Each week of the Fall season, CanPL.ca will highlight the top five Volkswagen Premier Performers of the Week, while updating the overall standings as players from across the league compete to top the table and win a new Volkswagen Jetta GLI.
Here are the 5 VW Premier Performers of the Week:
1) Rodrigo Gattas (York9 FC) – 98.65 pts
Of course! What hasn’t been said about this performance? Three goals on three shots, scoring the first hat-trick in CPL history. Gattas’ 98-point performance likely comes down to the quality of finishes, though; a body-shifting volley, a 30-yarder and a well-placed header from the penalty spot.
2) Ryan Telfer (York9 FC) – 84.00 pts
Yes, York9 FC again. Telfer had two goals of his own in that record-setting performance, both equally impressive finishes. His second, standing down a defender on the near side before slashing a shot in the near-top corner, was the last for four on-goal attempts in 76 minutes.
3) Diyaeddine Abzi (York9 FC) – 80.95 pts
Hold on, one more York9 player. Diyaeddine Abzi had a field day on the left, and the stats show it; a match-leading 31 touches in the opposing half, 100 touches total, three crosses and a beautiful cross-field assist on Telfer’s aforementioned blast.
4) Amer Didic (FC Edmonton) – 80.66 pts
FC Edmonton’s towering centreback was in the middle of it all for the Eddies Saturday. Immense defensively, Didic managed to generate a few chances with several first-half headers and a beautifully-weighted, one-hit ball that found Easton Ongaro for the late equalizer. If not for a miscommunication that led to Forge’s lone goal, Didic could be even higher on this list.
5) Nikolas Giantsopoulos (Cavalry FC) – 77.92 pts
Cavalry’s second-string goalkeeper put his backup title into question on Saturday in Winnipeg. Giantsopolous’ day started well, with an acrobatic stop robbing Valour of an early free-kick goal. Ending with five saves total, nearly getting a hand Marco Bustos’ injury-time penalty as well – Cavalry proved to be in good hands.
Top 5 Overall
RANK | PLAYER | CLUB | POINTS (Avg./match) |
1 | Marco Carducci | Cavalry FC | 80.89 |
2 | Nathan Ingham | York9 FC | 79.23 |
3 | Emery Welshman | Forge FC | 76.524 |
4 | Connor James | FC Edmonton | 76.520 |
5 | Ryan Telfer | York9 FC | 75.36 |
ANALYSIS: Telfer joins the top five after his weekend brace with a five-point gap between him and leader Marco Carducci – who keeps his top spot after being idle on the weekend. Elsewhere, Emery Welshman has leapfrogged Eddies ‘keeper Connor James for third, if only by four-100ths of a point, to disrupt the goalkeeping union at the top half.
Download the Centre Circle app and submit your prediction for each week’s VW Premier Performer, and check out the full, position-by-position Volkswagen Premier Performer tables here.