August 20, 2024...League1 Ontario Weekly Rewind Week 17 (from League1 Ontario website)

20 August 2024
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Weekly Rewind

The top two in the Men’s Premier and Championship have pulled away in their respective divisions.

Double matchweek

There were 12 Men’s Premier games scheduled in Matchweek 17, with every team taking to the field in midweek as the latest twists and turns were unraveled in the League1 Ontario men’s top flight.

Many eyes are on the title race, and Scrosoppi and Vaughan Azzurri both picked up three points in midweek. Scrosoppi comfortably dispatched Guelph United 4-0 thanks in part to Tomasz Skublak’s brace, while Raouf Mohamed’s first-half double edged Vaughan past Alliance United 2-1.

Blue Devils impressively came back from three goals down to tie with Woodbridge Strikers 3-3, while Simcoe County Rovers got the better of Burlington with a 4-0 win. Kevaughn Tavernier got on the scoresheet twice for Sigma as they defeated Hamilton United 6-0, and Tadija Vukas and Fadi Salback scored in a 2-0 win for North Toronto against ProStars.

The results set up an exciting weekend of Premier Division action, which saw ProStars register a huge 6-2 win against Hamilton United to secure their second win in three games with Darrian Sinclair netting a brace.

Simcoe County Rovers are in fine form in the Men’s Premier having not lost since June and they now sit fourth in the standings thanks to their 3-1 win at North Toronto.

Sunday’s results were significant at the top of the table, as after Scrosoppi’s game against Burlington was postponed due to weather, Vaughan Azzurri seized the opportunity to go top with a 5-2 win over Sigma. Chris Campoli scored a brace and Mohamed found the net once again.

Despite a 1-0 win at Guelph United, where Adriano Colangelo’s goal five minutes after half-time proved the winner, Woodbridge Strikers’ run in the title race is now over. There are just two matches to go until the end of the season and unassailable gap to the leaders, leaving the Premier title to a two-horse race.

Elsewhere, Atchu Sivananthan’s first-half brace was enough for Alliance United to overcome Blue Devils 2-1, securing their first win after back-to-back defeats.

Season definers

There were two games from the Men’s Championship on Friday, including a key matchup in the battle for the promotion playoff. St Catharines Roma Wolves got the better of rivals Unionville Milliken as they won 4-1 to take their ninth win in 10 matches.

St Catharines are now three points ahead of Unionville and, because of head-to-head results, a win for Unionville in the final matchweek will not budge the Roma Wolves out of third. St Catharines will therefore play in the Pro/Rel Playoff against Premier opposition in September.

At the other end of the table, Pickering won 3-1 on the road at Darby to keep them in contention for survival in the second tier; Dimitar Jovanovski’s brace proving a key difference between the two sides.

While the five teams in the bottom half of the Men’s Championship are separated by just three points, Saturday’s action confirmed the division’s inaugural top two.

A brace from Ryan Baker and a late winner from Ibrahem Saadi saw FC London pick up three precious points against BVB IA Waterloo. They won 3-2 and confirmed automatic promotion to the Men’s Premier Division for the 2025 season.

TFC Academy needed a point to be crowned Men’s Championship champions, and they looked set to pick up a win after goals from Spencer Potter and Timothy Fortier. But Windsor City fought back to make it 2-2 with two goals in two minutes to force TFC to drop points for only the fourth time this season, but the leaders held on for that crucial tie to win the division with one matchweek remaining.

Elsewhere, the clash between Master’s FA and North Mississauga was postponed.

Saturday doubleheader

It was a memorable Saturday for fans at the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre as the venue hosted two inaugural matches.

The first Pro/Rel Playoff kicked off in the late afternoon, despite a slight weather delay as the game was moved indoors. North Mississauga defeated Women’s Championship challengers Scrosoppi in a very competitive match to avoid relegation and secure their spot in the Premier Division next year.

The action moved back outside in the evening and Alliance United B overcame Vaughan Azzurri B on penalties to win the Men’s League2 Final. After leading the game in the first half, Alliance had to come from behind in the second to take the game to a shootout which saw 20 penalties taken and Ahrvin Raveendran make the deciding save.

Before all this however, the Men’s League2 Repechage Match took place on Friday night with Scrosoppi B beating Sigma B 3-0 to book their spot in the upcoming Pro/Rel Playoff against Men’s Championship opposition.

Published On: 20 August 2024
League1 Ontario staff

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