourth season for the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The season began on May 25, 2001 and concluded on October 14, 2001 with St. Catharines Wolves defeating Toronto Supra by a score of 1-0 to win their second CPSL Championship (known as the Rogers CPSL Cup for sponsorship reasons) . The final was hosted in St. Catharines with Club Roma Stadium as the venue, while the match received coverage from Rogers TV. The season saw the league expand to a total of 12 teams, and went beyond the GTA and Ontario border to include a Montreal and Ottawa franchise. Throughout the regular season the Ottawa Wizards became the first club to end the Toronto Olympians league title dynasty. The CPSL also launched the CPSL Soccer Show with Rogers TV providing the broadcasting, and granting Rogers naming rights to the CPSL Championship. Other major sponsors included the Government of Canada, which served as the sole sponsor for the CPSL Rookie of the Year Award. The league also announced a working partnership with the Canadian United Soccer League a task force originally started by the Canadian Soccer Association in order forge a unified professional structure with the cooperation of the Canadian franchises in the USL A-League to launch a Canadian first and second division domestic league.
Changes from 2000 season All 8 clubs from the previous season returned, and the league expanded to include 4 new entries the Brampton Hitmen, Montreal Dynamites, Ottawa Wizards, and Toronto Supra all began play this year. Oshawa Flames changed their name to the Durham Flames in order to represent the entire Durham Region, and received sponsorship from Danone. Toronto Croatia transferred their home venue from Centennial Park Stadium to Memorial Park in Streetsville, Mississauga. Changes to the CPSL executive management committee saw former Director of Media Relations for the Toronto Lynx Stan Adamson appointed to the position of CPSL Director of Media and Public Relations.
Teams
Team City Stadium Manager Brampton Hitmen Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea) Victoria Park Stadium Paul Kitson Durham Flames Oshawa, Ontario (Vanier) Oshawa Civic Stadium Danny Stewart Glen Shields Sun Devils Vaughan, Ontario (Thornhill) Dufferin District Field Dave Benning London City London, Ontario (Westmount) Cove Road Stadium Jurek Gebczynski Montreal Dynamites Laval, Quebec Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne Zoran Jankovic North York Astros Toronto, Ontario (North York) Esther Shiner Stadium Tony LaFerrara Ottawa Wizards Ottawa, Ontario (Carp) OZ Optics Stadium Rasim Kara St. Catharines Wolves St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle) Club Roma Stadium Lucio Ianiero Toronto Croatia Mississauga, Ontario (Streetsville) Memorial Park Bruno Pilaš Toronto Olympians Toronto, Ontario (Scarborough) Birchmount Stadium David Gee Toronto Supra Toronto, Ontario (Brockton) Brockton Stadium Cesar Garcia York Region Shooters Richmond Hill, Ontario (Crosby) Crosby Field Adam Pagliaroli
Final standings
Rogers CPSL Championship playoffs
Wildcard
Semifinals
Consolation final
Rogers CPSL Championship
GK 1 Dino Perri (c) RB 13 Lucio Ianiero CB 2 Dan Gallagher CB 19 Gary Hughes LB 10Tony Carbonara RM 4 Salvatore Borgh CM 16 Andrew McKay CM 14 John SozioLM 22 Gary McGutchanST 9Frank Zumpano ST 18 Carlo Arghittu Substitutes:GK 20 Jay Mason DF 3 Al Reinhart DF 7 Jerry Cipriani DF 21Joe Carbonara MF 11 Andrew Weiring MF 6Keith Moore FW 12 Simon Gatti Manager: Lucio Ianiero
GK 1 Garrett CaldwellRB 21 Jason Faria (c)CB 4 Mike Fedoruk CB 3 Leonardo SimonLB 14 Amilcar Pascoal RM 15 Fred Perreira CM 6 Peyvand Mossavat CM 8 Christian Lombardo LM 10Pedro Dias CF 9Christopher Santos CF 13 Samuel Afriyie Substitutes:GK 12Michael Silva DF 7 Paulo Valdez DF 5Alford James MF 20Francis Righault MF 18Selmir Sehic FW 11 Ryan Gamble FW 16Steven Coito Manager:Victor Cameira
Rogers CPSL Championship MVP: Garrett Caldwell (Toronto Supra) Danny Gallagher (St. Catharines Roma Wolves) Assistant referees: Steve Cahoon Domenic Rossetto Fourth official: Vito Curalli
All-Star game For the 2001 season the CPSL administration arranged two all-star matches for the league. In order to prepare for the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie the Morocco national under-23 football team expressed a desire to play a solid Canadian team. Subsequently, the Canadian Soccer Association requested the CPSL to arrange a select team for the match. The second match consisted of a CPSL All-Star team against C.S. Marítimo of the Primeira Liga.
+ CPSL Selects Pos. Name Team Squad GK Dino Perri St. Catharines Roma Wolves D Bayete Smith Toronto Olympians D Danny Sanna Toronto Olympians D Kurt Ramsey North York Astros D Kwame Telamaque Ottawa Wizards MF Lucio Ianiero St. Catharines Roma Wolves MF Dejan Gluscevic (c) North York Astros MF Goran Zankovic North York Astros MF Leo Incollingo Montreal Dynamites F Jerry Pean Montreal Dynamites F Willy Giummarra Toronto Olympians Squad GK Richard Goddard Ottawa Wizards D Russell Shaw Ottawa Wizards D Andrew Waring Ottawa Wizards D Gary Hughes St. Catharines Roma Wolves MF Orlando Rizzo York Region Shooters MF Dave McDonald Glen Shields Sun Devils F John Matas Toronto Olympians F Jimmy Kuzmanovski Durham Flames F Mario Andrijanic Ottawa Wizards F Marc Enguene Ottawa Wizards Head coach Tony La Ferrara North York Astros
+ CPSL All-Stars Pos. Name Team Squad GK Dino Perri St. Catharines Roma Wolves D Bayete Smith Toronto Olympians D Tony Marshall Toronto Olympians D Danny Sanna Toronto Olympians D Tyler Hemming London City MF Willy Giummarra Toronto Olympians MF Lucio Ianiero (c) St. Catharines Roma Wolves MF O'Neil Brown Durham Flames MF Gentjan Dervishi London City F Eddy Berdusco Toronto Olympians F Carlo Arghittu St. Catharines Roma Wolves Squad GK Brian Bowes Toronto Olympians D Kurt Ramsey North York Astros D Danny Gallagher St. Catharines Roma Wolves D Dave McDonald Glen Shields Sun Devils D Peyvand Mossavat Toronto Supra MF Marcelo Garcia North York Astros MF Orlando Rizzo York Region Shooters MF Leo Incollingo Montreal Dynamites MF Samir Karaga Toronto Croatia MF Phil Ionadi Brampton Hitmen F John Matas Toronto Olympians F Ryan Gamble Toronto Supra F Semir Mesanovic London City F Sanjeev Parmar Ottawa Wizards Head coach Tony La Ferrara North York Astros
2001 scoring leaders Full article: CSL Golden Boot Position Player's name Nationality Club Goals 1 Kevin Nelson Ottawa Wizards 23 2 Abraham Osman Ottawa Wizards 17 3 Samuel Afriyie Toronto Supra 15 4 Frank Zumpano St. Catharines Wolves 14 5 Eddy Berdusco Toronto Olympians 12 6 Bruno Nue Montreal Dynamites 12 7 Ryan Gamble Toronto Supra 11 8 Gary Hughes St. Catharines Wolves 10 9 Peter Curic Toronto Croatia 9 10 Dejan Gluscevic FR Yugoslavia North York Astros 9
CPSL Executive Committee The 2001 CPSL Executive Committee. PositionNameNationalityChairman: Vincent Ursini CanadianDirector of Operations: Chris Bellamy CanadianDirector of Discipline: Clifford Dell CanadianDirector of Officials: Tony Camacho PortugueseTreasurer: Peter Li Preti CanadianLegal Counsel: Ira Greenspoon Canadian
Individual awards
The annual CPSL awards ceremony was held on October 14, 2001 at Club Roma in St. Catharines, Ontario. Expansion franchise Ottawa Wizards received the most awards with 3 wins. Trinidadian journeyman Kevin Nelson went home with both the Golden Boot, and the Rookie of the Year. While his teammate Abraham Osman was given the MVP. George Azcurra shared his second Goalkeeper of the Year award with Luciano Miranda.
Kurt Ramsey of the North York Astros won the Defender of the Year, and former Montreal Impact manager Zoran Jankovic went home with the Coach of the Year. Amato De Luca who later refereed matches at the international level and Major League Soccer was named the Referee of the Year. Durham Flames received the Fair Play award. Award Player (Club) CPSL Most Valuable Player Abraham Osman (Ottawa Wizards) CPSL Golden Boot Kevin Nelson (Ottawa Wizards) CPSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia) Luciano Miranda (North York Astros) CPSL Defender of the Year Award Kurt Ramsey (North York Astros) CPSL Rookie of the Year Award Kevin Nelson (Ottawa Wizards) CPSL Coach of the Year Award Zoran Jankovic (Montreal Dynamites) CPSL Referee of the Year Award Amato De Luca CPSL Fair Play Award Durham Flames
References
External links Rocket Robin's Home Page of the 2001 CPSL Season