# 2001 Canadian Professional Soccer League season

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 Pilas |
| 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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ottawa Wizards | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 51 | 16 | +35 | 51 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 2 | Toronto Olympians | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 50 | 21 | +29 | 46 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 3 | Toronto Supra | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 44 | 22 | +22 | 41 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 4 | Montreal Dynamites | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 39 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 5 | St. Catharines Roma Wolves | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 28 | +15 | 38 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 6 | Toronto Croatia | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 35 | |
| 7 | Glen Shields Sun Devils | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 30 | 43 | −13 | 27 | |
| 8 | Brampton Hitmen | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 41 | −13 | 26 | |
| 9 | North York Astros | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 24 | |
| 10 | Durham Flames | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 24 | |
| 11 | York Region Shooters | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 29 | 58 | −29 | 15 | |
| 12 | London City | 22 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 19 | 66 | −47 | 9 | |

## Rogers CPSL Championship playoffs
### Rogers CPSL Championship

| GK | 1 | Dino Perri (c) | |
| RB | 13 | Lucio Ianiero | 27' |
| CB | 2 | Dan Gallagher | |
| CB | 19 | Gary Hughes | |
| LB | 10 | Tony Carbonara | |
| RM | 4 | Salvatore Borgh | 58' |
| CM | 16 | Andrew McKay | 72' |
| CM | 14 | John Sozio |
| LM | 22 | Gary McGutchan |
| ST | 9 | Frank Zumpano | |
| ST | 18 | Carlo Arghittu | 76' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 20 | Jay Mason | |
| DF | 3 | Al Reinhart | |
| DF | 7 | Jerry Cipriani | 76' |
| DF | 21 | Joe Carbonara | 27' |
| MF | 11 | Andrew Weiring | 72' |
| MF | 6 | Keith Moore | 58' |
| FW | 12 | Simon Gatti | |
| Manager: ||
| Lucio Ianiero ||
| GK | 1 | Garrett Caldwell |
| RB | 21 | Jason Faria (c) |
| CB | 4 | Mike Fedoruk | 116' |
| CB | 3 | Leonardo Simon |
| LB | 14 | Amilcar Pascoal | |
| RM | 15 | Fred Perreira | 45' |
| CM | 6 | Peyvand Mossavat | |
| CM | 8 | Christian Lombardo | 57' |
| LM | 10 | Pedro Dias | |
| CF | 9 | Christopher Santos | 24' |
| CF | 13 | Samuel Afriyie | |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Michael Silva | |
| DF | 7 | Paulo Valdez | 45' |
| DF | 5 | Alford James | |
| MF | 20 | Francis Righault | 57' |
| MF | 18 | Selmir Sehic | |
| FW | 11 | Ryan Gamble | 24' |
| FW | 16 | Steven Coito | 116' |
| 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 | Trinidad and Tobago | Ottawa Wizards | 23 |
| 2 | Abraham Osman | Uganda | Ottawa Wizards | 17 |
| 3 | Samuel Afriyie | Canada | Toronto Supra | 15 |
| 4 | Frank Zumpano | Canada | St. Catharines Wolves | 14 |
| 5 | Eddy Berdusco | Canada | Toronto Olympians | 12 |
| 6 | Bruno Nue | Canada | Montreal Dynamites | 12 |
| 7 | Ryan Gamble | Canada | Toronto Supra | 11 |
| 8 | Gary Hughes | Canada | St. Catharines Wolves | 10 |
| 9 | Peter Curic | Canada | Toronto Croatia | 9 |
| 10 | Dejan Gluscevic | Serbia | North York Astros | 9 |

## CPSL Executive Committee

The 2001 CPSL Executive Committee.

## 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 |