# 2002 Canadian Professional Soccer League season

The 2002 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the fifth season for the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The season began on May 23, 2002, and concluded on October 20, 2002, with Ottawa Wizards becoming the first expansion franchise to win the CPSL Championship (known as the Rogers CPSL Cup for sponsorship reasons) by defeating the North York Astros 2–0. For the first time the final was hosted at Esther Shiner Stadium, which granted the hosts the North York Astros a wildcard match. As the league was divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences the Wizards clinched the Eastern title, while Toronto Croatia won the Western Conference. The expansion of the league saw the return of professional soccer to Hamilton, and the addition of another Toronto franchise. On February 26, 2002, the CPSL signed a player agreement deal with the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League, which provided the Lynx access in order to use CPSL talent and provide players an opportunity to play at a higher level.

## Changes from 2001 season

For the second straight season the CPSL expanded to 14 clubs to include the Hamilton Thunder and Metro Lions. Due to the increase of teams the CPSL management split the league into two Conferences the Eastern and Western. The Toronto Olympians moved to Erin Mills, Mississauga, which opened the Scarborough territory to the Metro Lions. Changes occurred in the York Region territory with Glen Shields changing their team name to Vaughan Sun Devils in order to fully represent the city of Vaughan. Meanwhile, their rivals the York Region Shooters were sold to Tony De Thomasis, and relocated the team to their original home at Highland Park in Aurora. While former Hamilton Bulldogs president Cary Kaplan was hired as a Management Consultant for the league.

## Teams

| Team | City | Stadium | Manager |
| Brampton Hitmen | Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea) | Victoria Park Stadium | Ed McLaughlin |
| Durham Flames | Oshawa, Ontario (Vanier) | Oshawa Civic Stadium | Steve Hamill |
| London City | London, Ontario (Westmount) | Cove Road Stadium | Jurek Gebczynski |
| Hamilton Thunder | Hamilton, Ontario | Brian Timmis Stadium | Marko Maschke |
| Metro Lions | Toronto, Ontario (Scarborough) | Birchmount Stadium | Anthony La Ferrara |
| Mississauga Olympians | Mississauga, Ontario (Erin Mills) | Erin Mills Twin Arenas | David Gee |
| Montreal Dynamites | Laval, Quebec | Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne | Mohamed Hilen |
| North York Astros | Toronto, Ontario (North York) | Esther Shiner Stadium | Pavel Zaslavski Dejan Gluscevic |
| Ottawa Wizards | Ottawa, Ontario (Carp) | OZ Optics Stadium | Klaus Linnenbruegger |
| St. Catharines Wolves | St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle) | Club Roma Stadium | Lucio Ianiero |
| Toronto Croatia | Mississauga, Ontario (Streetsville) | Memorial Park | Zarko Brala |
| Toronto Supra | Toronto, Ontario (Brockton) | Centennial Park Stadium | Victor Cameira |
| Vaughan Sun Devils | Vaughan, Ontario (Thornhill) | Dufferin District Field | Dave Benning |
| York Region Shooters | Aurora, Ontario (Aurora Village) | Highland Park | Vito Colangelo |

## Final standings
### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ottawa Wizards | 19 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 55 | 13 | +42 | 47 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 2 | Montreal Dynamites | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 36 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 3 | Metro Lions | 19 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 36 | 23 | +13 | 35 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 4 | York Region Shooters | 19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 28 | |
| 5 | Durham Flames | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 28 | 44 | −16 | 23 | |
| 6 | Vaughan Sun Devils | 19 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 29 | |
| 7 | Toronto Supra | 19 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 48 | −25 | 16 | |

### Western Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Toronto Croatia | 19 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 23 | +13 | 34 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 2 | Mississauga Olympians | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 30 | +19 | 32 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 3 | Hamilton Thunder | 19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 28 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 4 | St. Catharines Roma Wolves | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 24 | |
| 5 | North York Astros | 19 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 18 | Qualification for Playoffs |
| 6 | Brampton Hitmen | 19 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 27 | −8 | 17 | |
| 7 | London City | 19 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 39 | −17 | 13 | |

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

| GK | 1 | Luciano Miranda (c) | |
| RB | 21 | Slobodan Ilic | 93' |
| CB | 14 | Kurt Ramsey | |
| CB | 2 | Pablo Politi | |
| LB | 3 | Ryan Thomson | |
| RM | 15 | Zoltan Zsibok | |
| CM | 19 | Gabriel Salguero | 87' |
| CM | 16 | Andrei Malychenkov | 79' |
| LM | 18 | Dejan Gluscevic |
| ST | 17 | Guillermo Compton Hall | |
| ST | 7 | Lukasz Krakowiak | 92' |
| Substitutes: ||
| DF | 5 | Peter Zorbas | |
| DF | 4 | Tom Covello | 92' |
| FW | 6 | Marvin Azzopardi | 79' |
| MF | 8 | Jean Pierre Melotte | 87' |
| DF | 13 | Gurbir Singh | 93' |
| MF | 20 | Maximiliano Andrada | |
| Manager: ||
| Dejan Gluscevic Pavel Zaslavski ||
| GK | 1 | Sa Brahima Traore |
| RB | 3 | Kwame Telemaque |
| CB | 18 | Shurland David (c) | |
| CB | 22 | Abraham Francois |
| LB | 23 | James MacMillan | |
| RM | 17 | Urbain Some | |
| CM | 7 | Peter Mponda | 88' |
| CM | 2 | Danny Sanna | 91' |
| LM | 21 | Robin Hart | |
| CF | 8 | Kevin Nelson | |
| CF | 9 | Abraham Osman | |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 33 | Roberto Canales | |
| DF | 5 | Simon Bonk | |
| DF | 16 | Norm Gates | |
| MF | 4 | Russell Shaw | 91' |
| MF | 14 | Nikola Brkljaca | 88' |
| FW | 10 | Samir Karaga | |
| FW | 19 | Mario Andrijanic | |
| Manager: ||
| Klaus Linnenbruegger ||
Rogers CPSL Championship MVP:
    Guillermo Compton Hall (North York Astros)
* Assistant referees:
* Amato De Luca
* Denise Robinson
* Fourth official:
* Vito Curalli

## All-Star Game

The 2002 CPSL All-Star match was arranged by the German consulate general in Toronto to have TSV 1860 Munich of the Bundesliga to come to Canada. London City head coach Jurek Gebcznyski was selected to assemble an All-Star roster with Dave Benning, Victor Cameria and Steve Nijjar serving as his assistant coaches. Jimmy Douglas was appointed the general manager for the team.
| GK | 31 | Pieter Meuleman | 45' |
| RB | 2 | Jason Faria |
| CB | 3 | Danny Sanna |
| CB | 4 | Peyvand Mossavat | |
| LB | 11 | Bayete Smith | |
| RM | 15 | Gentian Dervishi | 56' |
| CM | 9 | Miles O'Conner |
| CM | 12 | Abraham Osman | 45' |
| LM | 8 | Phil Ionadi | |
| ST | 14 | Carlo Arghittu | 68' |
| ST | 16 | Jimmy Kuzmanovski | 58' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 1 | Luciano Miranda | 45' |
| DF | 5 | Orlando Rizzo | 56' |
| DF | 6 | Tyler Hemming | 68' |
| MF | 7 | Lucio Ianiero | 45' |
| MF | 10 | David Mancini | |
| FW | 17 | Dejan Gluscevic | 58' |
| FW | 18 | Denny Dragonic | |
| Manager: ||
| Jurek Gebczynski ||
| GK | 29 | Simon Jentzsch | 45' |
| RB | 4 | Marco Kurz | |
| CB | 7 | Rodrigo Barbosa Rodrigues Costa |
| LB | 22 | Didier Dheedene | 45' |
| RM | 14 | Michael Wiesinger | |
| CM | 2 | Martin Stranzl | |
| CM | 17 | Daniel Borimirov | |
| LM | 6 | Roman Tyce | |
| FW | 21 | Markus Schroth | |
| FW | 9 | Martin Max | |
| FW | 18 | Paul Agostino | 45' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 1 | Michael Hofmann | |
| GK | 31 | Jurgen Wittmann | 45' |
| DF | 24 | Uwe Ehlers | 45' |
| DF | 44 | Torben Hoffmann | 45' |
| DF | 41 | Christian Holzer | |
| MF | 36 | Andreas Gorlitz | |
| MF | 42 | Stefan Kogler | |
| MF | 26 | Marcus Pürk | |
| FW | 25 | Achim Pfuderer | |
| Manager: ||
| Peter Pacult ||
* Assistant referees:
* Steve Cahoon
* Frank Marcello
* Fourth official:
* Steve DePierro

## 2002 scoring leaders

    Full article: CSL Golden Boot
| Position | Player's name | Nationality | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Darren Tilley | England | Mississauga Olympians | 20 |
| 2 | Kevin Nelson | Trinidad and Tobago | Ottawa Wizards | 18 |
| 3 | Mladen Dikic | Croatia | Toronto Croatia | 14 |
| 4 | Carlo Arghittu | Canada | St. Catharines Wolves | 13 |
| 5 | Gus Kouzmanis | Canada | Vaughan Sun Devils | 13 |
| 6 | Khalid Mensah | Canada | Montreal Dynamites | 13 |
| 7 | Abraham Osman | Uganda | Ottawa Wizards | 12 |
| 8 | Kevin De Serpa | Canada | Mississauga Olympians | 8 |
| 9 | Tom Kouzmanis | Canada | Vaughan Sun Devils | 8 |
| 10 | Kurt Mella | Canada | Brampton Hitmen | 8 |

## CPSL Executive Committee

A list of the 2002 CPSL Executive Committee.

## Individual awards

The annual CPSL awards ceremony was held on October 20, 2002, at the Hollywood Princess Convention in Concord, Ontario. Where the Mississauga Olympians received the most accolades with three wins. Darren Tilley a former English football and USL A-League veteran was given both the CSL Golden Boot and Rookie of the Year. After accumulating the fewest card bookings they received the Fair Play award, their third in the club's history. Toronto Croatia went home with two awards with George Azcurra adding his third Goalkeeper of the Year award to his resume. While Domagoj Sain was named the Defender of the Year.
Abraham Osman of the Ottawa Wizards became the first player to receive the MVP in two straight seasons. After a mediocre start to the season the Metro Lions utilized the services of Aldwyn McGill as manager, who transformed the expansion franchise into a title contender. While Michael Lambert's work as a match official was recognized by the league with the Referee of the Year award.
| Award | Player (Club) |
| CPSL Most Valuable Player | Abraham Osman (Ottawa Wizards) |
| CPSL Golden Boot | Darren Tilley (Mississauga Olympians) |
| CPSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award | George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia) |
| CPSL Defender of the Year Award | Domagoj Sain (Toronto Croatia) |
| CPSL Rookie of the Year Award | Darren Tilley (Mississauga Olympians) |
| CPSL Coach of the Year Award | Aldwyn McGill (Metro Lions) |
| CPSL Referee of the Year Award | Michael Lambert |
| CPSL Fair Play Award | Mississauga Olympians |