2018 League1 Ontario season

The 2018 Men's League1 Ontario season was the fifth season of play for League1 Ontario, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario.

This article is about the men's season. For the women's season, see 2018 Women's League1 Ontario season.
League1 Ontario
Men's Division
Season2018
ChampionsVaughan Azzurri
L1 Cup championsVaughan Azzurri
Matches played136
Goals scored488 (3.59 per match)
Top goalscorerAnthony Novak
(18 goals)
Best goalkeeperLucas Birnstingl
(0.42 GAA)
Highest scoringTFC III 10–0 Windsor
(Jun 17)
Oakville 10–0 Sanjaxx
(Aug 26)
← 2017
2019 →

Vaughan Azzurri won the league championship and earned entry into the 2019 Canadian Championship; the top national tournament for men's soccer teams. Vaughan captured the league double for a second time by also winning the L1 Cup, a feat they first achieved in 2016. FC London finished the season with the best regular season record, earning 38 points in 16 games.

Changes from 2017

The men's division grew slightly to 17 teams for this season, with the addition of Darby FC, Unionville Milliken SC, and Alliance United FC (a joint partnership between Markham SC and Wexford SC).[1] Durham United FA and North Toronto Nitros did not return for this season.

During the off-season, Jim Brennan stepped down as head of Aurora FC to accept a position with York 9 FC in the Canadian Premier League.[2] FC London also announced the affiliation of its youth academy with professional side Toronto FC.[3]

This season saw expanded playoffs and a return to single-table competition for the men's division. The top eight teams overall from the men's division entered the playoffs, which consisted of a group stage and a final championship match between the winner of each group. The women's side saw a shorter season which ended in August, followed by a four-team elimination playoff for the league title.[4]

Teams
League1 Ontario Men's Division
Team City Principal stadium Founded First season Head coach[note 1]
Alliance United Markham Centennial College 2018 2018 Ilya Orlov
Aurora FC Aurora Stewart Burnett Park 1964 2016 Derek O'Keefe
Darby FC Whitby Whitby Soccer Centre 2018 2018 David Thorburn
FC London London German Canadian FC Stadium 2008 2016 Michael Marcoccia
Master's Futbol Toronto (Scarborough) L'Amoreaux Park 2012 2014 Rick Titus
North Mississauga SC Mississauga Hershey Centre 1982 2016 Sam Medeiros[5]
Oakville Blue Devils Oakville Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium[note 2] 1994 2015 Duncan Wilde
Ottawa South United Force Ottawa Quinn's Pointe[note 3] 2017 2017 Peter Mapendere
ProStars FC Brampton Victoria Park Stadium[note 4] 2015 2015 Josef Komlodi
Sanjaxx Lions Toronto Monarch Park Stadium 2012 2015 Patrick Lowe
Sigma FC Mississauga Hershey Centre 2005 2014 Bobby Smyrniotis
Toronto FC III Toronto (North York) KIA Training Ground 2008 2014 Danny Dichio
Toronto Skillz FC Toronto (Scarborough) Birchmount Stadium 2008 2016 Leslie Fitzpatrick
Unionville Milliken SC Unionville Bill Crothers Park 2018 2018 Emanuele Ameltonis[6]
Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan (Maple) McNaughton Park 2014 2014 Carmine Isacco
Windsor TFC Stars Windsor University of Windsor Stadium 2004 2014 Zibby Piatkiewicz[7]
Woodbridge Strikers Vaughan (Woodbridge) Vaughan Grove 1976 2014 Peter Pinizzotto
  1. Unless otherwise noted, this information was obtained from team directories on the league website
  2. Some matches were played at Bronte Athletic Park
  3. Ottawa South United Force played one home match against Windsor TFC Stars at the Ontario Soccer Centre
  4. Some matches were played at Terry Fox Park

Regular season

Each team played 16 matches as part of the season; one match against all other teams. The top eight teams competed in the league playoffs at the end of the season, the winner of which earned entry into the 2019 Canadian Championship.[8]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 FC London 16 12 2 2 49 19 +30 38 Playoffs
2 Sigma FC 16 11 4 1 33 9 +24 37
3 Oakville Blue Devils 16 10 5 1 41 9 +32 35
4 Toronto FC III 16 10 3 3 48 25 +23 33 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]
5 Vaughan Azzurri (C, X) 16 10 1 5 45 23 +22 31 Playoffs
6 Woodbridge Strikers 16 8 4 4 43 18 +25 28
7 Alliance United FC 16 7 3 6 34 24 +10 24
8 Unionville Milliken SC 16 6 5 5 25 21 +4 23
9 Darby FC 16 6 3 7 22 27 −5 21
10 Master's Futbol 16 4 7 5 28 28 0 19
11 Sanjaxx Lions 16 5 3 8 14 26 −12 18
12 Toronto Skillz FC 16 4 2 10 25 50 −25 14
13 North Mississauga SC 16 3 4 9 15 30 −15 13
14 Ottawa South United 16 3 4 9 19 50 −31 13
15 Aurora FC 16 3 3 10 20 40 −20 12
16 ProStars FC 16 2 4 10 14 34 −20 10
17 Windsor TFC 16 1 5 10 13 55 −42 8
Source: http://www.league1ontario.com/page/show/2309115-standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) head-to-head points; 4) head-to-head goal differential; 5) playoff match
(C) Champion and qualification to 2019 Canadian Championship; (X) L1 Cup winner.
Notes:
  1. Toronto FC III voluntarily withdrew from league playoffs.[9]

Playoffs

The top eight teams from the regular season were divided into two groups of four for the playoffs. Each team played three matches; one match against all other teams in their group. The top team from each group advanced to the league championship, the winner of which earned entry into the 2019 Canadian Championship.

Group stage
Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VGN DBY ALU LON
1 Vaughan Azzurri (O) 3 3 0 0 8 2 +6 9 League Championship — 4–0 1–0 3–2
2 Darby FC 3 1 1 1 3 6 −3 4 — 2–1 1–1
3 Alliance United FC 3 1 0 2 2 3 −1 3 — 1–0
4 FC London 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1 —
Updated to match(es) played on complete  . Source: https://www.league1ontario.com/standings/show/3999907?subseason=553364
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) head-to-head points; 4) head-to-head goal differential; 5) playoff match
(O) Play-off winner.
Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification WDB SIG OAK UNV
1 Woodbridge Strikers 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 7 League Championship — 3–1 2–2 3–0
2 Sigma FC 3 2 0 1 6 6 0 6 — 3–2 2–1
3 Oakville Blue Devils 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 4 — 2–0
4 Unionville Milliken SC 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0 —
Source: https://www.league1ontario.com/standings/show/3999907?subseason=553364
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) head-to-head points; 4) head-to-head goal differential; 5) playoff match

League Championship

The league champion was determined by a single match between the two group winners in the first round of the playoffs. The winner qualified for the 2019 Canadian Championship.

October 20, 2018 Vaughan Azzurri2–0Woodbridge StrikersVaughan
3:00 pm ET Sacramento  35'
Ricci  89'		 Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre

Cup

The cup tournament is a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all 17 teams from the men's division took part. It is not a form of playoffs at the end of the season (as is typically seen in North American sports), but is more like the Canadian Championship or the FA Cup, albeit only for League1 Ontario teams. All matches are separate from the regular season, and are not reflected in the season standings.

The cup tournament for the men's division is a single-match knockout tournament with a total of four rounds culminating in a final match in the start of August, with initial matches determined by random draw. Each match in the tournament must return a result; any match drawn after 90 minutes advanced directly to kicks from the penalty mark instead of extra time.[10]

Preliminary Round
  
Alliance United2 (4)
Darby FC2 (5)
 
First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
              
 
 
 
 
FC London2
 
 
 
Darby FC0
 
FC London0
 
 
 
Sigma FC8
 
Sigma FC4
 
 
 
Sanjaxx Lions0
 
Sigma FC1 (5)
 
 
 
Toronto FC III1 (6)
 
ProStars FC2 (4)
 
 
 
Aurora FC2 (3)
 
ProStars FC0
 
 
 
Toronto FC III3
 
Windsor TFC Stars1
 
 
 
Toronto FC III4
 
Toronto FC III1
 
 
 
Vaughan Azzurri2
 
Master's Futbol4
 
 
 
Unionville Milliken SC0
 
Master's Futbol2
 
 
 
Oakville Blue Devils3
 
Oakville Blue Devils3
 
 
 
Toronto Skillz1
 
Oakville Blue Devils0
 
 
 
Vaughan Azzurri2
 
North Mississauga SC0
 
 
 
Vaughan Azzurri6
 
Vaughan Azzurri2
 
 
 
Woodbridge Strikers0
 
Woodbridge Strikers4
 
 
Ottawa South United1
 

Preliminary Round
May 8, 2018 Alliance United2–2
(4–5 p)		Darby FCToronto
8:00 pm Beader  74', 90+2' Report
Article		 Young  80'
Sears  82'		 Stadium: L'Amoreaux Park

First Round
May 26, 2018 FC London2–0Darby FCLondon
Seymour  50'
Pucci  90'		 Report
Article		 Stadium: German Canadian FC Stadium
May 27, 2018 Sanjaxx Lions0–4Sigma FCToronto
Report
Article		 Zajac  23', 86'
Buchanan  34'
Thomas  74'		 Stadium: Monarch Park Stadium
May 27, 2018 Aurora FC2–2
(3–4 p)		ProStars FCAurora
Rennie  10'
Juta  80'		 Report
Article		 George  40'
Chrysanthou  90'		 Stadium: Stewart Burnett Park
Penalties
  • Doner
  • Juta
  • Buitrago
  • Perez Padilla
  • Medeiros
  • George
  • Zwierzynski
  • Arora
  • Klinovskyy
May 27, 2018 Windsor TFC Stars1–4Toronto FC IIIWindsor
Pio  55' Report
Article		 Dada-Luke  17'
Hamilton  38'
Corbeanu  53'
Bilousov  71'		 Stadium: University of Windsor Stadium
May 26, 2018 Master's Futbol4–0Unionville Milliken SCToronto
Reid  4'
Rollocks  36'
De Sousa  65'
Brown  69'		 Report
Article		 Stadium: L'Amoreaux Park
May 26, 2018 Toronto Skillz1–3Oakville Blue DevilsToronto
Jashan  54' Report
Article		 Hernandez  12'
Khalon  46'
Santos  65'		 Stadium: Birchmount Stadium
May 26, 2018 Vaughan Azzurri6–0North Mississauga SCVaughan
Raposo  22'
Lay  48', 76'
Kloutsouniotis  85', 92'
Kotsopoulos  90'		 Report
Article		 Stadium: McNaughton Park
May 27, 2018 Woodbridge Strikers4–1Ottawa South UnitedWoodbridge
Isaac  3'
El Zeir  5'
Rayne  50', 67'		 Report
Article		 Cornwall  81' Stadium: Vaughan Grove

Quarterfinals
June 22, 2018 Sigma FC8–0FC LondonMississauga
9:00 pm
Report Stadium: Hershey Centre
June 23, 2018 ProStars FC0–3Toronto FC IIIBrampton
8:30 pm Report
Stadium: Victoria Park Stadium
June 24, 2018 Oakville Blue Devils2–2
(4–2 p)		Master's FutbolOakville
6:00 pm
Report
  • Reid  33'
  • Brown  80'
 Stadium: Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium
Penalties
  • Vilela
  • McNamara
  • Ademolu
  • DiFeo
  • Kahlon
  • Reid
  • Woods
  • Fenton
  • De Sousa
June 24, 2018 Woodbridge Strikers0–2Vaughan AzzurriWoodbridge
7:00 pm Report
Stadium: Vaughan Grove

Semifinals
July 21, 2018 Toronto FC III1–1
(6–5 p)		Sigma FCToronto
4:00 pm
Report
  • Afzaly  33'
 Stadium: BMO Training Ground
Penalties
  • Mandekic
  • Abdi
  • Gorgees
  • Dada-Luke
  • Singh
  • Priso
  • Mazzaferro
July 22, 2018 Oakville Blue Devils0–2Vaughan AzzurriOakville
4:00 pm Report
  • Whiteman  48'
  • Kovacevic  63'
 Stadium: Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium

Final
August 4, 2018 Vaughan Azzurri2–1Toronto FC IIIWoodbridge
7:30PM
Report
  • Gorgees  78'
 Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre Stadium

Statistics

All-Star Game

The league announced that an All-Star Game between League1 Ontario and the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) would once again take place this season. The game was hosted by the PLSQ and was played on June 30.

June 30 PLSQ All-Stars2–2
(1–4 p)		L1O All-StarsMontreal, Quebec
8:00 pm
Report
  • Novak  29'
  • Whiteman  40'
 Stadium: Stade Desjardins
gollark: Some universities might speak English, though.
gollark: Yes, that is a problem.
gollark: Poland's EU, right?
gollark: Aren't there some EU countries with free university stuff?
gollark: ☭ bad.

References
  1. "League1 expansion focus zooms in on Unionville, Markham entries". yorkregion.com. YorkRegion.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  2. "Former TFC captain Jimmy Brennan steps down as Aurora FC executive director". yorkregion.com. YorkRegion.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  3. "FC London's academy changes look, adds programs with Toronto FC link". lfpress.com. London Free Press. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  4. "2018 League1 Ontario Season To Feature New Format, Divisional Configuration And Several Exciting New Additions". league1ontario.com. League1 Ontario. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. "May 5, 2018 League 1 Ontario--North Mississauga Panthers vs Pro Stars FC game report (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  6. "July 7, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Unionville Milliken FC vs Sigma FC game review (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  7. "Windsor TFC finds new head coach". iheartradio.com. AM 800. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  8. "2018 League1 Ontario Season To Feature New Format, Divisional Configuration And Several Exciting New Additions". league1ontario.com. League1 Ontario. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  9. Glover, Robin. "L1O Game of the Week: Woodbridge falls to Vaughan in League Cup quarter-final". Waking The Red. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  10. "Mens L1 Cup". league1ontario.com. League1 Ontario. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
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