2008 Canadian National Challenge Cup

Final positions
Champions	Calgary Callies
Runner-up	Corfinium AFA Saint-Léonard
←  2007 2009 →

The 2008 Challenge Trophy is a soccer competition for men's amateur teams in Canada. Each province determined their representative in different methods (league or cup). The final competition was held at King George V Park in St. John's, Newfoundland from 8th to 13 October 2008.

Teams

The seeding based on last years performance are:

1. AB - Calgary Callies
2. BC - Gorge FC
3. NL - St. Lawrence Laurentians
4. NS - Halifax City Colwell Bankers
5. MB - SC Hellas
6. ON - Real Toronto
7. QC - Corfinium de St-Leonard
8. PE - Avondale Islanders
9. SK - Yorkton United
10. NL (host) - Feildians Ernst & Young Orenda

Qualification

The following is a list of clubs, by province, that have entered their own provincial competition.

British Columbia

Winners of the Senior A Cup will represent BC at the National Championships. The 2008 Cup will be hosted in the Fraser Valley May 9 and 10.

• Gorge FC

20 teams entered the competition so a 4-game preliminary round was required. ^[1]

Preliminary Round:
Indo vs Surrey U (0:2)
Inter vs Vantreights (4:0)
Columbus v FVSL #5
Croatia v Firemen (3:2)

Round 1 (12/13 April 2008)

Quarter-finals (19/20 April 2008)

Semi-finals (26/27 April 2008)

Finals (10 May 2008 - Hosted by Fraser Valley Soccer League)

UBC

Chilliwack

UBC

Langley

Langley

? (adv on PKs)

Surrey U

?

Gorge FC

3

UBC

0

Gorge

4

Bays United

1

Gorge

Poco

Poco

2 (AET)

Inter

1

Gorge FC

1

Sporting Club

0

Sporting

Gordon Head

Sporting

West Van

West Van

? (adv on PKs)

Columbus

?

Sporting Club

3

Peach Arch

1

PAU

? (adv. 5-4 PKs)

Sooke Celtic

?

PAU

MetroFord

MetroFord

2

Croatia

1

Alberta

The ASA hosts a Senior Men's Challenge Trophy from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 in Calgary. Winner goes to Nationals. ^[2] The Alberta Major Soccer League teams are:

• Calgary Callies FC
• Calgary Dinos Major
• Calgary Villains Elite FC
• Lethbridge FC
• Red Deer Renegades
• Edmonton Drillers
• Edmonton Green and Gold
• Edmonton Scottish
• Edmonton Victoria
• Edmonton KC Trojans

Manitoba

The MSA Cup 2008 determines the Manitoba representative to the National Challenge Trophy. The cup is an FA Cup styled tournament running from May 31 to August 23, 2008. Various teams enter at various levels and each round to drawn (not a static bracket). ^[3] Round 5 is to be drawn on 13 July 2008. Teams to watch for include:

• Hellas
• Lucania SC
• Sons of Italy Lions SC

	Round 5 (Jul 31 to Aug 02)					Quarter-finals (5-August, 2008)					Semi-finals (20 August 2008)					Finals (23 August 2008)
						Lucania		0
						Hellas S.C.		1
											Hellas S.C.		2
											Sons of Italy		1
						Sons of Italy		2
						Maples Juventus		0
																Hellas S.C.		0*
																Lusitania		0
						Lusitania		3
						Ragnarok		2
											Lusitania		3
											United Weston		0
						United Weston		2
						Blue Blazers		1

Hellas S.C. advance 3-0 on penalty kicks.

Nova Scotia

The rep is determined through the Nova Scotia Soccer League. This league has teams from PEI and NB but the rep will be the top NS team.

• Halifax City
• Halifax Dunbrack
• Halifax County
• Cape Breton United
• Valley Kings Arms
• Dartmouth United
• Scotia
• Highland

Ontario

The rep is determined through the Ontario Cup. About 60 teams are entered in 2008. The final 16 teams are detailed below. Real Toronto wins the title ^[4] however the result was reversed when a player eligibility infraction occurred.

Third Round (6-Jul-2008)

Quarter-finals (10-Aug-2008)

Semi-finals (24-Aug-2008, Hershey Centre)

Final (14-Sep-2008, The Soccer Centre)

Ottawa St. Anthony Premier

5

Etobicoke Canadiens

1

Ottawa St. Anthony Premier

Scarborough Ulster Thistle

Scarborough Ulster Thistle

3

Cambridge PCC Supersonics

2

Oakville Wisla United

0

London AEK

4

London AEK

Croatia Hamilton

Croatia Hamilton

4

Peniche CC Toronto

0

London AEK

1

Real Toronto

2

London Portuguese Club

0

Niagara Club Italia Juventus

1

Niagara Club Italia Juventus

Hamilton Serbians

Oakville Italia

0

Hamilton Serbians

3

Thunder Bay Italia Juventus

0

Real Toronto

5

Real Toronto

Windsor Hellenic

Woodbridge Italia

1

Windsor Hellenic

2

Newfoundland

The rep will be determined from a final cup competition after a league season. ^[5] The final weekend will be held Labour Day weekend at the King George V Park in St. John's. The Molson Challenge Cup 2008 will be contested by the following teams:

• St. Lawrence Laurentians (defending champion)
• Mount Pearl
• Holy Cross FC
• Feildians
• St. John's U18s (exhibition team)

The St. Lawrence Laurentians defeated Feildians on the final weekend. Approximately 2500 fans were in attendance.

Final competition

• Official Site
• Host Site^{[ permanent dead link]}

Round robin

The teams will be split into 2 groups of 5 teams each. After round robin, seeding matches will take place (A1vB1, A2vB2, etc.) New Brunswick dropped out so a second team from the host Newfoundland was entered.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Calgary Callies	4	4	0	0	11	5	+6	12
2	Halifax City Coldwell Banker	4	2	1	1	8	6	+2	7
3	Avondale Islanders	4	2	1	1	8	6	+2	7
4	SC Hellas	4	0	1	3	4	9	−5	1
5	Yorkton United	4	0	1	3	3	8	−5	1

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Corfinium de St-Leonard	4	3	1	0	6	2	+4	10
2	Gorge FC	4	1	2	1	5	3	+2	5
3	AEK London	4	1	2	1	3	3	0	5
4	St. Lawrence Laurentians	4	1	1	2	3	6	−3	5
5	Feildians	4	1	0	3	2	5	−3	3

Play-offs

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Top goal scorers

Goals	Games	Team	Player
6	5	Avondale Islanders	Paul Craig
4	5	Halifax City	Kristin Kirincich
4	5	Yorkton United	Waelical Sven

Sources