The 2003 Open Canada Cup was the 6th edition of the Canadian Professional Soccer League's open league cup tournament running from mid May through early September. London City defeated Metro Lions 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the final played at Cove Road Stadium, London, Ontario.[1][2][3] The victory gave London their first piece of silverware and brought an end to the Ottawa Wizards Canada Cup dynasty. The 2003 edition of the Canada Cup was a historical milestone achieved by the CPSL by opening the tournament to all Canadian professional and amateur clubs in order to provide a potential candidate for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and a $10,000 reward for the champion.[4][5][6] The last time a Canadian club competed in the Champions' Cup was in the 1976 CONCACAF Champions' Cup represented by Toronto Italia of the National Soccer League the predecessor league of the CPSL.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Teams | 22 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | London City (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Metro Lions |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 21 |
| Goals scored | 79 (3.76 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) |  Craig Patton (4 goals) |
The tournament featured several clubs from the Ontario League, Ottawa Carleton Soccer League, Western Ontario League, and the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec. The Ontario amateur clubs began the tournament in the preliminary rounds and the CPSL & LSEQ clubs were given a bye to the second round. While defending champions Ottawa Wizards received an automatic bye to the quarterfinals. For the second straight year London City were awarded the hosting rights to the finals which granted them a wild card match if they were defeated in the earlier rounds.[7] Despite the CPSL's successful attempt in organizing a national tournament the competition was without controversy. The controversy stemmed from a dispute involving Ottawa Wizards with the CPSL's board of directors over the hosting rights for the finals.[8][9][10] After failing to confirm their participation in the later rounds of the tournament the league removed Ottawa from the competition, and in return Ottawa threatened to obtain an injunction.[11] The dispute eventually reached the Superior Court of Justice which ruled in favor of the CPSL decision, and allowed the tournament to precede without the participation of Ottawa.[12][13][14]
Qualification edit
| Enter in Preliminary Round | Enter in Second Round | Enter in Quarter-final |
| OSL/OCSL/WOSL 5 teams/1 team/2 teams |
CPSL/LSEQ 12 teams/1 team |
CPSL 1 team |
|
|
|
First round edit
| May 17, 2003 | Kanata (OCSL) | 7–0 | Whitby Iroquois (OSL) | London, Ontario |
| 7:00 ET | Sylvain Cloutier 4' Huffman Eja-Tabe 22' Sylvain Cloutier 28' Pavel Cancura 45' Louie Legakis 52' Huffman Eja-Tabe 62' Manny Mendez 69' |
(Report) | Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| May 18, 2003 | Toronto Benfica (OSL) | 2–1 | Real Richmond Hill (OSL) | London, Ontario |
| 7:00 ET | Philipe Silva 38' Fred Pereira 48' |
(Report) | Stuart Black 89' | Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| May 19, 2003 | Exeter Centennials (WOSL) | 1–3 | Toronto Peniche (OSL) | London, Ontario |
| 7:00 ET | Nathan Davies 48' | (Report) | Alexandre Freixo 2' Adiel Guilherme 39' Jorge Carvalho 70' |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| June 27, 2003 | AEK London (WOSL) | 6–1 | Woodbridge Azzuri (OSL) | London, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | Jim Tsaprailis 4' Jim Tsaprailis Jim Balatsoukas Matt Gallo Xavier Patural Gistard De Gourville |
(Report) | Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
Second round edit
| June 27, 2003 | St. Catharines Wolves (CPSL) | 1–0 | Toronto Benfica (OSL) | St. Catharines, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | Tony Carbonara 32' | (Report) | Stadium: Club Roma Stadium |
| June 28, 2003 | Metro Lions (CPSL) | 3–0 | Brampton Hitmen (CPSL) | Toronto, Ontario |
| 8:00 ET | Darryl Gomez 39' Darryl Gomez 58' Kareem Reynolds 70' |
(Report) | Stadium: Birchmount Stadium |
| June 28, 2003 | Hamilton Thunder (CPSL) | 3–4 | Vaughan Sun Devils (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | Kevin De Serpa 3' Stalin Cardenas 63' Jason Crnic 67' |
(Report) | Aundrea Rollins 2' Bayete Smith 45' Cameron Medwin 60' Matthew Palleschi 77' |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| June 29, 2003 | Toronto Croatia (CPSL) | 2–4 | Toronto Supra (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 4:30 ET | Edin Kalic 14' Josip Bucic 47' |
(Report) | Danny Amaral 38' Avio Silva 51' Jarek Radzinski 62' Michael Di Luca 70' |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| June 29, 2003 | Kanata (OCSL) | 3–2 | FC Levski Montreal (LSEQ) | Carp, Ontario |
| 4:00 ET | (Report) | Stadium: OZ Stadium |
| June 30, 2003 | London City (CPSL) | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Toronto Peniche (OSL) | London, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | Andrew Loague 90' Erik Elmauer 93' |
(Report) | Bruno Real 45' | Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| July 1, 2003 | North York Astros (CPSL) | 0–2 | Durham Flames (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 3:15 ET | (Report) | Jamal Jupiter 38' David Mills 58' |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| July 1, 2003 | AEK London (WOSL) | 2–1 | Mississauga Olympians (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 7:00 ET | Ryan Leigh 37' Matt Gallo 78' |
(Report) | Geoff Attard 86' | Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
Quarter-final edit
| August 1, 2003 | London City (CPSL) | 1–2 | St. Catharines Wolves (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | Tafaj 40' | (Report) | Thomas Latocha 36' Carlo Arghittu 83' |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| August 2, 2003 | Ottawa Wizards (CPSL) | 1–0 | Laval Dynamites (CPSL) | Carp, Ontario |
| 4:00 ET | Peter Mponda 90' | (Report) | Stadium: OZ Stadium |
| August 4, 2003 | Toronto Supra (CPSL) | 0–1 | Kanata (OCSL) | Thornhill, Ontario |
| 3:00 ET | (Report) | Pavel Cancura 86' | Stadium: Dufferin District Field Attendance: 30 Referee: Yahkov Keimach (Ontario) |
| August 4, 2003 | Vaughan Sun Devils (CPSL) | 3–5 | Metro Lions (CPSL) | Thornhill, Ontario |
| 5:30 ET | Fitzroy Powell 11' Paul Sinisi 66' Matthew Palleschi 87' |
(Report) | Hayden Fitzwilliams 3' Craig Patton 6' Michael Levkov 9' Craig Patton 48' Craig Patton 90' |
Stadium: Dufferin District Field |
| August 4, 2003 | Durham Flames (CPSL) | 3–0 | AEK London (WOSL) | Thornhill, Ontario |
| 8:00 ET | Desmond Humphrey 35' Jahmo Welch 81' Desmond Humphrey 93' |
(Report) | Stadium: Dufferin District Field |
Wild Card Game edit
| August 29, 2003 | London City (CPSL) | 4–1 | Durham Flames (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | Andrew Loague 5' Ermal Murataj 55' Andrew Loague 59' Tafaj 74' |
(Report) | Jahmo Welch 25' | Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
Semi-final edit
| August 31, 2003 | St. Catharines Wolves (CPSL) | 1–3 | Metro Lions (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 5:30 ET | Carlo Arghittu 57' | (Report) | Darryl Gomez 6' Hayden Fitzwilliams 38' Darryl Gomez 82' |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
| August 31, 2003 | Kanata (OCSL) | 0–2 | London City (CPSL) | London, Ontario |
| 8:30 ET | (Report) | Erik Elmauer Phil McDonald |
Stadium: Cove Road Stadium |
Final edit
| London City | 1–1 | Metro Lions |
|---|---|---|
Tafaj  30' |
Report | Craig Patton 84' |
| Penalties | ||
Eris Tafaj  Gentian Dervishi Erik Elmauer Luan Jonuzi |
4 – 2 | Kareem Reynolds  Jason Baker Darryl Gomez Hayden Fitzwilliams |
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Man of the Match:
- Justin Medeiros (London City)
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Assistant referees:
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Top scorers edit
| Position | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Patton | Metro Lions | 4 |
| 2 | Eris Tafaj | London City | 3 |
| Darryl Gomez | Metro Lions | 3 | |
| Andrew Loague | London City | 3 |
References edit
- ^ "September 2, 2003 CPSL news from CPSL website". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ DALLA COSTA, Morris. "September 3, 2003 CPSL London City wins Open Canada Cup (summary from London Free Press)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "September 7, 2003 CPSL Open Canada Cup final thoughts (It's Called Futbol)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ Glover, Robin. "May 15, 2003 CPSL press conference in Toronto". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ Terra, Lino. "May 15, 2003 CPSL press conference from Ontario Soccer Web". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "CPSL - Canadian Professional Soccer League". 2003-10-28. Archived from the original on 2003-10-28. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "August 28, 2003 CPSL news from CPSL website". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 24, 2003--CPSL Administrator explains Wizards removal from Open Canada Cup (from It's Called Futbol)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 24, 2003--CPSL--It's Called Futbol interview with Stan Adamson". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 25, 2003--CPSL--interview with Omur Sezerman of Ottawa Wizards from It' Called Futbol". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 22, 2003 CPSL news from CPSL website". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 29, 2003 CPSL news from CPSL website". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 30, 2003 CPSL vs Ottawa Wizards court decision". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "August 31, 2003--CPSL's Freaky Friday (from It's Called Futbol)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.