1994 Canadian National Soccer League season

Football league season

Canadian National Soccer League
Season	1994
Champions	Toronto Italia (regular season) Toronto Italia (playoffs, 13th title)
League cup	St. Catharines Roma
Matches played	42
Goals scored	115 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ryan Gamble
Best goalkeeper	Paulo Silva
← 1993 1995 →

The 1994 Canadian National Soccer League season was the seventy-second season for the Canadian National Soccer League. The season began on May 28, 1994, with Montreal Ramblers facing Toronto Croatia at the Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, St. Catharines Roma, along with Montreal Croatia, and Toronto Italia. The title was eventually won by Toronto Italia after defeating St. Catharines in the CNSL Championship final. Toronto would also secure the double, which included the regular-season title. St. Catharines Roma won the league cup.

The league lost its presence in Manitoba and was restricted in Ontario and Quebec. The league continued to operate as the only exclusively Canadian professional league within the country while the Canadian clubs in the American Professional Soccer League served as the highest tier league in the country's soccer structure.

Overview

The season saw a reduction in league membership as the boundaries of the league were restricted to Ontario and Quebec. The CNSL lost its presence in Manitoba as the Winnipeg Fury ceased operations due to heavy financial losses. While the Eastern Division of Quebec was disbanded with only Montreal Croatia, and Montreal Ramblers operating in the province. Richmond Hill Kick was suspended midway through the 1993 season after several missed scheduled matches and failure in payment fees. Toronto Rockets were awarded a franchise in the American Professional Soccer League to replace the Toronto Blizzard.

After a dispute over philosophical differences with league commissioner Rocco Lofranco, the Windsor Wheels joined the United States Interregional Soccer League and relocated to Detroit, Michigan. Another notable departure occurred near the conclusion of the season as Toronto Croatia withdrew after a dispute with the front office and the following season joined the Canadian International Soccer League (Puma League). While at the live gate the league struggled in drawing consistent crowds, which according to Lofranco the 1994 FIFA World Cup played a factor in lowering the attendance numbers.

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
London City	London, Ontario	Cove Road Stadium	Harry Gauss
Montreal Croatia	Montreal, Quebec	Stade du Parc Hérbert	Simon Demo
Montreal Ramblers	Montreal, Quebec	Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard
Scarborough Astros	Scarborough, Ontario	Birchmount Stadium	Jorge Armua
St. Catharines Roma	St. Catharines, Ontario	Club Roma Stadium	Mark Konert
Toronto Croatia	Etobicoke, Ontario	Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Italia	Etobicoke, Ontario	Centennial Park Stadium	Peter Pinizzotto
Toronto Jets	North York, Ontario	Esther Shiner Stadium	Adam Pagliaroli

London

St. Catharines

TORONTOclass=notpageimage| Location of CNSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1994 CNSL season.

Montreal Ramblers

Montreal Croatiaclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in Quebec for the 1994 CNSL season.

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Italia (C, O)	12	7	4	1	20	9	+11	18	Qualification for Playoffs
2	St. Catharines Roma	12	6	2	4	17	10	+7	14
3	Montreal Croatia	12	6	2	4	26	21	+5	14
4	London City	12	4	3	5	17	18	−1	11
5	Scarborough Astros	12	2	6	4	11	15	−4	10
6	Toronto Jets	12	3	4	5	10	20	−10	10
7	Montreal Ramblers	12	3	1	8	14	21	−7	7

Updated to match(es) played on September 10, 1994. Source: League Standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Montreal Croatia v Toronto Jets

September 11, 1994	Montreal Croatia	3–5	Toronto Jets	Montreal, Quebec
		(Report)		Stadium: Stade du Parc Hérbert

London City v Scarborough Astros

September 11, 1994	London City	1–1	Scarborough Astros	London, Ontario
		(Report)		Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

Toronto Jets v Montreal Croatia

September 17, 1994	Toronto Jets	5–6	Montreal Croatia	North York, Ontario
		(Report)		Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium

Scarborough Astros v London City

September 16, 1994	Scarborough Astros	0–1	London City	Scarborough, Ontario
		(Report)		Stadium: Birchmount Stadium

Semifinals

Toronto Jets v Toronto Italia

September 1994	Toronto Jets	0–1	Toronto Italia	North York, Ontario
		(Report)		Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium

London City v St. Catharines Roma

September 30, 1994	London City	0–1	St. Catharines Roma	London, Ontario
			Mark Konert 20'	Stadium: Cove Road Stadium

Toronto Italia v Toronto Jets

October 9, 1994	Toronto Italia	0–0	Toronto Jets	Etobicoke, Ontario
		(Report)		Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium

St. Catharines Roma v London City

October 2, 1994	St. Catharines Roma	3–1	London City	St. Catharines, Ontario
19:30	Tom Bernardi 1', 45' Campbell 16'		Louie Fotia 50'	Stadium: Club Roma Stadium Attendance: 150

Final

St. Catharines Roma v Toronto Italia

October 12, 1994	St. Catharines Roma	0–1	Toronto Italia	St. Catharines, Ontario
			Gamble 28'	Stadium: Club Roma Stadium Attendance: 300

Toronto Italia v St. Catharines Roma

October 15, 1994	Toronto Italia	3–1	St. Catharines Roma	Etobicoke, Ontario
	Mella 1' Vito Serafini 16' Spadafina 21'		Gastis 10'	Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium

Cup

The cup tournament was a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all eight teams took part. All the matches were separate from the regular season, and the teams were grouped into two separate divisions. The two winners in the group stage would advance to a singles match for the Cup. Originally Toronto Croatia participated in the cup competition, but near the conclusion of the season withdrew from both the regular season and cup tournament.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	St. Catharines Roma (C)	4	3	0	1	5	3	+2	6	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Montreal Ramblers	4	2	1	1	8	5	+3	5
3	Toronto Jets	4	0	1	3	4	9	−5	1

Updated to match(es) played on September 10, 1994. Source: Cup Standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Italia	5	5	0	0	14	0	+14	10	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Montreal Croatia	5	3	1	1	6	5	+1	7
3	London City	6	1	2	3	4	8	−4	4
4	Scarborough Astros	6	0	1	5	1	12	−11	1

Updated to match(es) played on September 10, 1994. Source: Cup Standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Final

14 September 1994 (1994-09-14)

Toronto Italia	1–0	St. Catharines Roma
	Report

Centennial Park Stadium, Etobicoke, Ontario 21 September 1994 (1994-09-21)

St. Catharines Roma	3–0	Toronto Italia
	Report

Centennial Park Stadium, Etobicoke, Ontario

Individual awards

The 1994 CNSL annual awards only presented four awards with Toronto Italia receiving the majority of the accolades. The Golden Boot and Rookie of the Year were given to Italia forward Ryan Gamble, who would later go onto higher endeavors in the USISL D-3 Pro League, and USISL A-League. Peter Pinizzotto was named the Coach of the Year after achieving a treble with Italia. He would ultimately spend time with the Toronto Lynx, and Montreal Impact. The final receipt was Scarborough Astros Brazilian import Paulo Silva, with his third Goalkeeper of the Year award. Silva would later serve as the goalkeeping coach for the Toronto Lynx under Pinizzotto.

Award	Player (Club)
CNSL Golden Boot	Ryan Gamble (Toronto Italia)
CNSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award	Paulo Silva (Scarborough Astros)
CNSL Rookie of the Year Award	Ryan Gamble (Toronto Italia)
CNSL Coach of the Year Award	Peter Pinizzotto (Toronto Italia)

References

"Soccer". Newspapers.com. The Gazette. October 17, 1994. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
"CSL Past Champions – Canadian Soccer League". Archived from the original on 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
"Canadian National Soccer League 1993 to 1997" (PDF). Retrieved April 21, 2020.
"Soccer - Winnipeg Fury". Newspapers.com. The Province. August 10, 1993. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
^ Hull, David (September 3, 1993). "Wheels' management pleased overall with first season". Newspapers.com. The Windsor Star. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
"Six veterans return for Roma soccer". St. Catharines Standard. 14 May 1994. pp. C3.
"Kick Gets Boot". Newspapers.com. Calgary Herald. July 13, 1993. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
Glover, Robin (July 8, 1994). "APSL Toronto vs Seattle". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
Phillips, Randy (March 11, 1994). "Impact kicks off season on July 1". Newspapers.com. The Gazette. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
Hull, Dave (November 10, 1993). "Wheels add Detroit team". Newspapers.com. Windsor Stars. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
"Pro Soccer in London, Ontario". 2001-05-02. Archived from the original on May 2, 2001. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
Fanfair, Ron. Stars Soccer Review. - Aldwynable. Caribbean Stars Inc. p. 88.
Hull, Dave (August 5, 1994). "CNSL wants a team in Windsor". Newspapers.com. Windsor Star. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
"North York Astros Soccer Club Powered by Goalline Sports Administration Software". 2009-06-01. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
Jeanneret, Mark (1 November 1996). "Konert steps down as Wolves' coach". St. Catharines Standard. pp. C2.
^ "Hall of Fame | YRSA". www.yrsa.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
Miolla, Piero (2020-07-08). "Il lucano Michele Gioia, definito il "Giovinco degli Anni '90" nel racconto di Nicola Sparano". il Caleidoscopio (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-06-03.
"Roma takes lead in CNSL semifinal". St. Catharines Standard. 1 October 1994. pp. C3.
Jeanneret, Mark (3 October 1994). "Roma poised to defend crown". St. Catharines Standard. pp. C1.
Potrecz, Bill (13 October 1994). "Roma Drops Opener". St. Catharines Standard. p. 23.
Wallace, Jim (17 October 1994). "Roma's title quest ended". St. Catharines Standard. pp. C1–C2.
"The Team". www.lynxsoccer.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2001. Retrieved 2019-12-13.

External links

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