Mississauga-based Toronto Croatia fell 2-0 to Serbian White Eagles Sunday afternoon at Lamport Stadium in Toronto, bringing to an end the club's nine-game unbeaten streak in Canadian Soccer League action. Croatia, now 5-2-4 on the season and in second place in the CSL's International Division, hadn't lost since opening night in May.
This was the first meeting between the two clubs since last year's championship match, won by Croatia.
The Mississauga-based squad controlled most of the game, but fell behind when the White Eagles' Sasa Viciknez netted his seventh goal of the year at 37 minutes.
Croatia president Joe Pavicic said Serbian was the better team.
"We were better in the first half, but just didn't score on our chances," said Pavicic. "We tried to equalize the game after the first goal, but as the game went on, we got tired."
At the 71st minute, the Serbian club capitalized on Croatia's fatigue, going up by two on an individual effort from forward Dragan Radovic.
Croatia faces London City (0-10-1) on the road Friday night. London has conceded a league-high 40 goals.
"We expect in the second half of the season to be on top of the league," said Pavicic, whose club sits three points behind first-place Italia Shooters (7-3-1). "The last two or three games, we didn't play well, but there's still more work to be done."
Among other things, the team will add midfielder Tonic Piruija from Croatia's national under-21 squad, in time for this Friday's match.
"We're expecting a lot from him," said Pavicic. "He should be a great force on our squad."
