The defending Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) champions, Toronto Croatia, earned their first victory of the season last Saturday in Laval, Quebec. The Mississauga-based team had lost and tied earlier contests, before edging the Dynamite, 2-1.
"We're not in shape as yet," said team manager Theo Krajacic. "We're going to take a while getting into the season."
Newly-acquired strikers Miles O'Conner and Haydan Fitzwilliams scored goals at the 43rd and 85th minute marks respectively, leading Toronto to victory.
The win improved Croatia's record to 1-1-1.
Their four points are good enough for third place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Croatia are back home at Memorial Park in Streetsville tonight to face the Durham Storm.
"Conditioning is the biggest thing," said Krajacic. "We haven't had time to condition ourselves and that explains why we haven't gotten off the ground fast enough."
During the off-season, Fitzwilliams and Caswain Mason were added to the Croatia roster in an exchange for cash from the Metro Lions, while O'Conner was acquired from the Hamilton Thunder for midfielder Marko Bedenikovic.
Defenders Robert Fran and Domagoj Sain return to Croatia's roster after a year on loan players to the Toronto Supra.
