On Friday September 4th 2015, the members of the Mississauga Croatia Men’s Team
with their friends and family travelled to Chicago for the 52nd Hrvatski Nacionalni Nogometni Savez (HHNS) – Croatian National Soccer Federation for North America – Soccer Tournament hosted by Chicago Red White Blue – Adria ( Chicago RWB – Adria). This is an annual tournament that features Croatian soccer clubs from across Canada and the USA and is a highlight of every soccer season for the last 52 years.
This year – Thanks to a very generous donation by Mr. Rooter Plumbing – Mike and Vesna Kolakovic – Mississauga Croatia Soccer Club was able to lease a bus the trip to Chicago. Thanks to their donation our soccer team and the Mississauga Croatia supporters (Friends and family) were able to travel to Chicago in comfort and safety. Mississauga Croatia Soccer Club warmly thanks Mr. Rooter and the Kolakovic family for their generous donation.
The team and fans stayed in the Holiday Inn in Skokie Illinois and the tournament was played Waukegan, Illinois.
On the morning of Saturday September 5th 2015 our team arrived early to prepare for our first game against Windsor Croatia. The team from Windsor is traditionally a strong team and our boys were up for the challenge. The game was a tight affair and Mississauga Croatia struck first when Artur Kulik opened the scoring to make it 1-0. The favoured Windsor Croatia rallied and with less than a minute in the game they scored to leave the final 1-1.
The second game of the tournament for Mississauga Croatia was against Sudbury Adria. This game saw Sudbury jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first half. Despite valiant efforts from the Mississauga Croatia our boys were not able to catch a lucky break. The referee missed an obvious infraction against Mississauga Croatia in the box so the game ended as a 2-0 loss for our boys.
The final game saw Mississauga Croatia face a strong team in New York Croatia. Both teams faced the same challenge. Both teams needed a victory to continue on in the tournament. The game promised to be a tough affair. From the outset of the game Mississauga Croatia was attacking. The team poured pressure on the New York Croatia defence and Zvonimir Mijaljevic finally scored for Mississauga Croatia with a well-placed header. The half ended at 1-0. In the second half the Mississauga Croatia team continued to push hard for a second goal but the referee called a penalty against Mississauga. The resulting goal by New York Croatia tied the score at 1-1. With the dame tied both teams focused on scoring and this resulted in an entertaining second half. Mississauga Croatia’s goalie Ivan Ribaric made a number of spectacular saves to keep the game tied. Mississauga Croatia forwards (Michael Sostaric, Luka Drlje, Robbie Mijackovic and Alen Mijackovic) kept the pressure on New York Croatia but they did not manage to score. The game ended in a 1 to 1 score.
Although the Mississauga Croatia Men’s team did not make it out of the round robin, they showed great energy, desire and represented their club with pride. The members of this team showed great team spirit on and off the field.
Congratulations on a great tournament.
The members of the Mississauga Croatia Men’s team for 2015 are as follows:
Coach – Tony Fletin
Manager – Luka Leko
Manager and Player – Tomslav Friscic
The players of the Mississauga Croatia Men’s team for 2015 were as follows:
Mark Cvitkovic, Marko Lucic, Matt Saric, Matt Cvitkovic, Toni Trograncic, Luka Drlje, Adam Capobianco, Michael Sostaric, Antonio Ajhert, Alen Mijackovic, Ivan Ribaric, Hrvoje Pavic, Robbie Mijackovic, Ivan Pavic, Arthur Kulik, Kreso Mitar, Kristian Skoko, Ivan Snjaric, Tommy Penavic, Zvonimir Mijalevic, Tomi Kolakovic, Mark Petrusa, Davor Rozic, Anthony Marinovic, Steven Baresic, Johnny Marinovic, Toni Misic
