Results after Day 1 at Futsal Canada National Invitational

It was a truly exciting opening day at the Futsal Canada National Invitational Tournament. Old rivalries renewed and newly emerging stars stepped into the limelight in Kingston.

The men’s competition saw great games across the board, but standing out from the bunch was last year’s runners-up in Albiceleste from Laval, Quebec and a Toronto Idolo side that have gone undefeated so far all season long. Idolo would hold on by the skin of their teeth in this thrilling match with a 4-3 victory that saw another excellent performance from last year’s Tournament MVP Robert Renaud, who has nine goals from the opening three matches.

Futsal Sudbury Romania, who earned two wins over London and hosts Kingston, will face Albiceleste tomorrow in a pivotal match that will determine who will advance alongside Toronto Idolo out of Group A.

Group B saw Futsal Sudbury U21’s register a solid win over another young team in the Ottawa Chaos, while a testy affair between rivals Barrie FC and defending tournament champions Toronto Boca Juniors resulted in a 2-2 draw. Both latter teams clinched an advance to the semi-final stage on Sunday afternoon.

The Varsity High School Boys Division was absolutely top class, just as it was last year.

Brampton Bulldogs and Toronto Idolo played for the 4th time this season after the Bulldogs won the Greater Toronto Championship with a scintillating 4-3 overtime last weekend at the Pan American Sports Centre. It was a hotly contested affair that resulted in a 7-7 draw that showcased solid displays from both sides. Gaspé had a fantastic season in Eastern Quebec and wanted to show the rest of the country what they were about. They defeated Idolo 10-7 which included a goal of the tournament from Charles Jalbert that saw him connect with an unbelievable rainbow goal over a defender and goalkeeper that brought everyone in attendance to their feet. If it weren’t for a couple of missed opportunities in their other two games they could have topped the group, but now play for third place tomorrow.

Futsal action at centre court at Queen’s University.

Team Gaspé showed excellent skills all tournament long

Bryan Da Cruz of Barrie FC controls the ball around a defending Josh Parades of Toronto Boca Juniors