diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/clipsyndicate.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/clipsyndicate.py
index b1e45a677..8306d6fb7 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/clipsyndicate.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/clipsyndicate.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-import re
-
 from .common import InfoExtractor
 from ..utils import (
     find_xpath_attr,
@@ -28,8 +26,7 @@ class ClipsyndicateIE(InfoExtractor):
     }]
 
     def _real_extract(self, url):
-        mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
-        video_id = mobj.group('id')
+        video_id = self._match_id(url)
         js_player = self._download_webpage(
             'http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/embed/player.js?va_id=%s' % video_id,
             video_id, 'Downlaoding player')