Phil Caporella

Phil Caporella is a former Canadian soccer player who played the majority of his career in the USL A-League and with several Canadian clubs.

Phil Caporella
Personal information
Full name Philip Caporella
Playing position(s) striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996 Toronto Italia 12 (10)
1997–1998 Toronto Lynx 39 (6)
1998 Montreal Impact 1 (0)
1999 Connecticut Wolves 12 (1)
1999–2000 Toronto Olympians 13 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 December 2014

Playing career

Caporella played in the Canadian National Soccer League with the Toronto Rockets in 1993.[1]

In 1996, he played with Toronto Italia of the Canadian National Soccer League. He made his debut for Italia on June 2, 1996 in a CNSL cup match against St. Catharines Wolves, where he scored a goal to tie the game as a 1-1 draw.[2] Throughout the season he appeared in 12 matches and scored ten goals. He added a Treble (association football) to his resume by winning the Regular League Championship, the CNSL domestic, and the Playoff Championship. Caporella featured in the Playoff Championship finals match against St. Catharines, where Italia defeated the Wolves by 11-0 goals on aggregate.[3] In 1997, Caporella signed with an expansion franchise the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League, where he was reunited with his old Toronto Italia head coach Peter Pinizzotto. His signing was in April 1997 in a press conference which revealed the club's roster for the 1997 season.[4] He made his debut for the club on April 12, 1997 in a 3-1 defeat to the Jacksonville Cyclones.[5] Caporella assisted the club in qualifying for the post season for the first time in the franchise's history, by finishing 4th in the Northeastern division. The Lynx were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs against the Montreal Impact. He returned to the Lynx the following year where he appeared in 25 matches and scored 2 goals, but on August 27, 1998 he was traded to the Montreal Impact for future considerations and an undisclosed amount of cash.[6]

In Montreal Caporella appeared in one match for the club the team managed to secure a playoff berth by finishing second in the Northeastern division. The following season he went abroad to the United States to sign with the Connecticut Wolves. He appeared in 19 matches and scored 1 goal with the Wolves, but the team performed poorly throughout the season finishing lost in their division. When the USL A-League season came to a conclusion, Caporella signed with the Toronto Olympians of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He made his debut on September 3, 1999 in an Open Canada Cup match against St. Catharines Wolves.[7] Though he joined the Olympians late in the season he contributed in the club's second consecutive undefeated season which allowed them to claim the regular season championship; the first club to reach that milestone in the league's history. Within that year he managed to win a Treble with the club by claiming the Open Canada Cup, CPSL Championship, and the League championship.[8] During the 2000 season, Caporella was again instrumental in Toronto's exceptionally successful campaign where he led the Olympians to a 10-game undefeated streak, as well as claiming the Open Canada Cup in the process. The victory in claiming the Open Cup marked the first time in the league's history a club winning the trophy three consecutive years in a row.[9] Though he did manage to lead his team to the playoff finals, they were defeated by Toronto Croatia by a score of 2-1.

Honors

Toronto Olympians
  • CPSL Championship (1): 1999
  • Open Canada Cup (2): 1999, 2000
  • Canadian Professional Soccer League Regular Season Champions (2): 1999, 2000
gollark: Oh, so you follow the cobble thing around? Right, that's easier than following a *moving* Jesus.
gollark: It looks ugly and it'd get in the way.
gollark: I don't get it, you just randomly put some cobble in the middle of your base? Why?
gollark: So, you just follow some Jesus or other around, sort of thing? Doesn't that get annoying?
gollark: Yes, I did.

References
  1. Hall, Dave (May 31, 1993). "Rockets blast Wheels, 5-0". The Windsor Star. p. C3.
  2. Glover, Robin (June 2, 1996). "Here are the details of the CNSL game played Sunday June 2nd, 1996 between Toronto Italia and St Catharines Wolves at Rainbow Creek Park in Woodbridge at 6pm. This was considered a Cup game". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  3. Glover, Robin (October 27, 1996). "Here are the results of the CNSL game of Sunday October 27, 1996 between Toronto Italia and St Catharines Wolves played at Rainbow Creek Stadium in Woodbridge at 5:00pm. This was the 2nd Leg in the two game final of the Playoff Championship". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  4. Glover, Robin (April 1997). "Toronto Lynx Roster 1997". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  5. Abao, G. Warren (April 12, 1997). "Jacksonville Cyclones (1) 3:1 (0) Toronto Lynx". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  6. Hendren, Paul (August 27, 1998). "The Red Club Is Coming". Rocket Robin's Home Page. Canada Kicks.
  7. Glover, Robin (September 3, 1999). "Here are the results of the CPSL game between Toronto Olympians and St Catharines Roma Wolves played at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough at 8:30pm. This was the return leg of the League Cup Semi-Final". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  8. Glover, Robin (October 2, 1999). "Here are the results of the CPSL game between Toronto Olympians and Toronto Croatia played at Civic Stadium in Oshawa at 5:00pm. This was the one game Playoff Final". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  9. Glover, Robin (September 24, 2000). "CPSL game between Toronto Olympians and St Catharines Roma Wolves played at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough at 3:00pm. This was the League Cup Final". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
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