1995 Canadian National Soccer League season

The 1995 Canadian National Soccer League season was the seventy third season for the Canadian National Soccer League. The season began on May 26, 1995 with London City facing Scarborough Astros at Cove Road Stadium.The season concluded on November 2, 1995, with St. Catharines Wolves claiming their second CNSL Championship after defeating Toronto Jets in a two-game series.[1]

Canadian National Soccer League

Season	1995
Champions	Toronto Jets (regular season) St. Catharines Wolves (playoffs, 2nd title)
League cup	St. Catharines Wolves
Matches played	30
Goals scored	98 (3.27 per match)
Top goalscorer	Laszlo Martonfi (12)
Biggest home win	St. Catharines Wolves 7-1 Hamilton White Eagles (September 6, 1995)
Biggest away win	Hamilton White Eagles 0-5 Toronto Jets (September 17, 1995)
Highest scoring	St. Catharines Wolves 7-1 Hamilton White Eagles (September 6, 1995)
← 1994 1996 →

The season saw a reduction in membership with the league being solely represented in the province of Ontario. After the advent of the Canadian International Soccer League (Puma League) the CNSL faced competition as the Puma League was centered around the Toronto area with ethnic based teams.[2] The All-Star match was noteworthy as the league representatives faced the 1994–95 UEFA Cup champions Parma FC.[3]

Overview

The membership in the league decreased to six teams with all the clubs located in Ontario within the Golden Horseshoe area. The single new addition was the return of professional soccer to Hamilton represented by the Hamilton White Eagles.[4]

The league faced competition from the newly formed Canadian International Soccer League (Puma League), which received sponsorship from Puma.[5] The Puma League was centered around the Toronto area with ethnic based teams, and were able to attract Toronto Croatia in defecting.[6][5] Former league commissioner, and Toronto Italia owner Rocco Lofranco resigned, and the league took over the Toronto franchise.[7] Reports suggested that Lofranco had intentions of acquiring the franchise rights of the Toronto Rockets in order to receive entry into the American Professional Soccer League, but the Rockets ownership refused to relinquish their territorial rights.[8]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Hamilton White Eagles	Hamilton, Ontario	Brian Timmis Stadium	Lou Nagy[9]
London City	London, Ontario	Cove Road Stadium	Ian Mahoney[10]
Scarborough Astros	Scarborough, Ontario	Birchmount Stadium	Jorge Armua[11]
St. Catharines Wolves	St. Catharines, Ontario	Club Roma Stadium	Mark Konert
Toronto Italia	Etobicoke, Ontario	Centennial Park Stadium	David Gee[12]
Toronto Jets	North York, Ontario	Esther Shiner Stadium	Vince Solomita[13]

London St. Catharines Hamilton TORONTO Location of CNSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1995 CNSL season.

Scarborough Toronto Jets Toronto Italia Location of CNSL teams in Toronto for the 1995 CNSL season.

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Jets (C)	10	6	2	2	23	13	+10	20	Qualification for Playoffs
2	St. Catharines Wolves (O)	9	6	1	2	24	12	+12	19
3	Toronto Italia	10	4	3	3	19	16	+3	15
4	London City	10	4	1	5	10	15	−5	13
5	Scarborough Astros	10	2	4	4	12	15	−3	10
6	Hamilton White Eagles	9	1	1	7	10	27	−17	4

Updated to match(es) played on October 21, 1995. Source: [14]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner.

Playoffs

Finals

30 October 1995 (1995-10-30)

St. Catharines Wolves	1–1	Toronto Jets
	Report

Club Roma Stadium, St. Catharines, Ontario

2 November 1995 (1995-11-02)

20:00 ET

Toronto Jets	1–2	St. Catharines Wolves
Zomparelli  87'	Report	Moore  51' Walker  56'

Esther Shiner Stadium, North York, Ontario

Attendance: 30

Referee: Tony Camacho

GK 1 Joe Ciaravino RB 3 John Annisi CB 5 Tom Perks [15] CB 4 Richard Alexander [16] LB 2 John Vidovich RM 8 Orlando Rizzo CM 7 Garvin Houston CM 13 Vince Cancelliere  59' LM 11 Marco Antonucci[17] ST 10 Jack Zomparelli ST 15 Tony Zanini Substitutes: GK 12 Aldo Aiudi DF 14 Lou Fiaccola MF 16 Lino Solomita MF 6 Miguel Ferraira FW 9 Robert Marcucci  59'

GK 23 Dino Perri[18] RB 2 Tony Carbonaro  45' CB 3 McIver Broomes CB 12 Adrian Prenc LB 5 John McNeil RM 14 Gary McGuchan  74' CM 7 Chris Handsor CM 13 Lucio Ianiero LM 10 Cameron Walker ST 11 Carlo Arghittu ST 16 John Williams[19] Substitutes: GK 1 Lee Burrows DF 6 Clay Holmes  74' MF 8 Mark Konert FW 9 Paul Moore  45' Manager: Mark Konert

St. Catharines won 3–2 on aggregate.

Cup

The cup tournament (known as the Umbro Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all six teams took part. All the matches were separate from the regular season. Teams played each other once home and away in the Cup competition, and the first and second place teams would play a singles match for the Cup.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Scarborough Astros	10	6	4	0	21	8	+13	22	Qualification for Playoffs
2	St. Catharines Wolves (C)	10	5	2	3	15	10	+5	17
3	Toronto Jets	10	4	3	3	12	9	+3	15
4	Toronto Italia	10	4	2	4	20	21	−1	14
5	Hamilton White Eagles	10	2	2	6	16	25	−9	8
6	London City	10	1	3	6	12	23	−11	6

Updated to match(es) played on October 21, 1995. Source: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/soccer14.htm
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.

Matches

Toronto Italia v Scarborough Astros

June 5, 1995	Toronto Italia	1–5	Scarborough Astros	Etobicoke, Ontario
	Jin Rii  79'	Report	Gary DeLeon  11' Lazlo Martonfi  15',  69' Michael Marshall  85'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Attendance: 700 Referee: Julio Chewacco

St. Catharines Wolves v London City

June 6, 1995	St. Catharines Wolves	2–1	London City	St. Catharines, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Club Roma Stadium

Toronto Italia v St. Catharines Wolves

June 12, 1995	Toronto Italia	2–3	St. Catharines Wolves	Etobicoke, Ontario
	Maradona  20'	Report	Moore  22' Tony Carbonara  30'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Attendance: 300

London City v Toronto Jets

June 16, 1995	London City	0–1	Toronto Jets	London, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

Scarborough Astros v Hamilton White Eagles

June 18, 1995	Scarborough Astros	2–2	Hamilton White Eagles	Scarborough, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Birchmount Stadium

St. Catharines Wolves v Hamilton White Eagles

June 21, 1995	St. Catharines Wolves	3–1	Hamilton White Eagles	St. Catharines, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Club Roma Stadium

Toronto Jets v Scarborough Astros

June 22, 1995	Toronto Jets	1–3	Scarborough Astros	North York, Ontario
	Gioia  59'	Report	Gary DeLeon  55',  95' Carvelles  89'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 400

London City v St. Catharines Wolves

June 23, 1995	London City	0–2	St. Catharines Wolves	London, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

St. Catharines Wolves v Toronto Jets

June 27, 1995	St. Catharines Wolves	0–2	Toronto Jets	St. Catharines, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Club Roma Stadium

London City v Hamilton White Eagles

June 30, 1995	London City	3–3	Hamilton White Eagles	London, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

Hamilton White Eagles v Toronto Jets

July 2, 1995	Hamilton White Eagles	0–3	Toronto Jets	Hamilton, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium

Hamilton White Eagles v St. Catharines Wolves

July 9, 1995	Hamilton White Eagles	2–1	St. Catharines Wolves	Hamilton, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium

Scarborough Astros v Toronto Italia

July 9, 1995	Scarborough Astros	1–1	Toronto Italia	Scarborough, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Birchmount Stadium

London City v Toronto Italia

July 14, 1995	London City	1–3	Toronto Italia	London, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

Scarborough Astros v St. Catharines Wolves

July 16, 1995	Scarborough Astros	1–1	St. Catharines Wolves	Scarborough, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Birchmount Stadium

Toronto Italia v Toronto Jets

July 17, 1995	Toronto Italia	1–1	Toronto Jets	Etobicoke, Ontario
	Maradona  82'	Report	Tom Perks  83'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Attendance: 700 Referee: Tony Camacho

St. Catharines Wolves v Scarborough Astros

July 18, 1995	St. Catharines Wolves	0–1	Scarborough Astros	St. Catharines, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Club Roma Stadium

Scarborough Astros v Toronto Jets

July 23, 1995	Scarborough Astros	1–0	Toronto Jets	Scarborough, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Birchmount Stadium

Toronto Jets v Hamilton White Eagles

July 27, 1995	Toronto Jets	3–1	Hamilton White Eagles	North York, Ontario
20:00	Orlando Rizzo  49' Jack Zomparelli  81' Robert Marcucci  87'	Report	Zoran Zubic  42'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Referee: Hugh Elliot

Hamilton White Eagles v Scarborough Astros

August 6, 1995	Hamilton White Eagles	1–2	Scarborough Astros	Hamilton, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium

Toronto Italia v London City

August 7, 1995	Toronto Italia	4–2	London City	Etobicoke, Ontario
20:00	Mike Palmitta  47' Maradona  75' Crljen 76' Nick Maxwell  79'	Report	John Bottineau  55' Ian Mahoney  72'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Attendance: 400 Referee: Mike Fretanovich

Scarborough Astros v London City

August 20, 1995	Scarborough Astros	4–0	London City	Scarborough, Ontario
	Laszlo Martonfi  1',  69' Hanna  53' Audley Taffe  88'	Report		Stadium: Birchmount Stadium Referee: Glen Sharkey

Toronto Italia v Hamilton White Eagles

August 21, 1995	Toronto Italia	1–3	Hamilton White Eagles	Etobicoke, Ontario
20:00	Nick Maxwell  77'	Report	Sasa Vukovic  21' Zoran Zubic  51' Tommy Fiore  83'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Referee: Frank Marcello

Toronto Jets v Hamilton White Eagles

August 24, 1995	Toronto Jets	0–0	Hamilton White Eagles	North York, Ontario
20:00		Report		Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 100

London City v Scarborough Astros

August 25, 1995	London City	1–1	Scarborough Astros	London, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

Hamilton White Eagles v London City

August 27, 1995	Hamilton White Eagles	2–3	London City	Hamilton, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium

St. Catharines Wolves v Toronto Italia

August 29, 1995	St. Catharines Wolves	3–1	Toronto Italia	St. Catharines, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Club Roma Stadium

Toronto Jets v Toronto Italia

August 31, 1995	Toronto Jets	1–2	Toronto Italia	North York, Ontario
20:00	Jack Zomparelli  26'	Report	Igor Ciric  21' Mike Palmitta  36'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 200 Referee: James Bainbridge

Hamilton White Eagles v Toronto Italia

September 10, 1995	Hamilton White Eagles	1–4	Toronto Italia	Hamilton, Ontario
		Report		Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium

Toronto Jets v London City

September 28, 1995	Toronto Jets	1–1	London City	North York, Ontario
20:00	Marco Antonucci  76'	Report	John Bottineau  75'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 40 Referee: Gord Arrowsmith

Finals

10 October 1995 (1995-10-10)

St. Catharines Wolves	0–0	Scarborough Astros
	Report

Club Roma Stadium, St. Catharines, Ontario

15 October 1995 (1995-10-15)

Scarborough Astros	0–0 (a.e.t.)	St. Catharines Wolves
	Report
Penalties
Hanna Laszlo Martonfi Ednie Tavares	0 – 3	Gary McGuchan Moore Campbell

Birchmount Stadium, Scarborough, Ontario

Attendance: 60

Referee: Gord Arrowsmith

GK 1 Paulo Silva RB 4 John DiBuono CB 18 Michael Marshall CB 3 Rene Martin LB 7 Alex Nardi  67' RM 8 Gad Espinosa[20]  72' CM 5 Leo Lopez LM 21 Rick Titus ST 13 Audley Taffe ST 9 Laszlo Martonfi ST 11 Gary DeLeon  79' Substitutes: GK 12 Florin Oprea [21] DF 14 Ednie Tavares  79' MF 19 Kerwin Skeete  67' MF 10 Basil Hanna  72' MF 17 Alim Rajan Manager: Jorge Armua

GK 23 Dino Perri[22] RB 5 John McNeil CB 12 Adrian Prence  119' CB 3 McIver Broomes LB 2 Tony Carbonaro RM 10 Tom Bernardi  59' CM 13 Lucio Ianiero CM 6 Shayne Campbell LM 11 Carlo Arghittu ST 7 Gary Brian  118' ST 9 Paul Moore Substitutes: GK 15 Lee Burrows  119' MF 8 Clay Holmes  118' MF 14 Gary McGuchan  59' Manager: Mark Konert

Assistant referees: Glenn Sharkey

St. Catharines won 3–0 on penalties.

All-Star game

The all-star match was held in Toronto, Ontario at Varsity Stadium, and the league arranged for Parma FC the 1994–95 UEFA Cup champions as the opposition for the match.[23]

August 13, 1995

18:00 ET

CNSL All-Stars	0–5	Parma
	Report	Baggio  12' Sensini  29',  43' Apolloni  73' Stoichkov  82'

Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Les Wilcox

GK 1 Paulo Silva RB 2 Rene Martin CB 3 Franco Spadafina  45' CB 4 Richard Alexander  73' LB 5 Chris Handsor  80' RM 6 Jeff Brown CM 7 Jack Zomparelli  45' CM 8 Lucio Ianiero  66' LM 9 Peyvand Mossavat  73' ST 10 Lalo Maradona  73' ST 11 Gary DeLeon  73' Substitutes: DF 16 Shayne Campbell  45' DF 21 Sasa Vukovic  45' MF 20 Tom Bernardi  66' MF 18 Orlando Rizzo  73' MF 22 Garvin Houston  73' FW 17 Alex Nardi  73' FW 14 Andrew Loague  73' FW 15 Laszlo Martonfi  80'

GK 1 Luca Bucci  22' RB 2 Antonio Benarrivo CB 5 Luigi Apolloni CB 4 Lorenzo Minotti  66' LB 3 Alberto Di Chiara RM 7 Roberto Sensini  68' CM 24 Dino Baggio LM 9 Pripa ST 8 Hristo Stoichkov ST 10 Gianfranco Zola ST 16 Filippo Inzaghi Substitutes: GK 22 Giovanni Galli  22' DF Marcello Castellini  66' MF 25 Gabriele Pin  68' Manager: Nevio Scala

Individual awards

The annual Canadian National Soccer League awards ceremony was held at the North York Council Chambers in North York, Ontario with an attendance of around 200 people.[24] The master of the ceremony was future Hamilton Bulldogs president Cary Kaplan, who was operating as the secretary of the league. London and St. Catharines were tied each with two awards being given to the clubs. Mark Konert was named the Coach of the Year after leading St. Catharines to a double, which consisted of the CNSL Championship, and Umbro Cup. Wolves midfielder Chris Handsor was voted the MVP, and would go on to play in the USL A-League, and play a prominent role in indoor soccer throughout North America.

London City was given the Most Disciplined Team award for being the most disciplined team throughout the season, and John Bottineau received the Rookie of the Year. The remainder of the awards such as the Golden Boot went to Scarborough Astros Laszlo Martonfi, and Joe Ciaravino of the Toronto Jets was named the Goalkeeper of the Year.[25] Les Wilcox was named the Referee of the Year.

Award	Player (Club)
CNSL Most Valuable Player	Chris Handsor (St. Catharines)
CNSL Golden Boot	Laszlo Martonfi (Scarborough Astros)
CNSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award	Joe Ciaravino (Toronto Jets)
CNSL Rookie of the Year Award	John Bottineau (London City)
CNSL Coach of the Year Award	Mark Konert (St. Catharines)
CNSL Referee of the Year Award	Les Wilcox
CNSL Most Disciplined Team Award	London City

First Team All-Stars

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Dino Perri (St. Catharines Wolves)	Rene Martin (Scarborough Astros) Jeff Brown (London City) Shawn Taggart (London City) Tom Perks (Toronto Jets)	Chris Handsor (St. Catharines Wolves) Jack Zomparelli (Toronto Jets) Orlando Rizzo (Toronto Jets) Lucio Ianiero (St. Catharines Wolves)	John Bottineau (London City) Gary Deleon (Scarborough Astros)

References

1. "Canadian National Soccer League 1993 to 1997" (PDF). Retrieved April 21, 2020.
2. Da Costa, Norman (May 30, 1995). "Tough guy Domi swapping skates for soccer boots". Toronto Star. p. E8.
3. Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. p. 184.
4. "Our Story | Hamilton & District Soccer Association". hamiltonsoccer.net. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
5. Fanfair, Ron. Stars Soccer Review. - Aldwynable. Caribbean Stars Inc. p. 88.
6. "Pro Soccer in London, Ontario". web.archive.org. 2001-05-02. Archived from the original on May 2, 2001. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
7. Glover, Robin (July 17, 1995). "CNSL Toronto Italia vs Toronto Jets". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
8. "Pro Soccer in London, Ontario". web.archive.org. 2001-05-02. Archived from the original on May 2, 2001. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
9. "ASC Academy Coaches Bio". ancastersoccer.cansportlive2.com. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
10. Glover, Robin (August 7, 1995). "CNSL Toronto Italia vs London City". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
11. "North York Astros Soccer Club Powered by Goalline Sports Administration Software". web.archive.org. 2009-06-01. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
12. "About Us – D.G. Sports Inc". Retrieved 2019-09-28.
13. Glover, Robin (July 17, 1995). "CNSL Toronto Italia vs Toronto Jets". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
14. "Canadian National Soccer League 1995 Season Summary | SoccerStats.us". soccerstats.us. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
15. "Canada Soccer". canadasoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
16. "Richard Alexander (1991-1994)". Syracuse University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
17. "Canada Soccer". www.canadasoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
18. "Dino Perri - Men's Soccer Coach". McMaster University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
19. "Mississauga MetroStars fire head coach/GM after lengthy losing run". SooToday.com. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
20. "ESPINOSA TAKES OVER REINS OF MEN'S SOCCER PROGRAM". Redeemer University College Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
21. "Florin Oprea - Retired". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
22. "Dino Perri - Men's Soccer Coach". McMaster University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
23. Glover, Robin (August 13, 1995). "CNSL vs Parma game". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
24. Glover, Robin. "1995 Awards Reception". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
25. Brown, Stewart (September 23, 1995). "White Eagles eager to put sorry season behind them:". Hamilton Spectator. p. C5.