TORONTO, September 5, 2003 - With their 2-0 victory over Calgary on Sunday, August 31, the Montreal Impact sealed their second consecutive Voyageurs Cup championship. The three points from the victory put them a single point ahead of the Toronto Lynx in the Voyageurs Cup standings, ending a second close race for the trophy.
The Voyageurs will award the Voyageurs Cup trophy to Montreal before their first home A-League playoff game against the Rochester Raging Rhinos on Sunday, September 7. Kickoff is at 4 PM at the Claude Robillard Sports Complex.
The Voyageurs Cup is the only trophy for top-level professional soccer in Canada. The Cup is awarded annually to the Canadian A-League team that finishes with the best record from regular season matches against the other Canadian teams. Montreal also won the trophy in 2002, the Voyageurs Cup's inaugural year.
The last two Voyageurs Cup matches of the 2003 season took place over Labour Day weekend. Toronto kept their hopes alive by defeating Calgary 2-1 on Friday, August 29. Toronto's goals were scored by Sebastian Barclay and Mauricio Vincello, with Shaun Wimble responding for Calgary. The win temporarily put Toronto in first place, but Montreal had their fate in their own hands when they faced Calgary on Sunday. Their two goals were scored by Patrick Leduc and Canadian international Martin Nash.
Montreal finished with 13 points in the Voyageurs Cup standings, having recorded four wins, one loss and one draw. Toronto ended with four wins and two losses, a close runner-up for the second straight year. Vancouver finished a strong third with 10 points from three wins, two losses and one draw, and Calgary fought valiantly again but finished without winning any points in the competition.
The scoring title for this year's Voyageurs Cup was won by young Canadian international Ali Ngon, who tallied 5 goals for Toronto. He was transferred to Montreal late in the season but did not score any Voyageurs Cup goals for his new team. Eduardo Sebrango and Zé Roberto both scored three goals for Montreal in the competition to share the runner-up place for the scoring title.
The 2004 Voyageurs Cup competition is likely to expand to include the new A-League franchise slated to begin play next season in Edmonton. The addition of a fifth team is expected to make the competition for the Cup even closer.
ABOUT THE VOYAGEURS
The Voyageurs soccer fan club was founded in 1996 as a national group of fans of Canada's men's World Cup team. Since then, they have been a visible (and audible) presence at Canadian national team games both in Canada and abroad, at all age levels, for both the men's and women's teams.
The Voyageurs are maintained, run, and funded entirely by its fiercely enthusiastic members. The Voyageurs host the most active Canadian soccer forum on the Internet (at www.canadian-soccer.com), with participants including fans, national-level players, media representatives, and CSA representatives. The forum receives over 300,000 hits per month.
The entire cost of the Voyageurs Cup, including purchasing, maintaining, engraving, shipping, and promoting the trophy and tournament, has been borne entirely by private donations from individual Voyageurs.
The full Voyageurs Cup results, schedule, standings, and more are available at www.voyageurscup.ca.
CONTACTING THE VOYAGEURS
Matthew Bin, Director of Communications for the Voyageurs Cup, is available to provide any further information about the Voyageurs or the Voyageurs Cup competition.
Matthew Bin
19 Bond Court
Guelph, Ontario
N1H 8N6
519-729-8432
info@voyageurscup.ca
