CPFL Matchday 2: Toronto Boca Juniors defeat Brampton City at Toronto launch

Toronto Boca Juniors continue to show why they are early favourites for the CPFL title as they defeated Brampton City United 9-7 as part of their home opener celebrations at Seneca College on Saturday evening. Despite being two games into the season, the wry smile on TBJ’s owner Juan Gonzalez face after the buzzer sounded said it was already one of the most gratifying moments of the year.

You see, although new in name only, Brampton City United is made up of futsal players from within the Golden Horseshoe region and many of those are quite familiar to Toronto Boca Juniors. A mix of players from former clubs Toronto Impact and Futsal Club Toronto, one of those players is BCU keeper, and recent national team selection,  Roy Blanche, who over the past several years, in various leagues before the CPFL was established, has developed an intense rivalry with 22 year-old TBJ shot stopper Josh “Jiggy” Lemos.

Both are widely-regarded as two of the best futsal goalies in North America, having played the game for well over a decade and share very similar offensive playing styles. Both also have numerous championships in both AMF and FIFA futsal competitions under the belts, but the pair couldn’t be further apart in persona. While 32 year-old Blanche constantly belts out instructions to his teammates on-court and is soft-spoken off the pitch, Lemos prefers using his body language to orchestrate his squad around the court while off of it he brings a blunt, brash approach that oozes confidence that Gonzalez says is the cornerstone of his team.

“Listen, Jiggy is the best futsal goalie in the country and makes our team as good as it is.” said Gonzalez. He is amazing with both feet, both hands, cuts down the angle so well that players have nothing to shoot at and he frustrates everybody that he plays against.”

Boca have won a good amount of hardware over the years including the 2010 Toronto Futsal League regular season and playoff titles and are two-time defending OSA Futsal Cup champs. But it was losing to Blanche and Futsal Club Toronto last year in the Copa Canada final in devastating fashion, blowing a 5-1 lead with only 10 minutes to go, that acts as the prime motivation for success this year.

“That hasn’t sat well with anybody on our team and believe me that’s exactly what we thought about before our games this season and we aren’t going to stop until we get back to lifting that trophy in April.”

In the second part of the double-header, it was the York Region Shooters using their vast experience to dominate Barrie Futsal Club playing their first-ever match, by a 15-1 scoreline. Team captain, Julio “Chimpa” Garcia had a strong game in goal for YRS, while top rated futsaller Matthew Rios made his return to the futsal court after recovering from a knee injury and put in a strong performance with a pair of goals.