# 1998 CPSL League Cup

The 1998 CPSL League Cup was the inaugural edition of the Canadian Professional Soccer League's league cup tournament running from July through late September. The tournament final was played in a two-game series final at Club Roma Stadium in St. Catharines, Ontario, and at Birchmount Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. The tournament was won by the Toronto Olympians after defeating St. Catharines Roma Wolves 3-0 on goals on aggregate.

## Overview

After proposals made in 1996 by the USL A-League to create an open cup competition within Canada failed to materialize the newly formed Canadian Professional Soccer League launched the CPSL League Cup in 1998 as the successor league cup to the Canadian National Soccer League's. Though initially the tournament was restricted to CPSL member clubs plans were formulated for future participation of USL A-League Canadian franchises and the champions of the various top provincial leagues. Eventually the league's objective would be reached in the 2003 Open Canada Cup as the tournament officially became open to all Canadian professional and amateur clubs in order to provide a potential candidate for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The original format of the tournament was organized into a group stage with the two top teams advancing to the semifinals.

## Group stage
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
| Glen Shields | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 3 | +16 | 16 | Advanced to the semi-final |
| North York Astros | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 10 | |
| Toronto Croatia | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 9 | |
| London City SC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 24 | −19 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
| Toronto Olympians | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 16 | Advanced to the semi-final |
| St. Catharines Roma Wolves | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 11 | |
| York Region Shooters | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 4 | |
| Mississauga Eagles P.S.C. | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 23 | −13 | 3 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| A2 | St. Catharines Roma Wolves | 5 | 1 | 6 | | | | | |
| B1 | Glen Shields | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| B1 | Glen Shields | 1 | 0 | 1 | St. Catharines Roma Wolves | St. Catharines Roma Wolves | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | Toronto Olympians | Toronto Olympians | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| B2 | North York Astros | 0 | 1 | 1 | Toronto Olympians | Toronto Olympians | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| A1 | Toronto Olympians | 5 | 1 | 9 | | | | | |

### Semi-finals

St. Catharines won 6–1 on aggregate.
Toronto won 9–1 on aggregate.

### Finals

| GK | 1 | Brian Bowes | |
| RB | 20 | Danny Ziannis |
| CB | 4 | Ian Cardey |
| LB | 5 | Tony Marshall |
| CM | 16 | Daryl Holmes | 82' |
| RM | 17 | John Matas | |
| CM | 6 | Peyvand Mossavat | |
| CM | 7 | Gong Lei | 72' |
| LM | 10 | Chris Handsor | 82' |
| ST | 23 | Eddy Berdusco | |
| ST | 11 | Gus Kouzmanis | |
| Substitutes: ||
| DF | 15 | Louie Katsavrias | 82' |
| DF | 12 | Louie Ouroutzaglou | 82' |
| MF | 8 | Bayete Smith | 72' |
| MF | 2 | Ian Carter | |
| Manager: ||
| David Gee ||
| GK | 1 | Dino Perri | 45' |
| RB | 3 | Joe Carbonara | 69' |
| CB | 7 | John McNeil |
| CB | 6 | Keith Moore | |
| LB | 4 | Albert Reinhart | 45' |
| RM | 8 | Pat Dugas | |
| CM | 13 | Lucio Ianiero |
| CM | 22 | Gary McGuchan | |
| LM | 10 | Tony Carbonara | |
| ST | 18 | Carlo Arghittu | |
| ST | 14 | Anwar Ahmao | 32' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 21 | Brian MacDonald | 45' |
| MF | 17 | Marco Antonio Marino | 69' |
| FW | 15 | Luciano Berarocco | |
| FW | 9 | Jerry Cipriani | 32' |
| Manager: ||
| Dino Perri ||
* Assistant referees:
* Silviu Petrescu
* Amato DeLuca
* Fourth official:
* Manuel Orellana
Toronto won 3–0 on aggregate.